The race between Evolution and Technology

The race between Evolution and Technology: What will be the Savior of Mankind?
Ideas from the keyboard of ArbitraryGuy.

This post contains an introduction and summary to the longer essay in the next post, which argues that the current pace of technological change surpasses the speed of evolutionary change, creating adverse effects for the human race. A solution is offered.

Introduction and Summary:

Technology, in the broad sense, is changing our environment, in a very broad sense, faster than humans can evolve and biologically adapt to those changes. Our environment, society, and living patterns all have powerful effects upon our biology and health. The obesity epidemic, cancer, and clinical depression all serve as examples of how our technology allows us to live in an environment for which we are ill equipped and thus suffer health consequences. If we cannot biologically adapt quickly enough to the changes in the environment, technological development may come at a high cost to our health and society...

The solution to this trade-off between technology and ill health? Perhaps genetic engineering may be the Savior of Mankind. Genetic engineering may be necessary for humanity to evolve at the same rate that our technology changes our environment.

Long-winded Spiel:

The current obesity epidemic highlights the disparity between our biological capabilities and technological realities. Over millions of years, humans evolved to eat a diet primarily of low-carbohydrate foods (before agriculture, our ancestors foraged for vegetables and fruits) and the occasional intake of meat (when the hunt was successful). Additionally, our pre-agricultural ancestors got quite a bit of exercise, walking 10 to 15 miles a day while foraging and hunting in bands. About twelve thousand years after the invention of agriculture, our technology is able to produce food so cheaply that even the lowest on the social ladder are able to purchase an over-abundance of calories. Additionally, technology also allows us to get by with spending very few of those calories in the form of work or exercise. No longer do we need to wander the forests foraging for roots – we hop in the car and drive to McDonald’s for a super-sized value meal. Thus, we have the current obesity epidemic in Western countries. Technology allows us to live in an environment foreign to that for which we are evolutionarily equipped, and this has serious heath and societal consequences.

Cancer offers another example. Our technology has several nasty externalities, one of which is the production of any number of carcinogenic pollutants into our environment. We are not evolutionarily equipped to live in a carcinogenic environment and thus we experience cancer has an adverse health effect of technology. Additionally, technology is allowing us to extend our lives past the point for which was evolution allowed us to reach. Because our bodies are not evolutionarily equipped to living past 65, our bodies experience all sorts of failures as we age, among which cancer is chief.

Finally, considering mental health, depression is also an example. We evolved as social animals, hunting and foraging in groups to maximize food intake for all through group cooperation. As such, the evolutionary process selected those genes that promoted social cohesion and sharing, for the primitive survival of our ancestors depended on it. Technology has drastically transformed society such that social cohesion and sharing are no longer needed for our physical survival. However, the slow pace of evolution may mean that we still need social cohesion and sharing mentally. On the individual level, some brains cannot deal with this disparity and become chemically imbalanced causing depression or other mental disorders. On the societal level, institutions such as religion, nationalism, and racial identity, evolve as an outlet for our need of social cohesion. These institutions however, have been anything but good for the long-run health and viability of humanity. Depression and mental health problems are the result of technology changing our social environment into something for which our brains are not biologically adapted.

The problem boils down to the race between environmental change and biological change. Our technology has had an Agricultural Revolution and an Industrial Revolution that has drastically changed our environment faster than the evolutionary process can create biological change. We need a Genetic Revolution to bolster the speed of our biological change to keep pace with our technological change. In the future, active genetic engineering may be necessary in order for humans to adapt to their environment at the same rate at which that environment changes. Else, the environmental changes caused by our technology may mean the end for humanity in the long-run.

Will genetic engineering be the Savior of Mankind, allowing humans to adapt and at the same rate of technology? I argue yes. We already “play God” with our environment, and to keep up we must “play God” with our genetic make-up in order to preserve the long-run health of humanity. Technology hurts our well-being, but can also be used to enhance it.

Hi A-G,

With such a well-thought out and explained theory, I would hardly call you arbitrary.

