Very good question but difficult to answer accurately with facts and figures.
If it is natural, how do you expect to alter it ? If it is altered, would it be natural ?
Science has excelled in altering natural things by controlling the nature since a long back. I have asked whether it can be altered in coming future or not. If it is altered obviously it will not be natural. Please read carefully and behave like a learned man.
Nice that you cant take criticism and started crying. And you are talking about learning, who himself copy pasted from somewhere and deleted the comment.
Nevertheless, if there are natural alteration in the natural process of evolution, it has always been happening. Mutations, gene transfer horizontal/vertical, transfection with agents like viruses. And if it is artificial, it would be genetic engineering. Moreover, if someone is using term mankind, it means each and every single human on the planet. If we see the definition of evolution, it is the habitability of favorable characteristics and genes over several generations resulting in biodiversity.
In the present context, not just the physical evolution but the psychological and intellectual evolution is going on an exponential pace. Thus, what kind of evolution you are talking about is of relevance.
It is possible, in principle, to enhance evolution in humans, but there are some practical difficulties. I doubt that we can slow it to any extent. I turns out that evolution is driven by nonrandom mutations that are stimulated by stress. All organisms have a built-in mechanism that responds to stress which activates a transposable genetic element that then causes a genetic change that results in a phenotypic change that is adaptive in the sense that it tends to relieve the stress. There are examples of this mechanism throughout many organisms from bacteria to humans. So one could in principle direct human evolution by applying stress.
Lee Spetner I am not fully convinced with you. Applying stress to evolve, then what would that stress be ? As Kenneth M Towe
kenneth said by using terror and force or by using gamma radiations on whole earth to mutate mankind ? Another point, mutations are always not inheritable or sense mutation. If the stress is beyond the limits, the mankind would mutate to grave. Thus, repeating previous comment, why?
The question was if one can accelerate or slow down evolution in humans. I answered that it is, in principle possible but there are practical difficulties. Furthermore I do not advocate it. It is well known that stress can induce mutations that are adaptive to the stress. If you want, I can give examples of the phenomenon from bacteria to humans. An example in humans is the adaptation to high-altitude living in residents of Tibet [Simonson. (2010) Genetic Evidence for High-Altitude Adaptation in Tibet Science 329 (5987): 72-75.] Organisms have a built-in ability to adapt to environmental stress. The stress causes the activation of a transposable element in the genome that in turn causes a genetic rearrangement that leads to an adaptive phenotype that tends to reduce the stress. The phenomenon is apparently universal.
Theoretically, You can slow down evolution easily, if you know how to convince people to have children around the age of 40. Analogously, to speed up change the reproductive age as early as possible.
But the main question is: "but WHY?"
Science has improved the existence of Homo sapiens but slowing or accelerating the evolution of mankind? I think it's possible but that will mean altering some part of mankind genetic makeup and why would that happen? Accelerating or slowing the natural process of mankind evolution hypothesis will be possible but there will be some practical difficulties.
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