Evolution-where is it heading?

[benhur]

When did humans first change (to appear the way we do now), and when will there be another change? I am specifically referring to change in physical appearance. What did humans look like, before they all evolved into the present form? How long will it take for us to evolve into something totally different from what we are now?

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

When did humans first change (to appear the way we do now), and when will there be another change?

That's two questions, really. Modern humans are reckoned to have appeared sometime between 130,000 and 200,000 years ago.

As for further changes, assuming that technological civilisation remains extant, and not taking into account any human-directed changes in evolution (transhumanism), it seems likely that humans will become better able to function in mass society - reduced aggressiveness, increased empathy, that sort of thing. There are also some physical trends, but I'm not sure if they are a consequence of evolution or if they will continue in the direction they are going - our jaws are getting smaller, puberty is occurring earlier, and people are generally getting smarter.


I am specifically referring to change in physical appearance. What did humans look like, before they all evolved into the present form?The Wikipedia page on Human evolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution) is a good start.


How long will it take for us to evolve into something totally different from what we are now?Depending on the environment, anytime between a couple of hundred thousand years and a million years.

[benhur]

What about Europeans? Are they part neanderthal, going by DNA tests? The neaderthals had the same appearance, like red hair, freckles, light skin.

Thanks for your responses, though. I was actually interested in PHYSICAL changes only in this thread, not in technological advances and the rest. For instance, if you consider the past, when did humans LOOK completely-I repeat-completely different from the way they look today. And as for the future, when are they going to look COMPLETELY different from what they are today. Are there pictures, so we can see WHAT HUMANS MIGHT LOOK LIKE in the future?

[Picky Bugger]

What do you mean Europeans? are you singling out people of European descent from people from other parts of the world? If so this seems quite misguided...

Modern humans do not descend from neanderthals as they are of a different species. There is a theory that the neanderthals and homosapiens inter bread in the distant past (if I remember rightly) but the effects of this would be non-existent now.

As for how we will look its not really possible to say. There would (if evolution has the chance to continue) be a point where a new species arose from ours, possibly making "us" redundant. this is of course only me postulating and I feel it could not happen in any close time period.

As for pictures check Google, most of the ones ive seen seem rather silly. An extra finger for example or enlarged testicles, the latter seems pointless or else many species would have developed this to help with reproduction.

[Bitter Ashes]

What about Europeans? Are they part neanderthal, going by DNA tests? The neaderthals had the same appearance, like red hair, freckles, light skin.

Thanks for your responses, though. I was actually interested in PHYSICAL changes only in this thread, not in technological advances and the rest. For instance, if you consider the past, when did humans LOOK completely-I repeat-completely different from the way they look today. And as for the future, when are they going to look COMPLETELY different from what they are today. Are there pictures, so we can see WHAT HUMANS MIGHT LOOK LIKE in the future?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6057734.stm (http://www.anonym.to/?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6057734.stm)
That's one possibility. Pretty grim imo :(

[Yazman]

What about Europeans? Are they part neanderthal, going by DNA tests? The neaderthals had the same appearance, like red hair, freckles, light skin.

Thanks for your responses, though. I was actually interested in PHYSICAL changes only in this thread, not in technological advances and the rest. For instance, if you consider the past, when did humans LOOK completely-I repeat-completely different from the way they look today. And as for the future, when are they going to look COMPLETELY different from what they are today. Are there pictures, so we can see WHAT HUMANS MIGHT LOOK LIKE in the future?

I'm not sure if you have a clear understanding of how the evolutionary process works, but its great to know you want to learn :). In the terms of "when did humans look completely different from the way they do today" - well, in those days there wasn't anything that you would recognise as human. Every species in genus homo that has existed has not looked drastically different from the way we do. You would have to go back and take a look at the australopithecines for example, where they were basically more ape-like in appearance. They were much more robust, generally with supraorbital ridges, far longer arms, a mostly hairy body, the projection of the skull was far different than ours. Much larger zygomatic arches, many of them had a saggital crest and an occipital bun. The orientation of their hips and feet was quite different as well.

I would say that for what you are looking for probably homo habilis is the latest of our ancestors that looked "totally different" although even then there are quite striking similarities.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

What about Europeans? Are they part neanderthal, going by DNA tests? The neaderthals had the same appearance, like red hair, freckles, light skin.

The existance of fossils with mixed traits seem to indicate that some interbreeding between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon humans occurred, but as to how much of a contribution they ultimately made to European ethnic make-up, I couldn't say for sure. It certainly appears to be minimal.


Thanks for your responses, though. I was actually interested in PHYSICAL changes only in this thread, not in technological advances and the rest. I already discounted artificial alteration of the human genome (IE transhumanism), and speculated on the possible effects of civilisation on natural human evolution.


