I Have a Thoery

[SupraTurbo_MK3]

Okay I'm not an expert in this area, I have no college degree's yet. I'm not a genius. But I have a theory. I have been interested in human evolution and I have always been fascinated by our history.......The human time line to my understanding would be about 7 millions years or more (to the best of my understanding). During this span of time there has been about 15 different species of human beings.

 

Looking back through our history of human evolution we have seen dramatic changes in our DNA, from sahelanthropus tchadensis to homo neanderthal. So what I'm getting at is has anyone ever theorized what type of human species is next to evolve? Are we evolving into something different today? I believe it's inevitable. History repeat's it's self. We were living along side the neanderthals as early as 10,000 years ago. So I can't help to wonder what we will look like 10,000 years from now or even twenty millions years from. I believe will evolve into a completely different type of human. Any one else have any theories or info on this?

[michel123456]

It is possible we will evolve into marine mammals. Our nose is closing, our toes are closing together, we are losing our hairs, we enjoy water because we feel lighter, and we are getting fat like elephant seals. But I may be wrong, I am not aware of any study in this field.

[Blahah]

I know of one light-hearted 'study' by LSE professor Oliver Curry which suggested the species will split in two a'la H.G.Wells' The Time Machine.

[Mrs Zeta]

Well, for the first time in human history we have now access to technology that may help us manipulate our own evolution. Our DNA may be changed by developments in synthetic biology (see, for example the Repressilator), or by nanotechnology. The fact that we are now discussing the possibility of a Global Brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_brain) is IMO indicative of a new possible way of how we as humans will develop. There is quite a lot of material available on synthetic biology and its impact on evolutiion, the global brain and other technological advances that may have relevance to our evolution.

 

Transhumanism believes that we may be able to evolve, through technology, into 'post-humans' (see terms in wikipedia, or contact me for references), who would hardly have any biological tissues left. I don't personally agree with this but the discussion is there. Also I believe that we will be able to live far longer than the current maximum lifespan of around 120 years (see https://acrobat.com/#d=MAgyT1rkdwono-lQL6thBQ).

[SupraTurbo_MK3]

Very good point. I forgot to acknowledge how much of an effect technology is going to have on our evolution. Now that I think about it technology will probably speed up the process. No doubt it appears that our evolution is in our own hands.......That's a scary thought because it does not seem like we have done much right.

[Blahah]

It's worth bearing in mind, though, that ultimately there is no way we can predict the direction of our own evolution. Ultimately evolution, like most things, is governed by high-impact, unpredictable events. Karl Popper and Nassim Nicholas Taleb called them 'Black Swans'. It's fun to speculate about where evolution might take us, but pointless to 'believe' in any idea more than any other.

[5th_Ape]

I agree with blahah that we can not consider one idea to be more viable than another seeing as how evolutionary theory does not predict in which direction a species will evolve nor does it predict how long it will take to reach that point. However, whatever direction our species does evolve in i do not believe that natural selection will be the driving mechanism because as Jerry Coyne said the sheer fact that we are now capable of correcting a child's poor eyesight with a pair of glasses means we are ourselves fixing a trait that would of normally been harshly penalized in the wild. I would speculate that whatever future changes do occur in our DNA would be the result of random genetic drift (or perhaps synthetic biology suggested by Mrs. Zeta which i have yet to look into and will therefore not comment on). This has already recently happened such as some populations being more tolerant to lactose due to a mutation allowing them to digest milk through to adulthood as well as populations with a high frequency of sickle cell being resistant to a very deadly form of malaria. I see the advancement of technology as promoting the evolution of culture rather than gene frequencies and therefore don't consider it to be a contributing factor the the evolution of homo sapiens in general.

[Mrs Zeta]

I see the advancement of technology as promoting the evolution of culture rather than gene frequencies and therefore don't consider it to be a contributing factor the the evolution of homo sapiens in general.

 

Consider that external manipulation of the environment (through technology in some cases) has epigenetic effects that can be inheritable. So this is one way that technology may have an effect on genetics.

[StrontiDog]

So I can't help to wonder what we will look like 10,000 years from now or even twenty millions years from.

 

 

Something to keep in mind is the common misconception that a species slowly turns into another species. Lest we forget, humanity split from a common ancestor with chimps, gorillas and other great apes somewhere around 10-20 MYA.

 

This means that that one common ancestor species 'evolved' into at least three species that still exist, and countless others that don't.

 

So what does that species 'look like', now?

 

Shoot, if you go back 200 MYA or so, we may share a common ancestor with any other vertebrate. So what did that species 'evolve into?' Did it evolve into humans, or sperm whales?

 

The advent of technology and genetic manipulation could see countless distinct species that could all trace their ancestry to homo sapiens sapiens.

 

In short, there is probably no answer to your question.

[Mr Skeptic]

I think that, using technology to help, we will split into three species -- one for land, one for (salt) water, and one for space.