The world is changing, each subsequent decade, century or millennium brings its own, characteristic changes, and the speed of change only increases. And just as the world changes, people change. Evolution continues. At the moment, there are many different theories that give their own options for human development in the future. However, some anthropologists and researchers still believe that evolutionary processes no longer play as important a role as they once did.
Biological evolution is a natural process of development of living nature, accompanied by changes in the genetic composition of populations, the formation of adaptations, speciation and extinction of species, transformation of ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole (c) Wikipedia
For example, according to Professor Steve Jones from University College London, evolution is fading into the background. If in the distant past, the strongest survived, then in the modern world, a person surrounded by comfort is unlikely to continue the mutation. At the same time, scientists do not exclude the possibility of changes and development of our bodies.
In addition, we must not forget about the existence of the Hardy-Weinerg law, which states that evolutionary change is mathematically necessary as long as the genetic population remains under the influence of at least one of five factors:
- Mutation
- Non-random mating
- Gene flow
- Genetic drift
- Natural selection
Based on this law, we can draw a simple conclusion - there will be evolutionary processes. That is why many scientists do not dwell on the debate “for” or “against” evolution, but put forward their own assumptions about what a person will look like in the future and what evolutionary changes threaten us over the next millennia.
Height change
The tendency to increase growth is well known and studied. If we take into account at least the last 100-150 years, then it is not difficult to calculate that humanity has become taller by an average of 10 centimeters. For example, every fifth resident of Italy is taller than 180 cm, and in the post-war period (after the Second World War), the number of people with such height was no more than 6% of the total population.
Average height of men on the world map
According to researchers, one of the main reasons for this change is the abundance of nutrients that are available to modern humans. And if earlier hunger prevented the body from developing, now in a large part of the world such an issue is no longer of secondary importance.
Human head size
It is interesting that there are two opinions on the issue of changing the size of the skull. The first says that the size of the skull will increase. This is primarily due to the development of man himself, because technological development implies the need for intellectual development and brain development. That is why, according to some scientists, in the future we will look like real standard “aliens.”
However, there is also an opinion opposite to this assumption, which states that the size of the cranium, if it undergoes changes, will be insignificant. Paleontologist Peter Ward, from the University of Washington in Seattle, thinks otherwise. The reason is very simple - any woman who has given birth at least once in her life will tell you with complete confidence that the baby’s head is already quite large. This is why the Caesarean section method is increasingly being used these days, and this is why evolution is unlikely to take such a step (no, we do not consider evolution to be something that has its own will - editor's note).
Skin color and facial features
Monoethnicity is the word that comes to mind for many scientists when it comes to the distant future of humanity. Mixed marriages have long ceased to be something out of the ordinary and “purity of blood” is preserved only among certain ethnic groups, which are usually in a certain isolation, territorial, religious or any other.
However, globalization and cultural fusion, together with the availability of free movement, are doing their job and sooner or later all this will lead to an averaging of facial features and skin color. Yale University professor Stephen Stearns says this. According to various researchers, skin and hair color will darken. Therefore, it is believed that in a few centuries or a little later, most of the world's population will look approximately like Brazilians.
There is also a parallel point of view, whose adherents believe that over time, humanity or individuals will be able to acquire the ability to mimicry, and therefore, it will be possible to change the color of their skin at will. Such statements could be considered science fiction, but scientists are already experimenting with the introduction of chromatophores (pigment-containing cells that are present in amphibians, reptiles, etc.).
Human hair
It's no secret that ancient people were much hairier than us. No, that doesn't mean they had very long hair, not at all, it’s just that the hairline was much more noticeable than it is now. The famous scientist Charles Darwin once said that the hair on our bodies is nothing more than a vestige, a kind of greeting from the past of humanity.
In those distant times, hair replaced a person’s clothing, but over time, such a need disappeared due to the spread and availability of clothing and heating. Therefore, there is a good chance that in the future humanity will become almost bald. However, even here we cannot talk about confidence in such changes. So, for example, hair acts as one of the indicators when choosing a sexual partner, which means that if the need for hair does not completely disappear, then the hair will not go anywhere, unless there is a little less of it.
