Evolution cannot be described as going backwards or forwards.
I saw recently that the size of the human brain has been shrinking. This can be explained by the effect of civilization: since so many survival functions are now delegated to society, people do not have to devote as much brain mass to survival. So people with smaller brains can still survive and pass their genes to their offspring.
i see, survival of the smallest. So, according to evolution, people today find small brains more attractive, and hence tend to have more small-brained offspring with attractive small-brained mates. That's interesting. Or is it that having a smaller brain gives you an advantage in, say, Wall street, or the advertising industry, or maybe plumbing or accounting? Indeed a small brain would be of great advantage to the lucky ones who have it... though at the moment I can't think of why... perhaps my brain isn't small enough and I'm due for extinction. But it doesn't really have to be an advantage, does it? We can just say that it is, and that's good enough for evolution. Or we can say that it isn't even an advantage, and that's good enough for evolution.