For instance, if you consider the past, when did humans LOOK completely-I repeat-completely different from the way they look today. And as for the future, when are they going to look COMPLETELY different from what they are today. Are there pictures, so we can see WHAT HUMANS MIGHT LOOK LIKE in the future?If there are, they are based entirely on speculation since we do not know for certain what selection pressures might exist in the future.

[piet11111]

well over evolution humans got taller and got bigger brains = bigger heads and less body hair.

i expect those trends to continue and because of modern travel the "ethnic" characteristics will probably get mixed.

[Lynx]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6057734.stm (http://www.anonym.to/?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6057734.stm)
That's one possibility. Pretty grim imo :(
I've always thought it strange that HG Wells believed the Eloi were the stupid ones.

[Hit The North]

Modern humans do not descend from neanderthals as they are of a different species. There is a theory that the neanderthals and homosapiens inter bread in the distant past (if I remember rightly) but the effects of this would be non-existent now.



I beg to disagree. Look at Mick Hucknall :blink: :

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2007/10/25/mick460.jpg

[Dr Mindbender]

i think the evolutionary path of man will be defined by the way the world changes.

If global warming is an inevitability, dark skin will become a preferable trait to deal with warmer temperatures.

Ha, take that stormfronters! :D

[Picky Bugger]

I beg to disagree. Look at Mick Hucknall :blink: :



I think he is descended from some sort of toad creature rather than from homosapien - neanderthal inter breading... :D

[WhitemageofDOOM]

well over evolution humans got taller and got bigger brains = bigger heads and less body hair.

Human brains have reached the peek of the brute force method of intelligence increase via bigger brains. You make a human brain any bigger and the physical constraints reduce it's speed.
Intelligence increase at this point needs to stem from optimization, or through the brute force application of replacing less useful areas of the brain.

[Yazman]

I think in light of posts here it should be noted that the common image in society of neanderthals being "stupid and brutish" is the exact opposite of what we know about them. They were highly specialised and highly intelligent, and in many ways on par with modern man, unfortunately their specialisation to their climate was one of their major downfalls as homo sapiens easily adapts to any climate on earth.

But they were in no way "stupid" or less advanced. They even developed their own technology that was innovative in some ways.

[Sentinel]

I already discounted artificial alteration of the human genome (IE transhumanism), and speculated on the possible effects of civilisation on natural human evolution.But then the whole thread is reduced to speculation about something that won't happen. Humanity will take full control over it's own evolution, the process has already began.

Our posthuman future is inevitable. :cool:


They were highly specialised and highly intelligent, and in many ways on par with modern man, unfortunately their specialisation to their climate was one of their major downfalls as homo sapiens easily adapts to any climate on earth.

You are right that Neanderthals were an intelligent species in the sense our ancestors were at the time. The reason why they went extinct is not agreed upon though -- many possible theories have been presented (not all mutually exclusive either).

Besides the theory that they couldn't adapt to climate changes, some others put the blame on hostility from our species, as well as a high number of childbed deaths resulting in too few offspring, as reasons for the decline of this branch of the human species.

[Yazman]

You are right that Neanderthals were an intelligent species in the sense our ancestors were at the time. The reason why they went extinct is not agreed upon though -- many possible theories have been presented (not all mutually exclusive either).

Besides the theory that they couldn't adapt to climate changes, some others put the blame on hostility from our species, as well as a high number of childbed deaths resulting in too few offspring, as reasons for the decline of this branch of the human species.

I think in all likeliness it is best put down to a combination of these factors as each of them did play a role to a certain extent. It is interesting to me that recent DNA evidence suggests that they did indeed have speech! It has been highly debated for quite a long time now and its good to see some new evidence on the matter.

**edit**
I just want to add something in reference to what was mentioned earlier about transhumanism. The time it takes for even minimal changes to occur on a species-wide level is hundreds of thousands of years for humans, although this varies greatly depending on what life form you are describing; for insects it is generally MUCH faster. It is highly unlikely that in this period of time we humans wouldn't have already taken control of our own evolution and even if we ignore the fact that its extremely difficult to predict selection processes in the far future (as Noxion mentioned), it would be difficult for us to differentiate between "natural" processes and human-directed processes and so any sorts of predictions might end up being meaningless.

In light of this it might be interesting if you look into the possibilities of human evolution, either naturally or as engineered by humans, under specific environmental concerns. An interesting topic that is actually going to become very important to us in the next few decades, with the advent of space settlements (the permanent base on the moon for example) - is how microgravity will affect human reproduction and development, and also how, in this specific example of the American moon settlement, how lower gravity might affect reproduction and development. This is a topic that has had little research if any as far as humans are concerned but would be of great merit if we are to begin colonising space and extraterrestrial bodies like the moon.

[Oneironaut]

Once homo sapien sapien began to adapt the environment to his condition, didn't that put a relative halt to the process of hominization and greatly accelerated the process of humanization? I would imagine that while we may go through some amounts of hominization, it is relatively trivial compared to our direction towards humanization.