Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Curious Droid presents for ways that human evolution could proceed
it's been a hundred and fifty seven years since Charles Darwin published his
groundbreaking book the "Origin of Species" in which he proposed the theory
of evolution
back in 1859. Since then our knowledge of the world and ourselves increased
exponentially but what lies ahead for our own human evolution, in this video
we wil look at four predictions as to which way human evolution could proceed. Prediction 1
Human evolution has stopped many believe that because we have evolved then
it's natural to assume that the process will just continue like it has done ever
since the beginnings of life over 3 billion years ago, however there are now
some that are saying that this may not be the case for humans and that in fact
our revolution may well have stopped. The proponents of natural selection say that
the genetic innovations are only likely to become fixed in small isolated
populations for example darwin's famous Galapagos finches each evolved from
their mainland ancestor to fit the unique habitat
isolated islands in the Pacific however the modern human race is now incredibly
mobile and crossbreeding makes it much less likely for potential significant
mutations to become established in the gene pool.
The main way that evolution works is by natural selection or the survival of the
fittest as Charles Darwin stated in his book but this mechanism has been very much
sidelined by humans because of the advances in medicine and healthcare. The
fittest will no longer spearhead the evolutionary change because thanks to
medical advances the weakest can also live on and pass down their genes when
in 1859 the Origin of Species was published only around 50% of British
children survived the age of 2,1 today that number is around 99%, though much of
this is due to the great reduction in a number of diseases that plagued man
until the arrival of modern sanitation over the following decades. In the
developed countries the fact that the vast majority now live until at least
sexually mature means that the survival of the fittest does not really apply
anymore. That part of the Darwinian drive has now gone and now our evolution has
effectively stalled and we will stay as we are from and evolutionary standpoint.
Prediction No 2. Humans will continue to evolve whilst one group of
scientists say that evolution is dead
other scientists see plenty of evidence that human evolution is far from over
here are a couple of examples that are of recent adaptations which are the
first steps in further evolution. The first example is of lactose tolerance in
European peoples. Normally children lose the ability to digest lactose in milk
after they've been weaned this least to people having an intolerant to the
lactose which makes them feel sick if they drink milk. This is true of many
people who are from Asia, however over the past few thousand years many people
living in Europe have developed a gene which gives them the ability to drink
milk and also digesting lactose
any age. It's thought that the ancient peoples of Europe used as an additional
food source and therefore the people who could drink milk would have a better
chance of survival when food was in short supply and this ability has now
entered the greater gene pool. This genetic adaptation is seen as a direct
effect of the cultural impact of farming changing the genetic makeup of one group
of humans even though they were not physically isolated on an island like
Charles Darwin's Galápagos finches. The second example is Thalassemic trait
Thalassemia or sickle cell is also known
is a condition that many people have if they originated from the hotter climates
of the world and where there is a high prevalence of mosquito-borne malaria.
This is a genetic adaptation where the blood cells formed differently and carry less
hemoglobin leading to varying degrees of anemia but it also gives the carriers of
this condition are higher resistance to malaria which is often much more deadly
to the general population than the condition itself. It's now believed over
last 10,000 years or so
up to 50% of the population of some malarial areas now have gained
genetic blood adaptation. Prediction No 3
Transhumanism. The philosophy known as transhumanism see humans taking charge
of their evolution and breaking free of their biological limitations by use of
advanced technology. In this the future may well belong to "unnatural selection".
Darwinian evolution occurs very slowly and in the case of humans, because of our
longer lives can take 10's or 100's of thousands of years to occur but our
technology has evolved at an exponential rate and things which could directly
change the human condition like
cloning, genetic enhancement, robotics, artificial intelligence and
nanotechnology to name a few
continue to change at an ever-increasing rate. Transhumanism of the future raises a
huge array of possibilities from super soldiers, to new breeds of athletes, to
electronically augmented brains and senses to immortal beings who have had
their brains out and atom by atom to transfer their minds to computers. If
this were to happen
a new type of evolution would emerge controlled not by nature but by man's
wants and needs. In the future it could lead to beings which look as remote to
us now as we do to our mouse like ancestors but survived the dinosaurs 65
million years ago.
Prediction No 4. Evolution of off World colonies. As we stated before
Charles Darwins Galápagos finches evolved because they were physically isolated
from the mainland where they originally came from however for the humans, earth
is now a global village and no part of its surface that cannot be traveled to
within a few days if you really want to and have the resources. To really isolate
population they would have to be off world for a very long period of time for
a new human species to arise. In the far distant future if habitable planets well
beyond our solar system were colonized by migrants it could provide the
necessary isolation for a new human species to evolve if we had space-faring
people who went on one way voyages to distant stars that might be enough to
trigger the fixing of the evolution into a new species but if you consider the
small group of people that went on a one-way trip to the Americas via Asia some
14,000 years ago and became the native Americans and then compare them to the
new europeans which showed up five hundred years ago they are still the
same species. So any isolations would need to be in the order of tens of
thousands of years
nature to take its course. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the
video, if you did then don't forget to please thumbs up and subscribe for more
and if you have any ideas for videos you like to see him please let us know in
the comments below.