Evolution...?

[Romidude]

But children won't have gigantic hands because they have a father/mother who punched a lot of people.

If that was the case Chuck Norris's hands would be gigantic.

I didn't say that. .-. stop messing with the quotes.

 

[CrazyMedic]

actually scientists have observed races that should be lactose intolerant becoming lactose tolerant we are also seeing humanity start producing more brown fat which lets us burn fat without running around.

 

[Warnolo]

A crazy friend of mine told me that we are going to get jedi powers or some shit like that.

You know, move things with our mind.

 

[likalaruku]

Behold! Your future!

 

[joshuaayt]

We will only encounter massive changes through technology, which is sort of our new evolution by proxy.

Biologically, though?

Women will have larger breasts, Men will have longer dicks. This is because most men want larger chests, and most women want longer penises.

These are the only aesthetic definite changes, though- perceptions of beauty change from generation to generation (In fact, we all tend towards the general beauty desired of the generation before us), and so other features are not necessarily going to be spread very far.

I expect basics, like lung and heart health, will improve over time. Maybe we'll gain a stronger resistance to harmful chemicals like tobacco- though I'm not sure about that one, as only so many people actually smoke often enough to be at any imminent death risk.

Most importantly, you can be assured that we will remain humanoid, with no major alterations- because of our obsession with beauty, it is unlikely that most will be willing to breed with a "deformed" person, even if that deformed person is somehow superior.


In other news, did anyone hear about that snake with an arm? It was actually using it to crawl across a wall, at least until it was killed... So much for man-snakes.

EDIT: Oh, right- I almost forgot the most important part! The good news:

We do not evolve significantly anymore, because... We are as evolved as we need to be!
Evolution exists to allow adaptation to ones environment. WE adapt the environment to OUR needs, and so we have evolved past the need for the natural selection process- technology can easily be used to fill in any blanks, like medical conditions and whatnot.

 

[joshuaayt]

wordswordswords.

Evolution will always occur because even if natural selection has ceased to be a factor because of a static environment, mutation and genetic drift would still occur. And there is no superior or inferior in evolution since it's simply the result of adapting to survive in a specific environment through the preservation of the genes that are best for reproducing in that environment.

I don't think mutation would contribute significantly, as our aesthetic-obsessed society would detect any noticable changes and be repelled. Internal alterations, perhaps, but living *just* that bit longer shouldn't affect us too much, as we live way past childbirthing age anyhow.

I'll admit that improved health would change our appearances, and, as such, could indeed affect our genes, because a hot dude is a desirable dude, right?

I don't understand genetic drift entirely- embarrasing, as a yr 11 bio student. I'll read up on that.

 

[robodukky]

At the current rate, half the world will evolve into a species of obese blobs, whilst the other half just died out. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

 

[kouriichi]

Larger heart, lungs, veins and arteries to accomidate the new life style of most humans. A lazy life style with little exercize.

I will guess after that, shorter lifespans, but with greater brain activity during the 70 years we live. Removal of the breastplate to increase organ size and fat storage. Thinner bones and darker skin tones. Reduced eyesight and hearing abilitys, but increased sence of touch. Faster reflex possibly.

But larger genitalia for us men is highly probable.

All in all a brighter future i think.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

This thread is already 8 pages long, so I'm just going to snerk at the people who use terms like "more evolved" and "next step." People who learned about evolution from Saturday morning cartoons, Pokemon, and silver age comic books.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

off switch. We need to die.
Can't stand living next to parasites, we all need off switch.

Can you kill me?

You people are crazy. Everyone talks a big game but nobody wants to do it.


Future is nothing. We have no future, our species is a waste. It's a mold, that's all. Pray for temperatures extreme enough to eradicate us.

and kill me please

We make decent art. Any species that can spawn Neil Gaiman [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death:_The_High_Cost_of_Living] is definitely preferable to mold or inert matter.

There are responsible, compassionate, interesting, and maybe even worthwhile activities you can engage in, and the vast majority of them require you to be alive to accomplish. There are billions of better things you can be doing than looking for an "off switch."

But, hey, that's just coming from an atheistic vegan who studies mass media.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

We will realize that no matter what the colour a person has value for specific jobs.

What? Please tell me you meant to say something else.

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

PPS: Currently, in most of human societies, some of the preferred traits are Tall Males, Light Colored Eyes, Blonde Hair, Little Body Hair, Slender Build.

Wow, you just described the Nazis...

Actually, a fair amount of National Socialist Party supporters failed to classify under "Aryan" parameters they themselves established as "ideal", which is amusing.

Also, this is simply a representation of the tendencies that, in general, global human societies seem to be attracted to.

 

[Sniperyeti]

P.Hamilton had an interesting idea that evolution would occur in three stages, first biological, then technological (what we are doing at the moment), then finally an 'inward migration' into a single digital/swarm form.
Not that he's an authority on the subject, but it looks plausible to me at first glance.

 

[Jewrean]

We won't evolve anymore. We've reached a point were instead of adapting to our surroundings, our surroundings adapt to us.

This 1+. Unless our bodies require a need to change then no evolution will take place. I could claim we are evolving ever so slowly right now in our fight against all the new diseases that we've discovered and / or created.

If anything we will devolve into a far more obese creature such as the ones seen in Wall-E simply because the technology we create is making us take more and more things for granted.