We as human beings believe that we represent the final product worth thousands-years-long evolution. Precisely that thought mislead us, thinking that we aren’t evolving anymore!
However, scientists don’t believe in opinions. They believe in facts and arguments. They knew that we aren’t the final product, and we are evolving into something much bigger. According to them, the human race currently grows faster than in the last 250 years.
Every evolution goes on for tens of thousands of years, so we cannot find the differences with our untrained eyes. I want to say that if our species continue to evolve in the future, humans would have different physical appearances.
Many scientists believe that this theory is true, but they cannot say how we would look like in the future.
A few years ago, one scientist, also an artist, researched scientists’ opinions and predictions, the results are quite interesting.
100 Thousand years Human Face Revolution!
In 2017 the researcher Nickolay Lamm, in collaboration with Dr. Alan Kwan, a computational geneticist, made three illustrations. The first hypothesis is what humans could look like in twenty thousand years, the second hypothesis is how we could look like sixty thousand years from now, and the last and third is how we could look like in 100 thousand years.
Regarding his research, it is one of many possible timelines. He considered human evolution and advancements in technology and genetic engineering.
The two researchers, Lamm and Kwan, assumed that people would have higher control of the human genome in the far future because the conditions would be different from ours.
Below we present you some of the most significant changes that the human species could experience in the future resulting from human evolution.
Larger forehead.
From 14th and 15th centuries, our forehead has been enlarged. The scientists that measure the skulls concluded that current human beings have a larger forehead. So it is logical that people in the future have higher foreheads than ours.
Facial Features.
Regarding the advancements that we’ve already made in genetic engineering, the researcher based one of his hypotheses on the belief that we will be further ahead sixty thousand years from now. Considering the control over the human genome, evolution cannot significantly affect human facial characteristics.
Maybe our faces can experience minor changes like larger eyes, a straighter nose, or higher symmetry, but that is all.
Furthermore, Kwan thinks that people will colonize various planets. Those humans who would live in places further than the sun may have larger eyes because of the lack of light. Also, their skin may be darker to lower the damage from the UV rays.
He also suggested that people will have thicker eyelids, with more prominent frontal bone below the eyebrows. It is help against the disruptive effects of cosmic rays. This is true because we can see it on our astronauts.
After forty thousand years, the changes will be evident. After one hundred thousand years from now, the eyes would be weirdly more prominent if we compare them to ours at this point.
Functional Necessities.
Further changes may happen, including larger nostrils. That way, humans could breathe better since they will go to other planets. Also, maybe the hair will be denser, so the larger heads could be warmed.
However, in an age when we can alter any feature about ourselves, Kwan says that characteristics that make us look natural will be preferred.
It will affect the way we use wearable tech. For example, discrete implants that look naturally human would follow the Google glass and iWatch. Maybe we would have some communication devices like communication lenses, embedded nanochips, etc.
Disagreement in the World of Genetics.
Once Kwan and Lamm shared their investigation and possible conclusions about human beings’ future, uproars among geneticists happened.
Mathew Harper is a Forbes’ writer, said that these two aren’t talking about evolution but genetic engineering. He said:
“He’s doing so somewhat naively, predicting that the only changes that will happen will be an enlarged braincase and enlarged eyes so we can use the computerized contact lenses that will apparently replace Google Glass,”
Also, Harper noted that one hundred thousand years is just a very short period of possible evolution. Because of this, human changes would be less noticeable. According to Harper, human brains currently aren’t growing, but they’re shrinking.
Lastly, Harper emphasized that the technology to make even the slightest change of our appearance is too far away. It is so far that we cannot think for it intelligently. And he concluded that Kwan and Lamm’s theory is less science and more science fiction.
Kwan’s Answer.
Kwan didn’t remain silent on Harper’s criticism. He said that his work is speculation and misinterpreted as predictions.
“The operative word “might” makes the statement an existential statement, which means that there is a non-zero possibility that a given event may occur. Given that we agree that no one can make an absolute statement about the future, by the same token, you cannot claim to know the negation of an existential statement, which is itself an absolute statement such as “this is not how a face might look like…” or its equivalent “there is no chance the human face will look like this….,”
Kwan is aware that no one could possibly say that these guesses are correct. But, at the same time, no one could say that they are wrong!
No matter how hard you try –You cannot predict the future!
So, the time will show what the future will be. Will we look like Kwan and Lamm’s predictions, or will we be something completely different?
Sources:
curiosmos.com
forbes.com
tiffytaffy.com
