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Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.
Am I cruel or just perverted in that I laughed profusely at this story...
The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology.
People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.
The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the "underclass" humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures...
...But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.
Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises...
- full BBC article
Welcome to a vision of our David Lynch inspired future! -
Which is which?
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People will probably start to genetically modify themselves well before this course of evolution could really manifest itself.
"Daddy, can I get a set of wings? All the kids at school have them."
"We'll see...you still haven't gotten used to your fins. And the lineups at the clinic are so long..."
I can see where he's going with this, though. In my experiences with other people, I've found the majority to be "dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures". -
kayman may be right. In Consilience by E.O. Wilson, he says that we are moving into a "third stage" of evolution. The first was evolution by natural selection, the second (and present) stage, brought upon by our awareness of genetics, is being able to predict, screen, and pre-emptively treat genetic disorders by looking for faulty genes, and the third will be altering those genes themselves. Assuming we continue to progress scientifically, and don't slip into a very plausible dark age in the next 100 years or so...
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CommentAuthorDr. Orphusi
- CommentTimeOct 27th 2006
Weird you mention Consilience, I'm reading that right now... fascinating stuff. -
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