‘We live at a time where cultural evolution can be very, very, very rapid, but our biological evolution seems relatively stunted.’

In modern times, our lives have changed tremendously by gaining control over nature. The advent of vaccines, antibiotics, antivirals, and better sanitation has dramatically reduced our physiological challenges. In the present day, we enjoy a much more secure food supply than we did a hundred years ago.

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[T]e efficiency of agriculture, the productivity of agriculture is remarkably different [than in previous centuries]. Some of that is due to automation, but a lot of that is due to discoveries about better seeds, better ways of nourishing crops, better ways to fight off plant diseases. You know, now we enjoy a much more secure food supply than we did a hundred years ago. So these are important biological impacts on us….

[A]natomically and physiologically … I don’t think we’ve evolved much. Cultural evolution can be very, very, very rapid, but our biological evolution is relatively slow.

Biologist and author Sean B. Carroll discusses why biology isn’t evolving as rapidly as culture.

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