Is the evolution of modern man going to stop

To paraphrase Hamlet, "No mutation is either good or bad, but the environment makes it so. " Of course that is not strictly true, there are embryonic lethal mutations which will never be passed on, but those aren't being ameliorated by modern medicine any way so are not particularly relevant to your question.Your assumptions of what makes a 'good' or a 'bad' gene are highly subjective. What you describe are rather interesting traits as you yourself put it, there is no reason to think that they are also selectively beneficial traits.We can easily think up just so scenarios where they would be beneficial, but so what?TTFN,WK

In what way does it say that? As far as I can see it is a complete non sequitur. Unless you choose to completely ignore reality you can't escape the fact that the genetic 'program' passed from parents to offspring is modified and therefore susceptible to change and a suitable substrate for evolution.I'd also question your criteria for saying that speech and a complex brain are the most powerful tools a life form can possess. It seems very anthropocentric, essentially saying 'What we do best must be the most important things, because we are the most important things". Going by most biological criteria for success, population size, rate of growth and adaptability many bacterial species, nematodes and probably some insect ones have us beat.TTFN,WK

OK, you do choose to completely ignore reality, thanks for the confirmation. Again, it doesn't say that at all, have you ever considered that you claiming something is not in fact anything like having evidence for that claim? No, I won't agree because you are making an incoherent non-argument with no evidence to support it. Oh, and the completely ignoring reality thing as well.TTFN,WK

Maybe when you can coherently explain just what the hell you are talking about? Those of us in touch with reality know what it is that is transmitted between parents and offspring, it is principally genetic material in the form of DNA along with a few proteins and some organelles.We also know that this genetic material is subject to changes and that such changes can have effects on morphology, cognition, speech, behaviour and a host of other factors.Just putting your fingers in your ears and going 'La, la, la! Nothing changes' doesn't make it true.TTFN,WK

Wow, well done IAJ, you have transcended your usual level of incomprehensible gibberish to reach new heights of impenetrable jibber-jabber.What you seem to be saying is that you don't have a clue about genetics and presumably, since you have been on this board for more than 4 years, you don't care to learn about it either since it is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the science forums. Well, again, reality disagrees with you. There are a number of environmental factors from temperature to pH to the presence of particular vitamins or other chemicals that can affect an organism's development and its eventual phenotype, so in fact the margins of play you declare cannot exist do exist.These environmental effects are distinct from the changes in the heritable material. Changes in the genetic material are what are termed mutations. There are multiple causes for such mutations, some environmental and some simply due to imperfections in the replication process when DNA is copied during meiosis or mitosis.TTFN,WK