I have a few ideas about what we will be like in the future, as we alter ourselves more and more with our technology, some through synthetic tech, some through genetic engineering:

Spare parts available in hospitals at a moment's notice.
Incredible healing/regeneration ability.
Improved senses.
No degenerative diseases/conditions.
Built-in maths processor.
Built-in targeting/tracking system for military people.
Electronics in the head to access the internet and display data over the normal field of vision.
Absolutely incredible immune system.


Would anyone else care to make predictions?

We'll probably be even more corrupt, but with all the extra policing, it'll just be more subtle.

I think there will be alot of cosmetic-type improvements as well. Instead of tatoos or wild piercings, people will grow tiger-like fur, different colored skin, maybe polka-dot skin....etc..stuff like that.

Also, there'll be some people who will try and go all-out with improvements...wings, fangs, claws, superhuman strength, agility, stamina...etc.

The future'll be very cool and very interesting! As long as the conservatives/catholics/puritans don't get in the way :rolleyes:

watch "Ghost in the Shell" that I feel is the most realistic prediction of the future I have ever seen!… well except for the whole naked invisible chick thing, that was put in for Eye candy purposes :D

I will grow myself a set of wings, scales instead of skin, and a set of gills to go along with my lungs (oh, and huge talons also). And you thought that humans were the "ultimate killing machines"! /g/

most people probably just would like to look attractive.

Originally posted by spuriousmonkey
most people probably just would like to look attractive. sad but true.
The scary thing is how far this might allow 'fads' to go.
"Haha, you have wings.... that's so 3020"

I'm concerned about the regulation of genetics that have military applications. The really effective meds are all regulated and require perscriptions. We have growth hormone which increases muscle mass, but you can only get it if you have a perscription. Then again, if you do find an individual with a military gene its pretty easy to extract it and place it on the internet, etc. So you either need soldiers that can't give dna samples, a way to hide the dna from analysis, or finally just assume that your enemies soldiers become as powerful as your own within a few months. Talk about a vicious cycle!

Originally posted by spuriousmonkey
most people probably just would like to look attractive.

attractiveness is relative. For example some people would prefer to look like this:
http://vcl.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Artists/Jaime-Sidor/Emrys/realismblaq.jpg

some people might, but only a few. Beauty seems to be quite standardized. I could quote some research, but I can't be bothered to look it up. If i remember correctly symmetry plays an important role.

I always wanted stripes :o

Originally posted by esd
...some people would prefer to look like this:
http://vcl.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Artists/Jaime-Sidor/Emrys/realismblaq.jpg Oh baby... grrrr

Every signal that my radio picks up passes through my skull. For every call that my cell phone gets, trillions of inane conversations penetrate my brain.

Over the past billion years human brains weren't inundated with signal carrying electromagnetic waves. I'm not surprised that occidental mutations didn't develop into any ability to receive or transmit em waves.

As with all mutations that end up as an advantage in their environment, wouldn't it be nice if the human of the future were to process at least the one of the adult porn channels?

I think cybernetic implants that do that will be very VERY POPULAR!!!

darpa and other defense research organizations are looking into many of the things you have all mentioned. Darpa specifically has a program for a mind-computer interface, and is looking at genetically improving their soldiers as well. The enhancements that you've all mentioned will probably be very expensive to create, and hence mainly used by the military. Some civilian models for implant, and some genetic inhancements may be available legally, but the serious stuff will most likely be obtained only in the black market.

Again I advice watching "Ghost in the Shell" or the comic was even better.

You want that I should watch it again? ;)

(Wellcookefetus, I thought I'd better do some damage control by letting you know that I utilized the creativity of your name in one of my posts.)

try the manga thats much better! :D

Ok, so those are some ideas on how we might change ourselves but what affect will our modern lifestyles have on our evolution?
I think we might naturally evolve to become more beautifull but only as long these crazy mismatch couples I keep seeing are put to a hault :mad:
Less hair? Do you think girls waxing and shaving their legs and armpits and so on over millions of years could eventually lead to them being hairless?
Of course, I don't think humans as a species will last long enough to see any more major evolutionary changes but if we did I wonder what sort of crazy physical changes would occur on account of our lifestyles and cultures. If the native indians of south america were allowed to carry on with their lifestyle I doubt huge changes would happen there apart from minor corrections of the flaws that are present with all of us today, but I think the us's people for example would make drastic physical changes if allowed to carry on for 10 million years or so. Perhaps they would become exeptionally tall and massive on account of the over abundance of food.
I can't even imagine how all of the modern technology would affect natural evolution but I tend to feel there would be some strange mutations. Any ideas?

Do you think the way we disreguard nature's laws by allowing the less capable to survive and reproduce will slow down the evolutionary process?

Is there a possibility that the human brain could become smaller and less capable due to the way everything is handed to us? (particularly in the western world)

I never thought much about this subject before but I'm starting to find it very interesting.

aaarg and you call your self a doctor.
1. At our population size and reproductive rate evolution is now going to be very very VERY slow on us from here on.
2. Yes decay of the human genome is a fact and because of the wonders of modern technology people that would have die off naturally are now living lives long enough to have equally (if not more so) dysfunctional children.
3. With the emergence of genetic manipulation, Biotechnology and Cybernetics: people will soon be able to evolve Lamarckian. This means evolution that would have taken millions of year naturally will now take only decade and we will be able to evolve in what ever direction we see fit. As a species of homo sapiens we only have centuries left if not decades as the dominate life form

Originally posted by WellCookedFetus
aaarg and you call your self a doctor.
1. At our population size and reproductive rate evolution is now going to be very very VERY slow on us from here on.
2. Yes decay of the human genome is a fact and because of the wonders of modern technology people that would have die off naturally are now living lives long enough to have equally (if not more so) dysfunctional children.
3. With the emergence of genetic manipulation, Biotechnology and Cybernetics: people will soon be able to evolve Lamarckian. This means evolution that would have taken millions of year naturally will now take only decade and we will be able to evolve in what ever direction we see fit. As a species of homo sapiens we only have centuries left if not decades as the dominate life form
I whole heartedly agree with everything you said, my questions were hypothetical, how WOULD have the ways we live affect natural evolution if genetic technology's progression halted and if we WEREN'T going to be wiped out within the next thousand years? You're right about everything though so I guess my questions were pointless, but I still find it to be an interesting thought.

