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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Fri, 2 Nov 2001 12:25:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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939 times
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Dave Low wrote:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> > > 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.
>
> I'm no physiologist, and this is largely based on mediocre SF, but I think
> it's quite possible that humans will evolve rapidly as a response to low
> gravity conditions (if that's not a selective pressure I don't know what
> is!!). More immediately, development and growth could easily be affected
> (lower bone densities etc) and cultural/physical antipathy to Earth would
> create a population bottleneck. Isolated population + novel environment =
> classic speciation scenario.
>
> --DaveL
I think one of the biggest shifts in our species "unnatural evolution" will come
when we stop worrying about the effect of zerogee (ZG) on the human body and
split into ZG and PlusG branches, where ZGs will have no DESIRE to visit planets
and deal with the nasty gravity there. At that point, there's a good chance
that most PlusGs won't have any desire to deal with ZG either.
Of course, if we ever develop antigrav/gravg and get it to the point where you
could wear a belt unit, it won't matter - ZGs can visit Dirt with their beltpack
and not have to worry about the nasty physical effects, and PGs could wear a
gravbelt in ZG environments.
--
| Tom Stangl, iPlanet Web Server Technical Support
| Sun Microsystems Customer Service
| iPlanet Support - http://www.iplanet.com/support/
| Please do not associate my personal views with my employer
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Future of Humanity (was: lotsa stuff)
|
| (...) <nit-pick> I think this is totally natural evolution. Our technology is an extension of our phenotype, just culturally expressed rather than genetically, and since it lets us access a new environment it makes biological sense that we adapt to (...) (23 years ago, 2-Nov-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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| (...) I think these points interact in an interesting way. (...) I'm no physiologist, and this is largely based on mediocre SF, but I think it's quite possible that humans will evolve rapidly as a response to low gravity conditions (if that's not a (...) (23 years ago, 30-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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