Could Exposure to Radiation be Neccesary for Mankind to Evolve?

I must say before i start, that this idea is pure speculation, it covers a wide array of topics but i figured skunk works forum would be the most open minded to something so far reaching and out there in the realm of possibilities. i will try to elaborate this idea as simply as i can in a general way in order not to get lost in the details.

Ok here goes...

As a human race, we are very adaptable to our environment. For a while i would see a pregnant woman or a newborn baby and cringe at the condition of the environment that the newborn is coming into. I would consider the Fukushima nuclear accident and feel sad that this huge amount of radiation has been released into the world, Which is then absorbed into the food air and water, which was consumed by the mother during her pregnancy, which the newborn is now also consuming.

But then i had an epiphany. I realized that since the newborn had been conceived and grew in this environment, that its body was already aware of the radiation present. Therefore the amount of radiation would be normal to the infants body as it did not know any other previous condition. Surely, even in the smallest chance, in areas where massive radiation exposures occurred like Chernobyl, Fukushima, and the insane number of nuclear tests, there must have been some babies who were born perfectly healthy like nothing ever happened.

SO. Finally, here is where the title of my post begins to be relevant. It also could be considered the sinister part, or the necessary part of this idea depending on how you look at it...

What if our next major evolutionary step, the ability to travel and live within our solar system as easily as we travel and live here on earth, requires a high tolerance to radiation?

Could being able to survive closer to a star, or on a planet with a thinner atmosphere, or on a space ship powered by a nuclear reactor be determined by our ability to withstand the radiation that we would be exposed to?

Could this be why the government has not yet allowed these technologies(if they exist) to go mainstream as we are not yet fully "Vaccinated" against the radiation byproducts?

I understand how ridiculous this sounds, but Just like the Black Plague, i'm sure everyone was exposed, but the strong(immune) survived.

My bet is that no where near the same amount of people will die from radiation exposure from Fukushima, as did Chernobyl, Because since the first atom bombs the radiation levels on this planet have only been increasing. In other words if you are born successfully into that high radiation environment, what was previously thought of as excessive, is now normal.

Wow, i apologize for this being long-winded and am grateful if you've stayed with me this long. But i believe this is only the tip of the iceberg.

What do you guys and gals think?

I don't think its right, because radiation poisoning is a physical condition. It's like having your arm cut off, you can't be immune to it, just have an increased defence (eg stronger bones). I also believe that it is impossible for humans to withstand very much radiation hence we would be waiting an extremely long time until space travel would be viable. It's a thought provoking post though

Back in the 80's I made up a bumper sticker which read, "Try enjoying nuclear radiation. Mutation could be our only hope for survival."

The most common reaction was "huh?"

Originally posted by BigBruddah
I don't think its right, because radiation poisoning is a physical condition. It's like having your arm cut off, you can't be immune to it, just have an increased defence (eg stronger bones). I also believe that it is impossible for humans to withstand very much radiation hence we would be waiting an extremely long time until space travel would be viable. It's a thought provoking post though

WIth the advances in knowledge in the areas of DNA i could imagine that by being exposed, this radiation changes coding within our blueprint. Some survive this, others not, but the ones that survive will prosper.

Originally posted by TerryMcGuire
Back in the 80's I made up a bumper sticker which read, "Try enjoying nuclear radiation. Mutation could be our only hope for survival."

The most common reaction was "huh?"

Haha yes! Exactly what im talking about.

reply to post by Deafseeingeyedog


It's an interesting idea and I think there are even some spiritually focused organizations that talk about a coming baptism by fire on earth (I am thinking nuclear war) where only certain types of people will survive. Of course this could just be fear mongering to get people to continue serving their agenda, but maybe there is some truth to it.

I think there is a little more to human DNA than meets the eye. Possibly an undiscovered relationship between an individual's spirituality and gene expression that could allow people to be unaffected by radiation exposure. Of course, such a relationship, if it exists, will likely never be discovered by modern day scientists because spirituality cannot be observed.

It would be a perfect way to restart the world again with only good people who have super abilities so they could survive and keep the human race going after a nuclear war. It might even activate anti-aging properties that would then keep them alive for hundreds a year and allow them to start building civilizations again. I think the first generation of children would also have these genes activated, but as the radiation levels subsided over time then the genes would become inactive again.

Makes me wonder if this has already happened in the past.

you could alter your dna to be resident to radiation ie some sort of skin cloaking. but doesnt radiated ions just kill the cells RNA and cell mitosis

the reason your not immune to radiation is t he same reason your not immune to lead or silver poisioning Argyria theres no conspiracy there just metals over the blood brain barrier equal death'

reply to post by MaryStillToe


Nuclear war is way too obvious. and destroys precious resources and infrastructure. I believe the method could be much more sneaky. I believe that nuclear reactors could also be considered a neutron bomb. A neutron bomb works by emitting a high intensity blast of radiation that kills living tissue while leaving all else intact. the difference being a nuclear reactor would be a slower release and more long term.

