What Will Humans Look Like if They Continue to Evolve
Science has confirmed that animals either evolve to their changing environment or go extinct, and humans are no different. Over the course of mankind, humans have evolved in numerous ways to make us more fit to survive in a dynamic planet. Some of these evolutionary characteristics include the ability to walk on two legs, use tools, and build fire. While these changes in the human race occurred many years ago, there is evidence that we continue to evolve in more recent years. For instance, about 3,000 years ago we developed lactose tolerance, recent statistics show that more and more people are born without wisdom teeth, and our brains are shrinking. However, not all scientist are in agreement with the idea that humans will continue to evolve, some believe that we have reached our peak evolutionary fitness. Having said this, are humans continuing to evolve and if so, what will we look like in the future?
" Because we have evolved, it's natural to imagine we will continue to do so, but I think that's wrong," anthropologist Ian Tattersall of New York's American Museum of Natural History articulates. Ian Tattersall along with many other scientists believe that we have stopped evolving for multiple reasons. The first of these reasons are advancements in medicine. When Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species in 1859 the survival rate of British children to the age of 21 was only about 50%. Now the survival rate of British children to the age of 21 is about 99%. Darwin's theory of evolution is built on the principle of survival of the fittest. However, today in advanced nations, both the fit and the unfit survive to a reproductive age at increasingly high rates because of modern medicine. So, if the the concept of survival of the fittest is obsolete, how will evolution continue to occur in humans? Another reason why some scientists believe that humans have stopped evolving is the lack of isolation between human societies. Darwin outlined in On the Origin of Species that genetic mutations are most likely to occur in small isolated populations. This fact is supported by Darwin's Galapagos finches which evolved to their own separate environments. Thus, the increase of crossbreeding between populations on earth will decrease genetic mutations and slow human evolution to a grinding halt. However, there is another side to this debate.
For instance, a study published last month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that women of the future could become shorter and stouter . A group of scientists at Yale University led by Stephen Stearns found that shorter, slightly larger women tend to have more children than women that are taller and skinnier. They believe that this correlation has to do with ovulatory characteristics that are beneficial to childbirth. Another example of continued human evolution is in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which found that over the past 5,000 years humans brains have been shrinking. Scientists believe that this may have a few different causes. One idea is that in large societies we are able to specialize our brains to do certain tasks, whereas in a hunter gatherer civilization, people are responsible for many different tasks in order to survive. Another idea is that having a smaller head in general is beneficial to childbirth which may serve as an evolutionary advantage. Whatever the reasons, there seems to be evidence that humans continue to evolve.
Based on the above evidence, can we conclude that humans will continue to evolve in the future? In my brief meta analysis of various sources, the null hypothesis is that humans will not continue to evolve and the alternative hypothesis is that humans will continue to evolve. There is little doubt in the scientific community that humans have evolved in the recent past and are evolving right now. However, I do not feel that there is sufficient evidence to say that humans will definitely evolve in the future. Thus, I have failed to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis. This doesn't guarantee that we will not continue to evolve, rather there is just not sufficient evidence to conclude for certain that we will continue to evolv
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My personal opinion on the matter is that human evolution will be dictated by various advancements in technology. For instance, if future humans begin to live on different planets around the galaxy, it is more than likely that humans will evolve to their respective planet. Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona was quoted saying that if certain people did move to Mars then, "These people will become an offshoot of the human tree, and most likely evolve into something else."Another consideration is how much better we become with medical treatment. If medical practices continue to improve like they have over the past 200 years, there is a real possibility that evolution of humans slows down tremendously. Having said this, I do believe that humans will continue to evolve but our evolution is impossible to predict because it relies so heavily on unknown technological advancements.
Source: https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/12/02/will-humans-continue-to-evolve/
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