Teeth
If you look at the jaws of a person who lived about 100,000 years ago and at the jaws of a modern person, you will notice changes even with the naked eye. In the past, the size of human teeth was twice as large. This was necessary so that you could crack nuts, tear raw meat with your teeth, etc. Later, the human brain developed, his diet changed, and as a result, the jaws, like the teeth, began to shrink.
One of the most noticeable changes is the disappearance of wisdom teeth. Already, almost 25% of people are born without the rudiments of wisdom teeth, which can be attributed to the influence of natural selection, and in the future, this percentage will only increase. According to scientists, human teeth will continue to shrink, and perhaps even disappear.
Muscles
It is only a matter of time that humanity will lose muscle mass, scientists are almost sure of this. Already, humanity is weaker than its past self. This is due to ever smaller volumes of physical labor, which is gradually being replaced by technology. The faster technology and automation advance, the faster humanity will become in terms of physical strength.
Meanwhile, serious developments are already underway to create artificial and reinforced body parts, muscle tissue, exoskeletons and other things. All this can lead to the fact that people's limbs may begin to change. Reduction muscle mass, the legs will become shorter and the feet smaller.
In addition, there is a second scenario, which suggests that humanity will lose muscle mass due to the “relocation” to space. Many people know that after returning to Earth from space, astronauts have to regain their physical shape. Now imagine what will happen if such a flight drags on for a very, very long time.
Brain functions
Naturally, the brain will not remain unchanged. In the modern world, we can already see the influence of technology on our thinking. The human brain works in such a way as to perform a task as efficiently as possible, therefore, instead of remembering a certain amount of information, the brain prefers to remember directly the source from which the necessary data can be taken. So, for example, it is much easier to remember where you put the book, and not what is written on page 329 in paragraph 3. Therefore, in the future, there is a high probability of our memory deteriorating. On the other hand, humanity has not revealed its full “brain” potential, so there is no need to be too afraid for future generations.
Another interesting change may affect our hearing. Throughout the evolutionary process, man has learned to focus his attention on certain sound waves captured by the ear and isolate what he needs most. Although, of course, such a skill is not omnipotent, however, during a noisy party, we are able to distinguish the speech of our interlocutor among the many conversations and noises. Of course, such a mechanism is not possessed by the ear, but by our brain, which plays the role of an analytical filter. At the same time, the development of media and the Internet is increasingly clogged with unnecessary “noise” and useless information that people are trying to sort right now. Based on this, we can come to the conclusion that in the conditions of such an information environment, humanity will have to more effectively learn to determine what is useful for it and isolate it among the turbulent general flow.
That's all. No, of course, there are many more options for evolutionary changes, but it is quite difficult to list them all, and it is not really necessary. We tried to briefly describe the most noticeable of them and give a general idea of what awaits our descendants in the distant (or not so distant) future. Good luck and evolve!
People have not stopped developing. Although many of the changes that occur to a person are invisible, over time many of them will manifest themselves in full force.
We are still subject to natural selection, despite the development of modern medicine and technology.
What features will we have in the distant future, based on modern trends? Here are the 10 biggest changes that could happen in a few hundred thousand years.
1. Race mixing 
The development of modern transportation and communications means that fewer and fewer people remain isolated from others. Race mixing is increasingly occurring between representatives whose ancestors came from different parts of our planet.
As a result, genetic differences between people begin to disappear, and racial differences become less noticeable. In other words, people of the future will be even more similar to each other.
2. Weakened immunity 
As people become more dependent on medications for survival, our immune systems begin to weaken.
People of the future will more susceptible to pathogens. Modern medical technology and the discovery of antibiotics have improved our health and life expectancy, but have meant that our immune systems have to work less hard to maintain health.
From a biological perspective, our immune system is no longer as essential as it once was and we will be even more dependent on medical technology.
