How will humans look like in the far future ?
Evolution is a true wizard converting a unicellular microbe into a multicellular species trying to reach for stars
But where is human race headed to? Are we going to remain just as today human beings or are we going to become cyborgs? Are we going to remain immortal through digitizing out consciousness and memories, or are we going to become immortal through endless renewal of cells? Will we be super-charged electronically-powered creatures of silicon and energy,or we will be lazy as sloths.?
Before we delve into these questions let us start with a scientific prediction made by the University of Pennsylvania a few years back:
600 years from now women will shorter and at least 2 pounds heavier than average female now.LOL , Imagine American idols with all those talents.
Read my article what will happen in the near future in linked in. As we know that the temperature is increasing in our atmosphere. That will have direct impact on our genetic makeup in time .Human being will adopt to the new change by
modifying their skin cells ,the skin surface area, body size depending on the topography of their living area. Water, and food will define our future as human race ,beside the population growth. Chinese, Indians, Latinos and asians will be the majority of human race in population wise. New breed will arrive and strive.
So are we evolving? No one can actually say anything for sure. One can say that the above observation can easily be negated by appropriate dieting habits. DNA modification also can help.
While talking about evolution in future, one has to make a lot of assumptions. Reasons:
- Evolution is painfully slow to observe.
- There might be a global man- made disaster like nuclear winter which can alter our lives drastically. Meteor or space disaster can do that too.
There are too many parameters. Too many things to be taken into account. Saying any one thing will be too much speculation. But just for a thought experiment let us continue.
Evolution essentially stops
The first argument is that human beings are the best that evolution can offer. We are the ultimate stage of the evolution timeline. We have developed our brains so much that we can always overcome our biological limitations. We are the finest product of 3 billion years of evolution.
But this argument does not hold water considering human beings evolved only around 5 million years ago .
Another argument is that human beings do not need to evolve because it is nature which drives evolution. Species evolve so that they can adapt according to nature.
But humans have
now technological power to make nature adapt according to changing human needs (If not now, then maybe in a few hundred years).
But there is also a third line of thought.
According to some anthropologists, we have too much genetic inertia to change.
Primary need of evolution is a small isolated group, in which, if there is a mutation, it goes on and on in the lineage tree. Otherwise in a large group, with a variety of partners to mate with, mutation will act only as a little perturbation and get lost. Humans are exactly at that stage now. With increasing globalization, people reproducing with other people belonging to different cultures, races and countries, it is becoming extremely difficult for a mutated gene to get expressed as a dominant trait.
Humans will continue to evolve naturally
Another claim is that evolution has not stopped and it is happening. After all-in a confined group, it just needs very little mutation for one species to evolve. Neanderthals and homo sapiens differ in their gene sequence by less than 0.004%!!
Note: Neanderthals never changed to Homo Sapiens. We are “cousins”; we share a common ancestor. It was initially believed our common ancestor lived 300,000 to 800,000 years ago, mostly likely Homo Heidelbergensis. However, some new evidence was found recently that may change this to about 1 million years ago, or even a little more than that.
Few examples supporting this speculation
10000 years ago one mutation in herc2 gene led to blue eyes
- Every male Olympic power athlete ever tested carries a 577R genotype (So everybody can’t be an athlete? Right?)
We still have the ability to select who we mate with, and our choice is largely determined by cultural factors. For example, we value high intelligence, toned physique, large breasts etc. If these desirable traits remain somewhat constant, it is possible that they will lead human evolution
Humans may split in two!
It is also possible that human beings may get evolved into sub species. This can result from two causes:
- People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species. The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the “underclass” humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures.
- Moreover rich people will move toward artificial evolution by deciding the genome sequence of the just conceived baby. This will create kind of split between upper-class, dominant population and a lower-class, genetically oppressed population
Humans will evolve digitally
Perhaps the most fascinating line of thought!!
Fields like genetics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and robotics may fuse to make trans humans! Or cyborgs!
The line between man and machine might get erased. We will then be able to reproduce, think and operate faster. We might also be able to just ‘upload’ out memories and thereby leaving an avatar forever which would think exactly like us.
Evolution will happen in alien worlds
If humans are able to leave mother Earth, they are going to face an entirely different environment there.
This include higher or lower gravity in new world resulting in increases or decreases in muscle mass.
- Since outer worlds will receive less light from sun, our eyes will get bigger to allow more intake of light.
- Since the human brain is constantly increasing in size over time, we can expect future humans to have a bigger skull and hence bigger forehead.
- Skin will become more or less pigmented depending upon how much UV radiation from Sun will be received on the new world.
- Chin will recede and get shorter because less chewing will be required on processed food.
- A simpler digestive tract (if eating hadn’t been made totally obsolete)
- Fewer and smaller teeth, greater height, and only eight toes.
For those saying that we will have bigger heads, I actually beg to differ. The human brain has been shrinking for the past 20,000 years.
I think mankind won’t evolve atrophied muscles unless, for a prolonged and consistent period, people who are born with atrophied muscles due to a genetic mutation are reproducing at a higher rate than the norm – ie if the mutation becomes “sexy”. Two people who are lazy and allow their muscles to atrophy will NOT produce offspring with atrophied muscles.
What’s maybe more interesting is how will culture change. Civilization has developed only in the last 5000 years and the rate of change is getting faster and faster. Computers, obviously are extremely new and already central to many lives. Most importantly, cultural and technological impact has reached a point where it will effect and change our lifestyles much more quickly than evolutionary forces. This is turn will have it’s effects on human biological make-up.
I think Genetic manipulation also opens the door to a world of possibilities. One, people design their children – this will likely be possible to some extent within the next 60 years (whether permitted will be another question). The further possibility is of literally designing new human species. It will become difficult to understand what is human and what is not. Human’s might “evolve” into something entirely different.
One cultural idea that has been proposed is the “modern caveman” theory. The central concept is that cavemen lived more or less automatically, though they were similar biologically to us; they were motivated by their desires and did not give much thought of worry to their lives outside circumstances. As technology solves human problems, we may reach a point where humans return to this state of near automatic living — no need to work and so a life of leisure in technological interaction.
Most remarkable change would be to our skin color in the future . Skin will get fairer (assuming the intact Ozone layer and no nuclear war at global level) with time . This is attributed to better quality of life and lesser exposure to the direct sunrays. We all know that modern man took his first steps in equatorial Africa followed by a diaspora towards colder north which resulted in loss of skin pigmentation due to scarcity of sunlight and heat . The present day darker people are shifting towards a life style which requires more time indoors and sun protected which perhaps might contribute to a lighter skin morphology in the future Melanocytes may eventually become vestigial with time .
I think future mankind may also witness the degradation of canines due softer food habits . Myopia (short sightedness) and Allergies will be among majority of future humans. Myopia due to increasing optical activities requiring more stress and strain over our iris muscles . Allergies due to more hygienic habits requiring lesser exposure to allergens hence contributing to the problems further .
So live long and prosper will be changed to live long fat and short.
NO MATTER WHAT, TAX WILL BE INCREASING.Will evolve for sure but will always be a fact of life.
Steve Ramsey, PhD- Calgary – Canada