I am proposing a discussion of the the future direction of human evolution, including the merit of the ideas explained below.
(NOTE: The term "evolution" used below is not according to the usage in the modern science of biology regarding genetic change alone, but as the entire process by which life developed upon this planet including genetic change. I consider this relatively recent restriction of the term in the science of biology to be far too restrictive in a general philosophical discussion.)
Everyone has seen new X-men movies about the "next stage of human evolution." One of the funny things about evolution and history is that these are things that happen in everyday life, only the participants are often unaware of what is happening all around them. I believe that we are in the next stage of evolution already and that the signs of it are all around us.
Only it not Darwin's theory because he had no "next stage" in his theory. But there are stages. If we look far enough back into the past, there was a time that there were only single celled organisms. And if we look carefully at our cells we see evidence that these too were once composed of smaller more primitive independent units (similar to bacterial and algae and called prokaryotic cells). Darwin's original theory does not address these gaps. According to his theory the individual cells should continue struggling against each other for survival, so that only the fittest survive.
But this is not what happened. If we look at our bodies we will find that most of our cells no longer have the ability to survive on their own. By working together and sheilding each other, protecting weaker members they have changed all the rules of evolution. For them it is no longer survival of the fittest, it is survival of the community.
The driving force of evolution is always variation. Leaps of evolution occur when something happens that make a whole new range of variation possible. The beginning of sexual reproduction was one of those leaps. But think now about the inherent limitation that Darwin's evolution imposes upon variation. When it is all about individual survival, then there is not much room for variation is there? We should all be farmers or hunters in that case, don't
you think.
Natural selection provides a directive factor, which also provides a means for evolutionary change. But this is a very negative force for change, for it bring the swiftest changes by massive deaths and extinction. There is no doubting its role in evolution but it is not one that the human race would want to endure in its future without strenuous opposition. If we understand that human evolution is in another stage where natural selection is not the most important factor, then it is cooperation with and protection of our fellow man rather than competition and the death of our fellow man that represents the forward direction in the evolution of man.
Isn't it clear that human beings have taken this step into the next stage of evolution. Don't we now protect the weaker members of the community? Look at what liberation it has brought us. Look at the variety of man. Have we not changed the rules of evolution ourselves? The use of glasses is a perfect example of how we are in the next stage of evolution. Just as individual cells have overcome their limitations with the technology of its community (think of the human eye), we have overcome the limitations of our biology and individual evolution with the technology of the community of man. And just like the cells in our body, the community has become our greatest concern and our encompassing environment.
When you look at the human body where are the X-men? By forming a community of cells, we have allowed some cells to evolve fantastic specialized abilities that could not exist if they had to survive on their own. The neuron is a great example. I believe that the liberation from the need to satisfy the requirements for individual survival is a key stimulus for the next stage of evolution. In this case, where are the true X-men in today's humanity? Are they not those we call handicapped? Do not those who are blind develop their senses and abilities in ways that other people do not. I saw this special on TV earlier this year about people with Williams syndrome, and in addition to physical difficulties they also had above average abilities in other areas like sociability, hearing and music.
As our society learns to accomodate and provide active social roles for the handicapped are we not changing the rules of evolution. Could we be creating the conditions for the next stage of human evolution where we will see the real X-men of our future.
Edited by mitchellmckain, : justification
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