3. Muscle atrophy 
Evolution gets rid of those traits that are no longer needed. One candidate for elimination in this sense is physical strength. People no longer have to rely on strong muscles to perform labor-intensive tasks. We are increasingly dependent on technology to do this work for us. Research has already shown that we much weaker than our distant relatives, and in the future, perhaps, we will become even more frail.
In addition, if we begin to explore more and more other places in space, then most likely we will lose most of our muscle mass. Cosmonauts who had been on a long space flight returned to Earth having lost 40 percent of their ability to perform physical work.
4. Tall 
Human height has increased rapidly over the past two centuries. Only in the last 150 years, people have become on average 10 cm taller. The main reason for this is believed to be the abundance of food available to us.
How bigger baby eats, the more energy he has for growth. As long as humans are able to eat in abundance, we will continue to grow even taller. Evolution will show whether there is a limit to our growth.
5. Little hair 
People are already called hairless monkeys. However, like all mammals, we have hair, but there is much less of it than those of our anthropoid relatives and ancestors.
Clothing and modern technology have made the warming function of hair obsolete. Women are considered more attractive without hair in certain parts of the body, and it is possible, over time, to have no hair at all.
6. No wisdom teeth 
The main reason why wisdom teeth are removed is because Most modern people's jaws are too small to accommodate them without interfering with other teeth. They are thought to be vestigial molars that early humans developed when their jaws were larger and their diet consisted mostly of tough foods.
It's no wonder that wisdom teeth are starting to disappear. Moreover, 35 percent of people are already born without wisdom teeth, others have only one, two or three wisdom teeth (4 in total).
In addition, our teeth will become even smaller. Our teeth have almost halved in size over the last 100,000 years ago, and this trend may continue into the future.
7. Memory impairment 
Technology is already influencing the way our memory works. The human brain, being a machine that strives for maximum efficiency, tends to remember where information is stored, not the information itself.
In the Internet age, this feature has become even more important. How often have you tried to remember something and instead just looked up the answer on Wikipedia or a search engine? The habit of checking everything on the Internet has taught us to use computer and internet as “external memory”, relieving our brain of the need to store information.
8. Fewer toes 
Before humans learned to walk upright, our toes were used for grasping, just like our hands. As we climbed less and walked more, our toes began to shrink to their current size.
While the thumb maintains balance and helps with walking, the little finger has no special purpose. Perhaps for this reason, over time, people will become creatures with four toes.
9. Larger or smaller head size 
Scientists are still arguing whether humans in the future will have a larger or smaller skull. Most are of the opinion that a person cannot develop a larger head, as this would make natural childbirth impossible, and increase mortality in mothers. For this reason, The size of a person's head will most likely remain the same and may even decrease.
But it is worth considering the fact that more and more caesarean sections allow children with large heads to survive. Many even believe that over time, C-sections will become safer than natural births, and small-headed babies born naturally will be less likely to survive than those whose mothers had surgery.
10. Self-improvement 
People can reach a stage where they can control human development with the help of technology. Bionic organs and genetic selection will allow future parents to choose the characteristics of the child even before birth.
It may eradicate all defects and undesirable signs. Once this practice becomes widespread, it can lead to the disappearance of many negative qualities.
What will the man of the future look like?
This is exactly how, according to some experts, our body and face will change after thousands of years:
- Height is about 180 -210 cm due to improved nutrition and advances in medicine
More short intestine to absorb less sugar and fat and prevent obesity
- Smaller testicle size due to decreased male fertility.
More long arms and fingers, to save us from having to reach for objects. More nerve endings on the fingers for using various devices such as the iPhone.
- Smaller brain size due to the fact that the task of remembering and thinking is mainly performed by computers.
- Big eyes will compensate for a small mouth. Communication will be based on facial expressions and eye movements.
- Fewer teeth, since the food becomes softer and does not require much chewing.
- Quad chin due to the fact that our body is designed to eat less and use more energy than it does now.
- Same nose shape, since the climate has less impact on the body thanks to air conditioning and heating.
- Less hair or baldness due to the use of warm clothes and heating products, but more wrinkles due to the use of electronic devices.