One mega hit of EMP from the sun and the transistors of every cooling system of all 430+ reactors in the world go down at once. Instant worldwide neutron bomb detonation.

here is a map of who would be affected:



link to nuclear reactor statistics

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all who survive the intense levels of radiation will be the seeds of the next evolution of humanity.

Human beings are exposed to many different forms of radiation daily. Every time a person walks into sunlight...they are being bombarded to large amounts of differing Solar radiation. Since besides an electric charge...things live UV Radiation can cause a Chemical reaction...it is obvious that exposure to sunlight has governed Human Evolution and Evolution through Cellular Mutation for all of our existance.

Humans over the millenia have also been subjected to Cosmic Rays, X-Rays, exposure to magnetic fields, etc... Gama Radiation...although mostly associated with Nuclear Bomb tests....has also bombarded us from space and many other exotic particle bombardment has effected Human beings.

The supposition that our development has been effected by such irradiation is a certainty. As far as it being the catalist for benificial traits....is up in the air. Split Infinity

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
Human beings are exposed to many different forms of radiation daily. Every time a person walks into sunlight...they are being bombarded to large amounts of differing Solar radiation. Since besides an electric charge...things live UV Radiation can cause a Chemical reaction...it is obvious that exposure to sunlight has governed Human Evolution and Evolution through Cellular Mutation for all of our existance.

Humans over the millenia have also been subjected to Cosmic Rays, X-Rays, exposure to magnetic fields, etc... Gama Radiation...although mostly associated with Nuclear Bomb tests....has also bombarded us from space and many other exotic particle bombardment has effected Human beings.

The supposition that our development has been effected by such irradiation is a certainty. As far as it being the catalist for benificial traits....is up in the air. Split Infinity

Yes yes yes! i left this out of the original post to keep the length down. These are the details i was hopings others also understood!

I don't think so but all matter is radioactive to a point, so it is possible that the differing types and strengths of radiation has a hand in shaping a person but it a long shot

You might find some more information HERE... And I do believe that radiation plays a part in some aspects of evolution.

reply to post by ForestForager


Yes! i have read articles on this topic before! These are more details i left out from the original post to be filled in as we go.

reply to post by Deafseeingeyedog


What are your thoughts on solar radiation vs. man made? I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure if it's from the sun, it is ok as we have been around for ages with the sun and couldn't live without. But I'm not sure if man-made radiation is such a good thing, my gut screams no, lol. But I do believe we were meant to eventually explore the stars, the need for adventure is an instinct burried deep in the human soul. I also believe that one can develop immunities to certain things when exposed to them at certain levels and are forced to adapt. So I do accept your theorizing as a possible scenario among others.

Mutations are almost never beneficial.

reply to post by ForestForager


lets assume that radiation is radiation regardless of the source of creation. Solar gamma rays might be the same as man made gamma rays in their essence. But the difference i expect is the time duration and intensity of radiation. The experiment of heating up a frog slowly in a pot of boiling water vs. Throwing the frog from room temperature into a boiling pot of water is a good analogy. the gradual temperature increase allows the frogs body to adapt to the heat, but a sudden shock of temperature kills the frog. We need time to adapt, But then again how many frogs could possibly survive being tossed into boiling water if you had billions of chances to try?

Originally posted by 547000
Mutations are almost never beneficial.

Almost never is an oxymoron. But how often are we able to design and have a choice in our mutations?

I don't believe in evolution. But if I did there's a reason evolution would take much more than a million years. Willfully exposing people to radiation is not thinking this through.

Originally posted by 547000
I don't believe in evolution. But if I did there's a reason evolution would take much more than a million years. Willfully exposing people to radiation is not thinking this through.

edit on 4-9-2011 by 547000 because: (no reason given)

I believe in both evolution and creation, they both have their place. Without creation, what would there be to evolve? Evolution is only a fancy word for change. I also believe that like a catalyst, evolution can be fast and intense, or slow and drawn out.

For example, if you were to think of a mountain that has taken millions of years to rise into the sky, this is gradual evolution from flat land into a vast vertical distance. Take that same mountain and shake it with an enormous earthquake and half of the mountain slides off turning into rubble, this would be sudden evolution.

Willfully exposing the masses to radiation may not be the kindest thing to do, but do you want a free energy reactor? well you might have to be able to withstand 1,000 times the amount of radiation that someone from the 1900's could withstand without the body breaking down.

reply to post by Deafseeingeyedog


No, I don't want a free energy reactor.

Found this DOE Openness: Human Radiation Experiments:

Attempts have been made to estimate the contribution of ionizing radiation to human mutation rates by studying offspring of both exposed and nonexposed Japanese atomic bomb survivors. These estimates are based on comparisons of the rate of various congenital defects and cancer between exposed and nonexposed survivors, as well as on direct counting of mutations at a small number of genes. For all these endpoints, no excess has been
observed among descendants of the exposed survivors.

More info in the link