Question

The topic of this week's forum is a broad one--humanity's future. You have learned how human evolution has been shaped by forces such as the physical environment, antagonistic and symbiotic relationships with other species, disease, and human cultural interactions. Now share your predictions for the future of human evolution. What biological changes in humans will occur over the next centuries? How might forces such as climate change, disease, genetic technology, and globalization affect us? Do you think our physical appearance will change substantially (are we going to grow ever-enormous brains for example)? Try to apply what you have learned about evolutionary and biocultural forces in making your predictions. You are free to be imaginative and speculate here--so long as you provide a rationale for your predictions!

Answer 1

The next stage of human evolution is probably going to include a more intimate integration with technology. mankind has already taken to wear technology on them that keep them connected to others via the internet 24/7. Smart watches, wireless earbuds, smart glasses, phones etc have kept us connected. The next step would probably include inserting tech via chips or implants directly into our bodies. This is not science fiction as it has already been done for various implementations. But all these are not yet viable options since the way these devices communicate are not exactly good for our bodies. But purely biologically speaking we are most likely to become a taller population and very likely a have more body mass. The immunity of a large part of the human population is bound to suffer due to overexposure to antibiotics and also due to the extreme amounts of pollution we cause. This pollution not only has caused a higher chance of diseases many pollutants can induce undesirable mutations or overexpresses immune responses. Since genetic manipulation is becoming more viable it might be used to modulate human behaviour as well as appearance. The challenge as of now will be to do it while minimising the side effects of the same. The life expectancy might decrease considerably if the current lifestyle choices continue as it is and no proper steps are taken to prevent diseases such as cancers or to curb the effect of viruses. To conclude we can say that the future of humanity an vary to a great extent depending how focused and committed we are to finding ways to reduce the harmful side effects of our current technology.