- Loose skin on the neck and bags under the eyes due to strong exposure to the Sun.
- Darker skin color due to race mixing.
Moreover, we are now doing it much faster than before. Over the past 10,000 years, the rate of evolution has increased 100-fold, causing our genes to mutate and selecting from those mutations the most beneficial ones. We are not the top of the evolutionary chain. At best - the middle!
We drink milk
The gene that regulates human absorption of lactose has developed in us during evolution. Initially, a person could only absorb mother's milk in infancy. However, as a result of the domestication of cows, goats, sheep and the development of cattle breeding, our body began to produce a hormone that promotes the breakdown of lactose. People with this gene had an advantage in spreading their own genes.
A 2006 study confirmed that this gene is still evolving as it was 3,000 years ago in East Africa. A genetic mutation that promotes the absorption of lactose is now present in 95% of Europeans.
Many people never grow wisdom teeth.
The diet of ancient man largely consisted of roots, leaves and nuts. This diet caused teeth to wear out quite quickly. Wisdom teeth are an evolutionary answer to this problem. A kind of reserve, stored for the time being right in the mouth of our ancestors and appearing precisely when the other teeth had already served their purpose. It was they who did not allow the ancient man to die in the prime of his life from hunger due to such a misunderstanding as caries or an overly hard nut.
Today's food is much softer, and we have all kinds of devices for grinding it. Wisdom teeth are no longer needed because the rest serve us much longer. That's why we have to part with the extra pair.
Our immunity has increased
In 2007, a group of scientists from Royal Holloway College, University of London, conducted a study aimed at identifying the latest signs of evolution. To do this, they studied about 1,800 genes that appeared in humans over the last 40,000 years. The vast majority of these genes are in one way or another associated with a person’s ability to resist infectious diseases. Scientists have come to interesting conclusions.
About 12 new genes have been distributed among Africans that help the body effectively fight malaria. Residents of large cities are armed with genes that allow them to fight tuberculosis and leprosy. Thus, the place of residence (or “habitat,” as scientists would say) influences the formation of immunity.
Our brains are shrinking in size
While you feel a sense of superiority over the animal world due to the size of your brain, which makes you the crown of creation, your brain becomes smaller. Over the past 30,000 years, the average volume of the human brain has decreased from 1500 cubic centimeters to 1350! The difference is about the size of a tennis ball.
Scientists have several theories about the reasons for this. First: we are becoming dumber, the reason for this is the high standard of living and the complex organization of society. Simply put, now you don’t have to be a very smart guy to survive. Another theory suggests that a small brain is much more efficient than a large one because neural connections are made much faster. Finally, there is a theory that smaller brains make our species more social, allowing us to function more effectively in groups. Or its ersatz - Facebook.
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We all went through evolution in our school biology course. And although evolutionary changes can take centuries, scientists around the world are tirelessly studying this issue.
We are in website decided to talk about evidence that humans are evolving to this day.
1. Adults can drink milk
The gene that helps humans digest milk has evolved during evolution. Initially, people could drink and metabolize milk only in infancy. But after the domestication of cows, goats, sheep and the development of cattle breeding, the necessary gene appeared in our body.
Now lactose is absorbed in the bodies of about a third of people on the planet. These are mainly those people whose ancestors lived in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
The ability to drink milk without problems is called lactase persistence, and recent genetic evidence has shown that it has evolved independently in different parts of the world over the past 10,000 years as a result of natural selection.
2. Not everyone has wisdom teeth.
The jaws of modern man are smaller than those of his ancestors. This has led to the fact that the teeth themselves have become slightly smaller, and in some people they are already Wisdom teeth are completely or partially missing.
The thing is that the diet of our ancestors was very different from modern, softer food. In addition, third molars usually erupt between the ages of 18 and 25. By this time, most of the teeth of human ancestors had worked out their usefulness. That is, third molars were vital. Now they are most often removed.
3. Some of us have blue eyes
Initially, all people were brown-eyed. But about 6–10 thousand years ago a mutation appeared that gives blue eyes.
If you remember your school biology course, you probably already realized that the gene allele responsible for blue eyes is not dominant. Nevertheless, she still manages to “survive.”
On the one hand, this is due to a specific genetic profile in men, called the Y-haplotype I-M170, which correlates with height. The increasing frequency of this profile in the population causes the average height of men to also increase.
But still, nutrition and human health have a much greater influence on growth.
5. Hair loss has decreased
The amount of hair on the body of a modern person is significantly different from the hair of our ancestors. However, our skin is covered with fine and light hairs. The scalp, armpits and groin area are exceptions. Even now, the hair in them can be thick and dark. But it cannot be said that hair is a rudiment.
The reduction in hair density and size in humans plays an important role in thermoregulation through sweating. Eyelashes and hair in the nose and ears provide some protection from environment. Eyebrows prevent sweat from getting into your eyes. Hair on your head can help stabilize your brain temperature.
Therefore, it is too presumptuous to say that in the future a person will completely lose hair. Among other things, hair can act as one of the indicators in sexual selection.
6. We can breathe at high altitudes
Tibetans live in one of the least hospitable and, accordingly, least populated places on our planet - in the Himalayan mountains. And wherein they can breathe low-oxygen air without problems. This is the evolutionary step that allowed them to survive at such a height.
The study found that Tibetans have relatively low hemoglobin levels at high altitude. In unprepared people in such a situation, the amount of hemoglobin in the blood increases, which leads to chronic mountain sickness - the blood becomes viscous and too thick.
Tibetans evolved the EPAS1 gene, which all humans have. But people living at high altitudes have a special version of this gene.
7. We have back pain
Modern people move on two legs, unlike our distant ancestors, who walked on four limbs. Over the course of evolution, our spine has adapted to walking upright. But still, many of us experience lower back pain.
The study found that such problems are more common in humans, who have vertebral elements that are shaped in a manner indistinguishable from those in the chimpanzee spine. And although humans and chimpanzees split from a common ancestor about 8–9 million years ago, some of us still seem to have retained the vertebral appearance common to both groups. This causes pain in the lower back, since in this case the spine is not so well adapted for walking on two legs.
Above, we discussed in detail the elementary evolutionary factors that operate in nature and cause changes in species (see Part 3). With the emergence of man as a social being, biological factors of evolution gradually weaken their effect and acquire leading importance in the development of mankind. social factors. However, man still remains a living being, subject to the laws operating in living nature. All development of the human body follows biological laws. The duration of the existence of an individual person is again limited by biological laws: we need to eat, sleep and fulfill other natural needs inherent in us as representatives of the class of mammals. Finally, the process of reproduction in humans proceeds similarly to this process in living nature, completely obeying all genetic laws. So, it is clear that man as an individual remains at the mercy of biological laws. The situation is completely different with regard to the action of evolutionary factors in human society.
Natural selection as the main and guiding force of the evolution of living nature with the emergence of society (with the transition of matter to the social level of development) sharply weakens its effect and ceases to be a leading evolutionary factor. Selection remains in the form of a force that preserves the biological organization achieved at the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens, fulfilling a certain stabilizing role. Early abortion of zygotes (accounts for about 25% of all conceptions) is the result of natural selection. Another striking example of the effect of stabilizing selection in human populations is the noticeably greater survival rate of children whose weight is close to the average.
Mutation process- the only evolutionary factor that retains its former significance in human society. Let us recall that on average most mutations occur with a frequency of 1:100,000-1:1,000,000 gametes. About one person in 40,000 carries the new-onset albinism mutation; with the same (or very close) frequency, a hemophilia mutation occurs, etc. Newly emerging mutations constantly change the genotypic composition of the population of certain areas, enriching it with new characteristics. The pressure of the mutation process, as is known, does not have a specific direction. In human society, newly emerging mutations and genetic combinatorics lead to the constant maintenance of the uniqueness of each individual.
The number of unique combinations in the human genome exceeds the total number of people who have ever lived and will live on the planet. Social processes lead to an increase in the possibility of a more complete disclosure of this individuality. In recent decades, the rate of spontaneous mutation process in a number of areas of our planet may increase somewhat due to local contamination of the biosphere with potent chemicals or radiation.
