Have we stopped evolving?

By | September 12, 2007

Evolution is defined by Wikipedia as

“the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to generation.”

So are we changing as we proceed from generation to generation? And are we changing for better, or for worse?

I read this report on the CNN website about a sect that allows the practice of polygamy. Now polygamy might be heaven for a man, but it sure is hell for the woman. And if it is difficult to fathom why, try to think of a scenario when a man is one of the many husbands of a woman? Ready to submit his body to her at her wish, and yet be neglected as he is one of the many options she has.

I am sure most men would now understand the humiliation and suffering of a woman who is into such a relationship, by her own will or by the will of some religious group she happens to be a part of.

Maybe, the shock quotient of this incident would have been a little less had it been in one of the under-developed societies in Africa, or the still evolving Islamic countries. But this incident happened in America. A country that prides in being the leader of the developed world. And yet, for some reason, such a faith and its followers existed for many years in America.

This makes me ask the question about human evolution. Is evolution simply restricted to what Darwin defined it? I tend to believe that societies, and social structures need to evolve with times. The world today happens to be an amazingly open place, where human rights are well understood, and such incidents are frowned upon.

And yet, we do not seem to evolve. In a country that promises to have one of the most developed and evolved modern day societies, such incidents do make one wonder. Is the human race really heading in the direction it should?

Are we learning from the mistakes that we make, or are we going to remain oblivious and keep prodding forward? Are we just going to remember this incident for as long as the media wants us to, or are we going to take a lesson to avoid such happenings in the future?

Evolve, or perish. This is what Darwin said. And even though the evolution that I mentioned above isn’t what Darwin said, this postulate still holds good.

Evolve, or perish!!!

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