According to physicist and engineer, Bob Lazar, who worked for the US government at S4 to reverse-engineer acquired alien spacecraft: the peoples of this planet have had their DNA altered at least 65 times by Zetan-aliens, i.e., extraterrestrials that stem from Zeta IV in the Zeta 2 Reticuli System.

In assuming that what Bob relayed from his governmental involvement is accurate, then it means that extraterrestrials who are much more technologically and genetically advanced than we are have been unable to significantly improve upon the basic human condition. Even after thousands of years of genetic tampering.

Time to put on the thinking cap of logical extrapolation...

Since the aliens are way ahead of us in genetic experimentation and in overall technology, and since they have been unable to significantly improve upon the basic human condition biologically over some hundreds of thousands of years of DNA tampering (if you believe the archeological findings of Zecharia Sitchin), then it indicates that the Path of Science and Technology WILL NOT be successful in this field of research and development

In light of this, I believe the Savior of Mankind is indeed genetic engineering, just as you espouse, but not the kind that our own doctors and scientists have started and which the Zetan-aliens have done for a much longer period.

The only kind of genetic engineering that will truly improve upon the basic human condition will not be achieved in ANY laboratory. It will be won through advanced spiritual development and the utilization of The Light Of The God Force on The Other Side. The same energy spectrum that has enabled every single miracle of spontaneous healing and telekinesis that has been done for time immemorial. That energy, when harnessed to a high degree beyond just teleporting or creating small objects and bending kitchin utensils, is what will lead to the manifestation of superior humanoid bodies that can be maintained in health, youthfulness, beauty, and fitness indefinitely.

Thereby overcoming the biggest obstacle that the technically advanced aliens have never been able to achieve - victory over the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Only with The Light can one overcome entropy.

The day will come when, after harnessing space,

the winds, the tides, and gravitation,

we shall harness for God the energies of love.

And on that day,

for the second time in the history of the world,

we shall have discovered fire.

~ Pierre Teilhard De Chardin ~

Originally posted by Paul_Richard
With such a well-thought out and explained theory, I would hardly call you arbitrary.

Thank you for your kind words, Paul_Richard.

I am not sure about interventional extraterrestrials (I am agnostic when it comes to things such as that), but it is interesting to think and speculate about. Perhaps it can serve as a thought experiment or example of where humans might end up in the long-run? Or, perhaps, they may be "helping us along" the genetic path, allowing for our biological evolution to keep abreast our technology?

Originally posted by Paul_Richard
The only kind of genetic engineering that will truly improve upon the basic human condition will not be achieved in ANY laboratory. It will be won through advanced spiritual development and the utilization of The Light Of The God Force on The Other Side... [that] will lead to the manifestation of superior humanoid bodies that can be maintained in health, youthfulness, beauty, and fitness indefinitely.

Interesting thoughts. Although, I am inclined to think that the current state of our “spirituality” is a result of the imbalance between our technology and our biology. Spirituality may in fact be a symptom, rather than a cause of our current state of development. Our biology wants to be part of something bigger than ourselves (we’re genetically selected to be good hunting-band members). Our genes cause us to want to manifest this universality. Because technology has destroyed the old way of doing things, for which we were adapted, we create new institutions, such as religious belief systems and national identities, to fill in the gap between our biological nature and the technological reality of our environment.

Perhaps only when the gap between our biology and technology is filled, will spirituality no longer be a yearning for some unfulfilled void for which we are predisposed by our genes. If spirituality is the result of the unbalanced combination of our biology and technology, I’m not sure if spirituality is the answer to solving this imbalance; rather, genetics would be key.

Additionally, such an imbalance may be even holding back advanced spiritual development and consciousness. If the imbalances between technology and biology were ameliorated though genetic engineering, we would have a lot more time and energy to consider the philosophical and spiritual aspects of existence in the universe, rather than busying ourselfs with the adverse effects of technology upon our biology and society.

Thanks for your comments, it's interesting stuff to contemplate.


[edit on 1-4-2007 by ArbitraryGuy]