by RobertSugar

Self Made Man

When we look at the hunter-gatherer human societies of 50,000 years ago, they are in stark contrast to developedcivilisation as we know it today. We have built new systems that seem to outstrip the need for the ‘survival of the fittest'model. But how has this effected our progression as a race? Is humanity still evolving? or have we reached the end of thedevelopment of our species?

A 2005 study conducted by Robert Moyzis and his colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, suggested that overthe last 50,000 years we have actually evolved at a dramatic rate. That around ‘1800 genes have changed under theprocess of natural selection - roughly 7% of the human genome.' These figures suggesting that humanity's evolution hasbeen propelled forward by our social progression rather than being held back.

However, this might not be the case. This 7% could be accounted for as a one off leap as we became a domesticatedspecies, with ‘roughly the same proportion of genes [being] altered in maize when humans domesticated it from its wildancestors' - according to NewScientist. The alterations in the human makeup generally impacted genes involved in diet,resisting infection and brain functions, things that would be greatly effected as we entered a civilised world.

So was this self-domestication the final stage in our evolution? Even if we are biologically developing as a race, it is likelythat the speed of this will be far outstripped by our social and technological developments. That our limitations will beincreasingly defined by our technologies rather than our biological makeup, making biological evolution insignificant bycomparison. Even ‘at the population level, it is much better to be social than it is to be smart - Heinrich, 2011.

With the march of sociocultural evolution seeming to relegate Darwin's evolutionary theory, it's worth taking a closer lookat how the processes compare.

When you look at sociocultural evolution, you see structures that seem undeniably similar to the natural order; multitudesof societies vying to be the prevailing one, with familiar traits determining success. Developed social structures, effectivecommunication channels, increased innovation and military strength; these are the key elements that define the dominantsocieties. Or, in other words, smarter, faster, stronger.

One stark difference between these processes though, isthe non violent process that sociocultural evolution canoccur in. Societies can become extinct without any loss oflife, with cultures often simply abandoned for moredeveloped ones. This is a process not apparent in thewild; you don't see red squirrels choosing to become greysquirrels, they are simply killed off. With this in mind, itseems undeniable that this process can end in amonoculture. That, eventually, humanity could become asingular, unified societal species.

As communication channels, global transport and freeflow information continue to develop, we become closerand closer to something like a super organism. A highlystructured global society in which the lives of everyonewill become so interdependent that they could grow anddevelop with a common purpose. Whilst this might seem astretch, we are able to globally connect with increasingease, and the lines between cultures continue to blur.Perhaps we are not that far away from a globally-unifiedsocial structure?

Is it simply destined to be outpaced by the speedier progress of social and technological developments? Or will it too be

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08:01 31.07.2013 in Articles

Has humanity reached the end of evolution as we know it?

Sociocultural Evolution

But what of our biological evolution?

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transformed by man's own unique evolution? Our knowledge of genetic reprogramming, synthetic organs and artificialintelligence continues to grow. Everyday we seem to become closer to advancements that, good or bad, could radicallyalter our genetic design. So maybe we shouldn't be too quick to right off mankind's biological evolution, once again,making another big leap.

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