Do you think humans will evolve further in the future?

[flobadob]

Supposedly humans have evolved over millions of years to what we are now. However due to further conditions on earth do you think it is likely that humans will need to evolve more features for future survival. I see that a study has shown billions of people are at risk of water pollution so perhaps humans will need to have some sort of filter in our systems for drinking water in the future. Or I heard once that food will become scarce so perhaps we will have to absorb the sun for energy rather than eat. Am I way off here?

[society]

I believe you must be talking about the next world :-)

[jomifl]

yes

[LazyGun]

They may evolve - some of the underlying mechanisms that can contribute to the evolutionary process are now blunted though, with advances in science, health, medicine, nutrition, technology etc.

Regarding your specific examples, it is far more likely that mechanical or technological solutions will come first - And the concept of humans feeding directly off solar energy -Thats a huge leap - cannot really see that happening.

[jomifl]

almost certainly despite the cult of the body perfect that obsesses some people, humans will evolve fatter ar$e$, and smaller brains and a socket for direct connection to a gameboy or xbox, matrix hear we come.

[dotty.]

but we already have out own immune system that has been fine tuned to withstand a multitude of nasty little inavding bacteria and turn them in out favour, I think the only thing we can do is develop webbed feet and a liking for mould if this year is anything to go by

[askyourgran]

I can only say that our systems are geared to absorb nutrients from food, meat, seeds fruit and vegetables. People who have been stranded in desert conditions have died without food and humans can survive by drinking water for only so long. In the future I would think that our food would be grown in huge structures not unlike the Eden Project in Cornwall, and perhaps desalination plants would be prevalent for sea water together with filters for reservoir water.

[boxtops]

I'm just watching the last part of Stephen Hawking on ITV, fascinating stuff about what might happen in teh solar system in the future.

[wildwood]

Evolution can not keep up with the changing planet. Unless we stop the pollution in the very near future and stop breeding children like rabbits, the world is doomed, I tell you....DOOMED :-)
The likelyhood of humans settling on another planet is as likely as developing a perpetual machine.

Over a third of the world's population already lives in unhealthy poverty but are easily forgotten. This includes the many millions living in slums in the 'civilised' world.

Nature has a way of reducing over population; Aids was just a warning.

[nohorn]

wildwood: I agree with you. Are you and I the only two that think humans are doomed, it is only a matter of time. We might as well give up. There is no hope.

[modeller]

Evolution/ adaptation isn't always logical early humanoids were very hairy but it was not needed so we gradually lost it where it was not needed. So far, so good but that doesn't explain why men go bald and frequently have hairy chests whilst women are the opposite.

[jake-the-peg]

We are continually evolving - look at the variation that you can see in individuals.

That is almost certainly the tip of the iceberg.

There are variations in people's physiology, biochemistry, psychology personalities etc.

You see stories of people dying young from disorders, disease, accidents - that's one more that didn't make it.

Yes perhaps that teenager was just a passenger in the car accident, but over time that is weeding out overly aggressive.

Of course "faint heart ne'er won fair maiden" so it works the other way too.

There's a bit of an idea going around - even amoungst some very well established academics - that humans are no longer evolving due to modern medecine.

Even if that were true - and I'm pretty sure it's not - I'd ask what percentage of the planet's humans have access to such medecine

[RATTER15]

What makes you think we have actually stopped evolving, your not exactly going to see changes day by day.

[flobadob]

That's what I asked.

[modeller]

jake # There's a bit of an idea going around - even amoungst some very well established academics - that humans are no longer evolving due to modern medecine.
Even if that were true - and I'm pretty sure it's not - I'd ask what percentage of the planet's humans have access to such medecine #

jake I don't understand your logic ? Millions of people throughout the world are now living and more importantly ,reproducing, who would years ago have died because of their inherent weaknesses. As time goes by more and more people will be passing on their weakness on to their descendents . That would indicate that positive evolution will not only cease but may in fact go backwards.

[WaldoMcFroog]

But if these weaknesses are treatable by scientific advances, it doesn't matter, does it, Modeller? It only matters if - somehow - we lose the science. Evolution by natural selection is about fitness for the environment, and science allows us to leapfrog the slow creep of that process by bypassing the issue of waiting for a beneficial mutation. We can make a tractor that allows us to farm better. We can make a gun to defend ourselves. We can get in a car and drive away from Godzilla. etc.

The future of medicine will be in individually-targetted gene manipulation. Many illnesses will be detectable and treatable at the earliest stages of life.

Nevertheless, there will still likely be evolution even for the lucky ones with access to this technology. Bigger brains, perhaps? Better memory capacity. Better eyesight. Who knows?

In any case, evolution cannot go backwards. It's about fitness for environment. Environments change and what may have been fit for one niche may not be fit for another, but that's not evolution going backwards.

[ludwig]

Evolution doesn't have to be slow. If some kind of pandemic disease comes along that some of us are genetically more resistant to than others, then we will evolve over the course of a single generation.
The mechanism is blunted as Lazygun says because we are more capable of adapting the environment to suit ourselves, rather than the other way around, but we're still continually evolving.

[jomifl]

We don't have to evolve to be ' bigger, stronger, faster' we can evolve to be smaller, weaker, slower' if that confers a survival advantage in some other way. Only time will tell.

[modeller]

I understand what you are saying waldo # The future of medicine will be in individually-targetted gene manipulation. Many illnesses will be detectable and treatable at the earliest stages of life.#
but just because we are able to detect and treat a diseases doesn't mean we have evolved.
We may be able to manipulate genes but unless we do it at cell/sperm level the individual will still pass on any weak/faulty genes. I used the term ; may go backwards, and according to the Lancet we are losing much of our natural resistance to certain diseases . Now this may be because of the over use of antibiotics but the net result we have gone backwards. There are many more cases of allergic reactions today than in previous years . Asthma is on the increase in chidren . Some say these are resulting from us being too hygenic and therfore we don't build up our immune system. Whatever the reasons if our bodies are no longer able to cope with our environment , I would say that is an indication of going backwards.
However over such a short time scale of one two generations we can only surmise.