Human evolution appears to be accelerating compared to ancient times, such as around 4000 BC.

A major 2007 study (“Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution” – Hawks et al.) found that natural selection has been acting more rapidly on the human genome since the advent of agriculture (~10,000 years ago).
This is largely due to:
- Larger population sizes → More mutations to select from
- New environments → Urban life, diverse climates, domesticated animals
- New diets → e.g., lactose tolerance evolved after dairy farming
- Disease pressure → e.g., genes related to malaria or immuni

Example: The lactase persistence gene (allows adults to digest milk) spread rapidly in populations that adopted dairy farming.

Unlike genetic evolution, cultural evolution can occur over decades or centuries, not millennia.
Around 4000 BC (6,000+ years ago), humans were just entering the Bronze Age, with:
- Early writing systems (e.g. Sumerian cuneiform)
- City-states
- Basic metallurgy
Today we experience technological revolutions every few decades.

Cultural change acts as a feedback loop on biological evolution:

Example: Agriculture led to denser populations → more disease → selection for immune genes

Human innovation builds cumulatively.
Unlike other species, we record and pass on knowledge, accelerating each generation’s capacity to change the world.
From domestication and irrigation in 4000 BC → to electricity, AI, gene editing in under 6,000 years.

Yes, but modern medicine, global mixing, and changing selection pressures have altered the path.
Some argue we’re entering a phase of self-directed evolution:
- CRISPR and genetic engineering
- Human-machine integration (e.g. prosthetics, implants)

Compared to around 4000 BC, human evolution has accelerated—especially due to: