The Next Stage Of Human Evolution mutants or community?

[iGuest 3]

You seem to be misinformed, abhiram, humans did NOT evolve from monkeys. That is a misconception. What scientists have demonstrated rather, is that we have a common ancestor with monkeys. Closer along the timeline is our common ancestry with the great apes. Further along in time than our common ancestry with monkeys, you will find rodents and so on, until you find the common ancestry of all organic life on earth. Everything is constantly evolving due to natural selection and the changing environment.The speed at which a species changes usually had to do with the length of it's generations. Thus, insects and bacteria, who have shorter lifespans than us,have an increased chance of evolving into new species in less time than us humans.

[iGuest 3]

Iduno I thin k that humans are evolving maybe to better super hmuans..For example what ever I imagine comes true idunn oif this is the placebo affect or something but it works but it only happens  the next day...This is also the same like the thoery if oyou really want ti and you visualise it you get it..But then again if you do this you sub conciously do it without even knowing you are...Human evolution I tricky..I guess we'll ust have to wait 

[grim reaper1666 0]

i think that we will be able to access telepathic abilities afterall we do have areas in our brains which are capable of it but are just dormant. someday those areas would wake up and allow us to pick up objects with out minds, read other peoples minds amoung other stuff. The human mind as we know is the most complex organ in the human body it is impossible at this point in time for us to create computers at that level of complexity. we don't even know alot about our won brains at the moment.we are still only 3% different than monkeys in our DNA which shows us the difference between humans and monkeys is not great yet we are the dominant species on the planet. as well as biological advancement the human race has achieved many technological advancements which have helped aid our civilasation and we have longer lifespans than when we used to live to an age on average of 30.

[8ennett 0]

I don't think there will be any other form of human evolution for at least the next 10,000 years. Dating back over 8,000 years ago there were neolithic civilisations where remains have been found and we are exactly the same. Perhaps brain activity was a lot less than it is now, perhaps 4% or so on, but we're only at around 10% now. Maybe our brain activity will increase, but as for physical evolution the way we are progressing now I don't think anything is going to happen. If you think about it, evolution is adapting to your surrounding environment to improve living conditions for the organism and to create a harmony between the organism and its surroundings. However, our natural instincts do not seem to be creating a natural harmony between us and our environments, instead we adapt our environment to suit our needs. We don't offer any room for adaptation of our own physical forms and if we go on this way, before we eventually end up destroying ourselves, then we won't physically evolve at all. And with the advances in nano technology, they expect to be able to reconstruct telemeres at will to not only prevent ageing but potentially reverse it within the next twenty years.

[grim reaper1666 0]

when you think about it developing technology is evolution we are making new ways to survive but i think to fully survive we are going to have to get peace afterall war has no long term benefits. The afgan war is a waste of time the british in the 1800s fought 3 afgan wars and didn't win a single one of them. that was when britain was a major world power with the largest empire in the history of the world.well like you said nano technology would be a great advantage to humans exosuits would be good aswell have robotics fitted to them using nano technology, but make it so it only works if you are in the suit so it takes commands from your brain just like when your brain gives commands to your own body parts. we would also have nano technology enhancing us much like in crysis it would be able to increase or endurance. we might even be able to develop teleportation sometime in the future.

[yordan 10]

I'm very surprised finding this subject in a "Religion and Philosophy" forum.The way human beings will think in the future is a religion or philosophy question.The way they will be, being x-men or nano-technology modified, or will the evolution behave Darwin way or not, is more a biological question, isn't it?Or am I completely off-subject?

[Бојан 0]

It will be something like terminators vs humans. That's what i think... the movie isn't made for nothing.

[yordan 10]

That's another debate, in another topic : is Artificial Intelligence dangerous for human beings ?Will robots and humans relationship necessarily end in a war ? Cannot we find a gentleman's agreement, in which we state that we are symbionts and we need each others?

[iGuest 3]

DarwinismThe Next Stage Of Human Evolution

I have read a few posts here where people keep saying that we evolved from apes and are confused by the population of apes that did not evolve into humans and why. The answer is quite simple and I will attempt to clear it up for you confused individuals.

 Evolution is most definately controlled by environment. As the early ape forms migrated in search of food, they spread themselves out all over the world, which at one point was one giant "super-continent" named Pangaea that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration. With that said, a number of species branched from the Ape tree. I can name 6 ape species right now off the top of my head that all evolved from the "original" ape species, Gibbons, Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Bonobos, Orangutans and Humans. As each species evolved, it adapted to the best of its ability to its surroundings. Had our mind not evolved in size and ability, we could still be vegetative dwellers like the rest of the five ape species I mentioned. 

 Hope that helps clear up your confusion.

 

[iGuest 3]

Evolution to mutants is very possible due to biomechanics already we are able to replicate limbs and most organs,but we have not yet found a way to replicate the brain, which is good because I don't feel that is the best thing to replicate a brian because that is what makes us who we are. Also scientists have found a way to implant spesfic genes into our own to create a engineered and better us. Basicly my point is that even if we have stopped our own evolution because of the conditions we humans live in nowadays we will be able to control are own evolution in the future. Its a bit like fitting up your car u will be able to choose what extra 'abilities' we wish, maybe an extra arm or leg or mayb a more efficent biology. 

-reply by Dragon

[iGuest 3]

The Next Stage of Human EvolutionThe Next Stage Of Human Evolution

Humans will evolve with more holistic concerns than selfish. In ancient times we were competing with each other because it was a do or die situation. But while we have become self-reliant, it is the inertia that is keeping the selfish streak alive in us. But many of us are already realizing we have enough to survive and from 'survival of the fittest' theory proponents we are now promoting the 'survival of the planet.'The future will see world governments, world councils that will not be biased to one country but take a holistic view of things.The time is ripe for the next stage of human beings. The Quest has already begun.http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

-reply by Ravi Nirmal Sharma

[mitchellmckain 0]

I don't think there will be any other form of human evolution for at least the next 10,000 years. Dating back over 8,000 years ago there were neolithic civilisations where remains have been found and we are exactly the same. Perhaps brain activity was a lot less than it is now, perhaps 4% or so on, but we're only at around 10% now. Maybe our brain activity will increase, but as for physical evolution the way we are progressing now I don't think anything is going to happen.

Yes we have removed a lot of the natural selection that played a role in our evolution, but to think that this simply means that we stop changing is a rather naive conclusion. The fact is that the gene pool of the human race is changing more rapidly right now that it has for millions of years. Why? Because as was the whole point of the OP, we are changing the rules which govern our development. We no longer survive as individuals but as members of a community. Members of our race who would never have survived to reproduce ten thousand years ago are now doing so all the time. And this affect has accelerated as our science and technology has accelerated. None of this is speculation. It is simple fact.

Now another naive conclusion is that the removal of the previous criterion of natural selection that played a role in our evolution means that we will de-evolve. But this is ONLY true if you have the bad taste to call the handicapped inferior. We have rejected this Eugenics type of thinking to reaffirm the humanity of the handicapped and work toward improving their lives and ability to contribute to society. In short we have chosen to compensate for their disabilities with the technology of the community as much as we are able to do so. The point of the OP is that an analogous thing happened in the development of multicellular organisms where the same kind of protection of its weakers members enabled comunities of cells to evolve specialized cells that cannot survive on their own anymore but which play valuable roles in the community environment which it had created and thus enabled the whole community to do things which the individual cells never could.

If you think about it, evolution is adapting to your surrounding environment to improve living conditions for the organism and to create a harmony between the organism and its surroundings. However, our natural instincts do not seem to be creating a natural harmony between us and our environments, instead we adapt our environment to suit our needs.

Adapting our environment is hardly unique to human beings. It very old trick employed throughout the diversity of life on this planet. It is a well known fact that life has completely altered the composition of the atmosphere of this planet. "Natual instincts" to develop a harmony with one environment is frankly a myth that has no basis in reality. No such instinct exists. Either balances are found or things change, and both of these can be found throughout the history of this planet.

The truth is that the human race is the only species on the planet that has ever been aware of and concerned itself with the ecological balance of the earth. Our survival may well depend on the development of that awareness and concern, but that just means that with our power to affect the balance of nature comes the responsibility to do it wisely for the consequences otherwise may be our own extinction.

We don't offer any room for adaptation of our own physical forms and if we go on this way, before we eventually end up destroying ourselves, then we won't physically evolve at all.

But we are allowing the for the adaptation of our own physical forms. But you are wrong to see this as so terribly important because the fact is that our survival no longer rests upon our physical form any more. Our technological capabilities far exceed such considerations. The question of whether we end destroying ourselves isn't a matter of genetic evolution any more but of how we use our technology and how well we adapt to our new reality as a world community.
Edited October 24, 2012 by mitchellmckain (see edit history)

[yordan 10]

you are right, we are changing slowly. Could this be seen as a "step" toward a future evolution? Not sure. However, we are changing. Our children are taller than our fathers. Some tens years ago, old people were small and slim, today old people are fat. Something is changing in the way we react toward our environment. And maybe some of the genetic changes will be driven by the last nuclear accidents.

[mitchellmckain 0]

Our children are taller than our fathers. Some tens years ago, old people were small and slim, today old people are fat.

These are probably acquired characteristics due to changes in diet, and as you should know acquired characteristics are not inherited or a matter of genetics. You need to look a little beneath such superficialities for the real evolutionary changes.

Something is changing in the way we react toward our environment.

This is true and it is more than just acquired characteristics because inheritance is all about information and the information we pass on to the next generation isn't just genetic any more. We can no longer ignore the impact we are having on the earth and that awareness is the first step towards the evolution (in human communication and social terms rather than genetic terms) of the self-control that we need.

And maybe some of the genetic changes will be driven by the last nuclear accidents.

That is a science fiction myth. Random radiation damage is NOT what drives evolution or genetic change. It is true that more primitive organisms do make use of this as a source of genetic variation. But for more complex organisms which have evolved their own means to introduce genetic variations in their genome, such random damage when it succeed in overwhelming our rather efficient repair mechanisms, is just cancer, radiation sickness and death and not any kind of productive genetic variation.
Edited October 28, 2012 by mitchellmckain (see edit history)

[manuleka 0]

... And maybe some of the genetic changes will be driven by the last nuclear accidents.

accident? i think it would be more like intentional reset for earth