Subject:
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Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 30 Oct 2001 04:58:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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879 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Ross Crawford writes:
> > >
> > > That may be so, but I would think that most people who have a middling
> > > understanding of evolution would agree that intelligence has little (if any)
> > > effect on it.
> >
> > Except to stop it. Which we are in the process of doing, and which was my
> > original point!
>
> We may, in the end, cause our own extinction, in which case I guess you could
> say we're currently in the process of stopping our evolution, but I think it's
> a pretty big stretch. As I've said before, I think humanity will eventually
> become extinct anyway - so I guess we're witnessing our extinction.
I understood Larry's point differently, in that optimistically we might
never go extinct (technology propelling us beyond the earth, the solar
system, the galaxy, the universe...), but in terms of biological evolution
we're more or less at a dead end (deliberate genetic manipulation aside[1]).
I think speciation of humans on earth is unlikely: if anything we're
homogenising. Once we colonise space though I think it's almost inevitable,
if fertile humans can be conceived and born in non-earth gravity.
Of course all this flesh based evolution will be academic when we
collectively upload to the net. Could be useful as a source of new
personalities I suppose.
--DaveL
[1] That's a whopping aside. I think the ethicists are way behind the eight
ball on this.
My tips, and you heard it here first:
2002: designer human v1.0
tested for genetic abnormalities, gender in vitro
2003: first cloned human being born
2004: designer humanoid v1.0
nonhuman DNA incorporated in a viable human embryo
2005: first fatherless girl born
2006: genetic therapy in post-natal humans begins
2007: designer human v2.0
selected for intelligence, attractiveness etc
2009: designer human v2.5
this tiime selection for traits actually works
2012: designer human v3.0
gene therapy in utero, both on clones and naturals where necessary
in vitro selected naturals comprise 10% of births
2013: designer humanoid v2.0
first humanoids born with a partially non-human phenotype (super strength)
2015: designer human v4.0
complete control over recombination: any combination of parents possible
2020: artificial womb
first motherless children born
2025: post-natal genetic manipulation for non-therapeutic purposes
...
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Message has 5 Replies:
 | | Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
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| (...) Right. Or at least closer. What I'm getting at is that evolution is a natural process that produces changes in organisms in response to changes in environment (including the changes that occur in other organisms) but that we are now choosing, (...) (23 years ago, 30-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
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| (...) "Dead end" has an air of finality that can't be declared with any confidence when speaking of evolution. It may be the case, though I don't think so, that we've created a temporary stall on evolution, but even then, it's not world-wide, and (...) (23 years ago, 30-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
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| (...) any) (...) it's (...) That's possible, but doesn't stop evolution within the species. (...) We'll need some fairly large colonies before earth becomes expendable (IMO). (...) "Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability. (...) (23 years ago, 30-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
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| (...) of (...) tend (...) We may, in the end, cause our own extinction, in which case I guess you could say we're currently in the process of stopping our evolution, but I think it's a pretty big stretch. As I've said before, I think humanity will (...) (23 years ago, 30-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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