While creating and maintaining the diversity of individuals, mutations are at the same time extremely dangerous in conditions of weakening the action of natural selection, increasing the genetic load in populations. The birth of defective children, a general decrease in the viability of individuals carrying harmful (even semi-lethal) genes - all these are real dangers at the present stage of social development.
Insulation as an evolutionary factor until recently played a significant role. With the development of means of mass movement of people on the planet, there are fewer and fewer genetically isolated population groups. Breaking isolation barriers is of great importance for enriching the gene pool of all humanity. In the future, these processes will inevitably become increasingly important.
Sometimes, when isolating barriers are violated, outbreaks of morphogenesis are observed (for example, in Oceania as a result of the meeting of Caucasians and Mongoloids, in Hawaii, in South and Central America, the formation of the modern mixed population of Siberia, etc.).
The last of the elementary evolutionary factors - waves of numbers - even in the relatively recent past played a noticeable role in the development of mankind. Let us recall that during epidemics of cholera and plague just a few hundred years ago, the population of Europe decreased tens (!) times. Such a reduction could be the basis for a number of random, undirected changes in the gene pool of the population of certain areas. Nowadays the human population is not subject to such sharp fluctuations. Therefore, the influence of population waves as an evolutionary factor can only be felt in very limited local conditions.
So, a brief examination of the possible action of elementary biological evolutionary factors in modern society shows that, apparently, only the pressure of the mutation process has remained unchanged. The pressure of natural selection, waves of numbers and isolation is sharply reduced. In this regard, one cannot expect any significant change in the biological appearance of man, which had already developed among neoanthropes (Fig. 18.10). The current processes in humanity lead to the strengthening of the collective mind (methods of accumulation, storage, transmission of information, mastery of an increasingly wider range of environmental conditions, etc.), and not to the preferential reproduction of individual brilliant individuals. The future of humanity is determined not by the abilities of individual geniuses, but by the collective intelligence of all members of society.
Rice. 18.10. Hypothetical appearance of the “man of the future”, constructed based on the assumption of the incomplete morphological evolution of man (according to A.P. Bystrov, 1957)
Man as a species arose in conditions of a clean atmosphere, mineralized only by natural compounds of fresh water, etc. Global changes in some, at first glance, insignificant components of the environment in the modern biosphere may turn out to be the basis for the emergence of completely undesirable biological consequences, the elimination of which will present significant difficulties for society .
One example is the extremely wide spread of allergic and asthmatic diseases throughout the world in recent decades.
The painful reaction of the body (usually the skin and mucous membranes) to the influence of the external environment truly becomes the disease of the century. All this is the human body’s reaction to conditions that have not been tested during evolution (increased content in the atmosphere of previously absent chemicals and their compounds, unusual impurities in drinking water, the use of many synthetic drugs in everyday life, etc.). The solution to such problems lies, of course, in the field of medicine and environmental protection, but it will be incomplete without taking into account the provisions of evolutionary teaching.
The evolution of man as a biological species is more closely connected with the evolution of many species of animals, plants and microorganisms than it seems at first glance. In this case, we do not mean a simple dependence of a person on food products of natural origin, but a direct connection with other organisms living inside our body, on the surface of the skin, in the inhaled air, etc. Usually these microorganisms are harmless, since throughout the associated evolution all they are co-adapted with each other and with humans. Many of the microorganisms that inhabit our body are now necessary components of that unique biocenosis that is the human body (intestinal flora and fauna, lactic acid bacteria, some yeasts and many other types of microorganisms).
There are also pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms that cause both relatively mild (for example, influenza) and severe infectious diseases(plague, cholera, typhoid, malaria, etc.), which are also our indispensable evolutionary companions. It becomes clear that the world of the future is a world of controlled, not exterminated infections: man was able to completely eradicate smallpox, but the “vacated” place is occupied by the more formidable monkeypox virus, since we do not have an evolutionarily developed immunity to it.
