With advances in modern medicine and healthcare, humans have been able to lead longer and healthier lives. The average life span in the early 20th Century was 30-45 years old and the current world average is 66.57 years old. In the United States, the average life span is currently 70-80 years old.
Why is our life span in the United States so much higher than the average? And why has it changed so much over the last 100 years? And will this cause any problems? If natural selection acts on the organisms that are most fit and adapted to their enviroment, and "unfit" humans are able to survive and lead longer lives due to medical advances... what affect will that have on human evolution?
Posts
I never thought about what advances in the medical field mean for human evolution. When we learn about diseases and their treatments we assume that the treatments are something good because it helps improve a person's way of life. However,it seems ironic that in reality more people will be more likely to contract and possibly suffer from certain diseases because of medicines created to do good.
ReplyDeleteAre life spans in the United States are so much higher than the world wide life spans; because the U.S is lucky enough to have lots of medication that helps us live longer. We are able to go to doctors and have treatment and medication that many people around the world do not get. Are life spans have changed a lot of the last 100 years because our hospitals and food and lifestyles. We have changed those 3 things because we now know that having a clean hospital and eating right and having better lifestyles is the right way to live, and it makes us live longer!
ReplyDeleteI think that the life span for humans is higher than the average in the United States because maybe the US has better health care and medicines to take care of the ill. Therefore, the people are healthier and have a longer life span.
ReplyDeletethe life span in the United States is so much higher than the average because we have more advanced medicines and technology to make it easier to live longer. It has drastically changed over the last 100 years because the technology for curing the sick has become more and more advanced. For example, 100 years ago, doctors in the 20th Century did not have the same medicines we have today, so some of the fatal diseases around could not be treated, and people died younger. This might cause problems much later down the line because technology and medicines might get too advanced that people will live a lot longer, and the world will become very overpopulated. Due to the medicines and treatments, natural selection will no longer have effect on human evolution.
ReplyDeleteBecause of America being the richest country in the world we have been able to research lots of cures/vaccines for deceases we usually died from. Also we have rid a majority of the killer deceases so people can't get them as easy now. Now though swine flu is a big thing that is scaring many Americans. We as humans are fit where we live because we have adapted to our terrain and evolved in fixing things that could potentially kill us with our advanced ways of thinking.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, people that are more fit and strong tend to survive. If you are 50 with a bad heart due to little exercise you would probably not survive that long in comparison to a 50 year old with a good heart. But now, since survival of the fittest is not taking it's course, so is natural selection. This will affect humans because more people will reproduce and have more offspring causing more future scientists causing more advances.
ReplyDeleteMichael 6
I think it's a good thing that more humans can live longer because of modern medical advances but this could be a bad thing for our race in the long run. See if more and more humans are able to live longer because of modern medicine, this will cause the next generations to also need these medicines to live longer, this will make our race weaker and weaker overtime. As we become weaker and weaker we will be more dependent on these medicines to live longer which is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize why the death rate was so young in the early 20th century but after I read this article I realized that it probably had to do with not having very good medical information. I believe that the death age is getting older because we have way better medical information also healthier food for you. So it says in the article " if natural selection acts on the organisms that are most fit and adapted to their enviorment ect." I believe that is true, studies do show if you are a healthy eater and a good exersizer you will usually have a longer lifespan.The people who die from a desiese that is geneticlly passed on are a example, stated in the article as a "unfit human".Many die from those and then they cannot reproduce obvously.Therefore there will be less of a chance for people to reproduce with a "Unfit human" if they die.It does sound pretty bad but it's true.
ReplyDeleteThe increase of the average life span from the 20th Century to now is amazing. The advances in technology to keep our lives going has been drastically changed for the better. The technology in the US alone is amazing, that is why our average life span is greater than others. We have so many new technologies to help our bodies keep moving forward that our life span has increased from 30-45 years old to 70-80 years old, and they are still making new advances in technology. Just imagine what our life will be like in another 100 years. It would be too much to handle. We have come a long way from square wheels to hybrid cars, just think about what there is more to come.
ReplyDeleteI think that our life span in the United Status is greater than average because most people in America are constantly trying to get physically fit and healthy, which goes back to survival of the fittest. The life expectancy has changed so much over the past 100 years because of new technologies and medicine. I also think that the people that are able to afford the new technologies and medicines relate to survival of the fittest because those who can get them are "fit."
ReplyDeleteIt's a very interesting idea but its not factual. They explain the idea and show a hypothesis but have they actually tested it? I agree that medical advances have probably caused a higher percentage of autism. This factor should not stop us from further advancement. If we stopped medical advances our life span would probably go down to 30-45 again. If we keep advancing will probably find a cure for autism anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that our lifespans are much longer than before are due to medical advances so we don't die from diseases such as chickenpox. However, our fitness might actually be more reduced that before, since we can be much more lazy than before. As a result, many diseases that did not affect us before are now major issues, such as heart disease and cancer. This could be nature's way of natural selection to combat our rising population due to our longer lifespans.
ReplyDeleteThe life span in the United States is much higher because the medicine and technology in the country are more advanced than the medicines in some other countries. It has drastically changed since the 20th century BECAUSE of the new medicines and technology. Survival of the fittest and natural selection are not really used in human evolution anymore because people that are deemed weak can be treated with medicine so that they live longer.
ReplyDeleteNaturally, the "unfit" humans shouldn't survive and live long lives but because of improved medicine over the years, the human race is cheating the natural flow of evolution. Although it may seem good at first for everyone to be living longer and for our medicine and hygiene to be improving, there are drawbacks. There have been rises in disorders and humans are now possibly more likely to get allergies and asthma.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S.A's average life span is higher than some other countries due to better medical care. Over the years, we have been able to live longer because of furthered research about medical conditions and diseases. With a longer lifespan, it will mean there will be an increasing population with a slower rate of evolution.
ReplyDeleteAnsel 5*
With increasing medical advances and better technology, the world has been able to find better healthy choices to live a longer life. People in the U.S. may have longer lifespans because they live in a country with more emphasis on health. This longer lifespan will cause evolution to slow down.
ReplyDeleteHumans, more specifically americans, live longer than they did centuries ago beacuse of many factors including medical advances, advanced science and understanding of the ways of life. Survival of the fittest played a bigger role in the past because humans worked to find ways to live longer using resources. Individuals use survival of the fittest today by choosing to be healthy or not (like in the previous comment). Of course, medical advances and technological advances lead to increase the average life span, but initially, natural selection built up to the advancements.
ReplyDeleteNatalia 6
the life span could be longer now because there are more medical advances then there were before. it has changed over time becuase now people have a chance to understnd how to stay healthy and stay fit. the effect it will have on evolution is that the people who are not so healthy will be able to be kept alive so they have a chance of passing things on to there offspring who will keep passing it along to the next generation.
ReplyDeleteJael 6*
People in the United States have a rate of 77.7 years life expectancy. As medical advances increase over the yaers, the life expectancy also increases and can potentially influence the evolution proccess. In the near future, people can possibly live up to 150 years with the help of technology. All these factors and how we use them can set the future long and healthy within the next 50 years.
ReplyDeleteIn the US, we are more medically advanced, therefore certain diseases and environments don't hinder our health, and allow us to live longer. Because we have continued to grow in knowledge of medication and treatments, our average life span has grown. The use of medication and antibiotics has become an almost daily habit, and humans are relying more and more on medicine to help us in our everyday lives. Though it may help us to live longer, our bodies may become more accustomed to using medication, and may not be as strong without it. Also, microorganisms may begin to develop resistance to the medication we use, and we will have to continue to create more and more medicines.
ReplyDelete