Answer to Question #70344 in Evolution for Laura

Question

What four things must be true for humans to be evolving by natural selection to become smarter? For each of the four things, what data is there to support it? If there is no data what could be done to justify or refute the point?

Answer 1

For humans to be evolving by natural selection to become smarter there must be four things:
- reproduction: parent plant produces more offspring than normally can survive;
- heredity: the traits of the "fittest" phenotypes that survive are inherited by the successful progeny;
- variation in fitness of organisms: individuals in the population with some characters must be more likely to reproduce, more fit;
- variation in individual characters among members of the population.