“Survival of the fittest” doesn’t mean much today, but at a time when food couldn’t be ordered over iPhones and medicine didn’t exist (much less taste like candy) it meant everything. If you were the slowest or the weakest then your chances of living long enough to procreate were next to nothing. It was “eat or be eaten” - all day, every day.

As a result, mankind grew to conquer the world and cover it with marvels of modern technology. We aren’t the top predator: we’re not even in the food chain anymore. Thanks, evolution.

Yet, evolution is sometimes seen as a controversial topic. Some see it as being contradictory to religious teachings because it offers insight into our origins as humans. Some people dismiss it as wacky science. How could we come from monkeys? Well, let’s take a brief trip back to biology class…

Evolution isn’t a complicated phenomenon. We’re made up of cells. They’re small. Very small. Even smaller, though, is the nucleus of the cell – an organic control center that directs chemical action by using DNA. Sometimes, when you have a TON of cells together, with BILLIONS of processes being directed by this DNA then you end up with your average Joe Schmoe.

But how does the nucleus know what directions to encode in that DNA? You guessed it: you got it from your momma. Both your parents contributed their genetic information (in a process that you’ll have to spend some time Googling yourself) when they created you. Everybody has DNA that’s slightly different, but the effects are easy to spot. Think: hair color, height, athleticism, skin tone, etc. Any trait that you’re born with? That was DNA doing its job.

Okay – that was an enormous oversimplification. And boring. I know. But consider: let’s say we’re a pack of hunters thousands of years ago. Some of us were born with DNA that allowed us to jump higher and run more quickly than the rest of the pack. When we’re faced with limited food and some nasty predators looking to gobble us up, then you can just about guess who’s going to survive.

Those who do survive end up procreating (bow-chica-wow-wow) and their offspring end up inheriting those same genetic traits. Bam. That's all that evolution is. Traits that are more suited to success in an environment are passed down and end up becoming the norm in the population.

Over thousands of years, those changes end up becoming really noticeable. Think: walking upright, developing language, the ability to create technologies, etc. Did we come from monkeys? Not exactly, but we certainly used to act a lot more like them.

Today, there are no more monsters waiting outside our cave. In developed countries, the weak and the sick are cared for. We watch penguins vie for mates on the Discovery Channel but we no longer have to fight for our posterity. “Survival of the fittest” is now “survival by default.” The idea of having the weak die off to make way for the strong now sounds like a demented call for genocide.

The fact that we have moved beyond the prehistoric battle for resources is cause for celebration: people can enjoy long and happy lives. However, what does it mean in the scope of humanity? It’s possible that we’re standing at the edge of human evolution. Assuming that the world isn’t ravaged by war, resources aren’t depleted, and medicine continues to advance, then there may no longer be a reason for any genetic shifts.

We evolve because glitches in our DNA offer us chances to adapt to our environment better than those around us. When we control our own environment, those glitches mean nothing. It could very well be that there may not be another stage of humanity in the foreseeable future.

But, what if that isn’t true? It’s pompous to think that we have suddenly surpassed the laws of nature. There’s no question that we’re living in a miraculous age of technology but the golden years can only last for so long. What if we can’t count on countries to avoid destroying each other? What do we our natural resources begin to run out? Can our medicine keep up with the new pollutants that we continue to introduce to our bodies?

If we could travel hundreds of thousands of years into the future we may see human that look and behave very differently than ourselves. We are a link in a natural chain – a step forward to a place that we can’t begin to call a destination. Thus far, time has brought with it progress that our ancestors couldn’t begin to fathom. The very same might just be true for us.