fltsfshr

OK in light of a couple other threads on here and the studied and learned opinions of the many great minds who hang out here, what about prevolution?

Whats the next great evolutionary leap? Hindsight works well, right. OK Look forward. Where are we going?

fltsfshr

DiamondDave2005

I'm reading a book called Accelerando, by Charles Stross, and this is exactly what he's writing about (assuming you mean evolution in human terms).

It's an interesting look at the melding of human (and other) minds with computers, and how people like us are getting left behind as kids leap forward into a different society.

dean

Impossible to say. Evolution is driven in part by random events (genetic mutations). You would probably stand a better chance of predicting the next Florida Lotto winner.

fltsfshr

OK THen how about an educated guess?

Or an uneducated one too?



I going for a herbivore theme more of a herd than a pack syndrome. Probably multiple stomachs and the ability to fly.


fltsfshr

MsPerky

Somehow I interpreted this title to mean what happened before evolution.

dean

Herbivory isn't very efficient in terms of time for a biped like humans, and we already exhibit herding behavior.

I'm inclined toward the idea that human evolution has hit an impasse. Genetic mutation is required, but a sizeable isolated population is also required for mutations to gain a foothold, so to speak. Barring any catastrophes or other unforeseen events, I don't see that happening. Thanks to modern technology we intermingle more and more with each passing year. In fact, I can envision the erasure of the genetic variants ("races") we now have in ten to twenty thousand years.
I'm also inclined toward a type of scenario that Dave pointed out - that any changes that humans undergo may well be self engineered.
I should also point out that all of this is pure speculation on my part and is a personal opinion, not a scientific opinion.

valentine

Hmmmm -- I consider myself rather evolved since I never got all my wisdom teeth. Isn't that a step toward the evolution of the species?

MsPerky

More like a misstep, Val...most of us end up having them pulled out!

valentine

^^ Whew, lucky me. I only had one and had to get it taken out. I understand most people get four. I suppose that was a little fancy steppin' on my part, huh???

dean

Not unless you pass that trait on to millions of your descendents.
As a child, I had this strange fang-like tooth grow out of the roof of my mouth. My dentist at the time confirmed that it was an extra tooth, not a displacement of one of my normal teeth. As far as I know, no one in my family has had it before or since. It's just one of those weird genetic blips that occur from time to time, but they aren't of any evolutionary significance.