Evolution is about change. It has no direction, goal or yardstick. Therefore, in purely biological terms this question is meaningless. Over time, organisms have tended to become more complex. But it is a mistake to define the loss of complexity that sometimes occurs as devolution. Certainly, it is wrong to assume that human beings represent the peak of evolution. Evolution is a very slow process; it is not noticeable in the time span of recorded human history. We are merely a step on a long journey to who knows where.

Recent research suggests that human evolution is speeding up. A team led by John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin, suggested in 2007, that an acceleration in human evolution started around 40,000 years ago. The human population explosion and rapidly changing lifestyles due to the adaption of settled agriculture are likely to be behind this acceleration. Five thousand ago, we were evolving 30 to 40 times faster than before, and are likely to be evolving at the same rate today.

Devolution or degeneration is a social-philosophical concept. It was influential from 1850′s to 1950′s and is now largely discredited.

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was the first to define “degeneration” as a theory of nature. He argued that entire species became sterile, weaker or smaller due to harsh climates. This is incorrect. Any species will adapt slowly over time to its climate, possibly producing a new species in the process.

In the 1850′s, Benedict Morel argued that certain groups of people were degenerating, such that each generation became progressively weaker. Again, this flies in the face of accepted Darwinian evolutionary theory. In the 1880′s, criminologist Cesare Lombros believed he had found evidence of degeneration by studying the corpses of criminals. After completing an autopsy on a murderer, he found the indentation where the spine meets the neck to be a signal of degeneration and responsible for the criminality.

In 1890, Europe’s elite were gripped by fear that widespread degeneration was leading to poverty, crime, alcoholism, moral perversion and political violence. This hysteria had echoes in Europe and the US in the 20th century, giving rise to eugenic programs. Despite this, there is no scientific evidence to support degeneration.

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