Well in that case I don't think we would change much over the next million year as long as a population stayed high and interbreeding.

bio machanical internet
protein slitting wires that allow the doctor to insert extra nerve endings and wires directly into the body
nanite waffers that make it imposible for people to od
biomechanical interface complex for multimedia internet
touch internet and com access
we can have it in 30 years if somebody was serious in bring it to real life

i would just like to add i think this entire X-Men theory that we will all have powers and what not is extreamly unreal and will never happen as much as some would like it to it wont we will i think be able to add certain abilitys to ourselves but not that gerastic

maybe some day far far down the evolutionary line it will but we cant prove it so dont hoild your breath.


Tink

Cybernetics is our future! Kids, I would watch a movie like “Ghost in the shell” best prediction of the future I have ever seen! The comic though is much better, both you can download off KazaA or DC... Oh lets not forget the GitS TV series.

I still say make something sapient that is a big improvement over us (dosnt matter if it is biological or mechanical) and just let it outcompete us.

Bit smarter, more foresighted, less nutty, with more self control, and still capable of enjoying artistic things.

predictions of the future usually have nothing to do with the future.

If intelligence is so good (and I think it is) why are we the only species to have developed it? And how can you say it will shorten our dominance instead of lengthaning it or even not affecting it if you have no past creatures with it? All other dominances have only ended because of major geological disaters, why will ours be different? On one hand you could say we will have caused the disaster (e.g create a disease), on the other hand we could avoid the disaster (e.g. blow away an incoming meteor).

rayzinnz-

why are we the only species to have developed it?

Depends on how you view intelligence. I do think that animals share a limited form of intelligence, hell you can even say humans are lacking intelligence. The whole issue is relative. We are basing the idea of intelligence on OUR capacity for thought. Maybe an alien race would think we lack intelligence because they are so superior to us, this is sort of like what we do to animals. Its a relative issue.

All other dominances have only ended because of major geological disaters, why will ours be different?

The world has never seen organisms with our capability for invention and thought. If we are able to avoid a catastrophic event long enough, then with the current trend of growth that humans are exhibiting, we might be able to do something to avoid eminent death. We are currently a type zero civilization.

A type one civilization controls all forms of planetary power. They control the weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the ocean. A type two civilization controls the power of a star. They can manipulate and play with stars.
A type three civilization is galactic. They have colonized most of the stars in the galaxy. On this scale, we are type zero — we get our energy from dead plants, i.e., oil.
We physicists believe that in a hundred to two hundred years we will attain type one status. However, to have warp drive, you must be an advanced type two, or type three, civilization.
-Michio Kaku

- Michio Kaku is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City College of the City University of New York. He graduated from Harvard and received his Ph.D. from Berkeley.

Originally posted by WellCookedFetus
Well in that case I don't think we would change much over the next million year as long as a population stayed high and interbreeding.

This addresses both this post and Dr. Lou's post. Think seriously about who is reproducing the most in the human population. Is it the smartest people, is it the prettiest people, is it the most educated people? No, it is the opposite. Educated people curtail their reproduction far more than the uneducated. THis will eventually (or has already) lead to the majority of the population deriving from actually the least evolutionarily "fit" individuals. Theoretically, evolution could receed.
It's kind of scary when you think about it.

Perhaps I would be percieved as one of those people who would interfere with all these grand possibilities that humans could "evolve" to become with the help of technology.

For me it comes down to the realization that just because we can do something, does not necessarily mean we should do something.

Originally posted by wrmgrl
This addresses both this post and Dr. Lou's post. Think seriously about who is reproducing the most in the human population. Is it the smartest people, is it the prettiest people, is it the most educated people? No, it is the opposite. Educated people curtail their reproduction far more than the uneducated. THis will eventually (or has already) lead to the majority of the population deriving from actually the least evolutionarily "fit" individuals. Theoretically, evolution could receed.
It's kind of scary when you think about it.

Hence the human race would remain in the same pathetic state that we are in now! :D

Originally posted by WellCookedFetus
Hence the human race would remain in the same pathetic state that we are in now! :D
Or get worse!

Nobody would ever make you get an enhancement. You would be free to stay the same while everyone else change. Its just like the Amish: Nobody makes them use cell phones.

I am sure humanity will fracture into numerous sub-species. Those that are "better" will outcompete those that are "worse".

I dunno about the human race dieing out. I mean Smart people don't reproduce as much but smart people tend to reproduce with other smart people. So eventually down the line there will be a few like SUPER smart people and a bunch of well...

Clockwood,

Exactly! Thank you for saying it in a way that I have failed to, I got to learn how to convey ideas better.

wrmgrl,

Demands on the common redneck's brain and on that of a Cro-Magnon 70,000 years ago are nearly the same, and cranial capacity is still virtually equal! Hence as long as the world is populated with these kinds of people brainpower is not going to go up, but it won’t go down either, or else people of the future wont even be able to live.

Everybody tends to have the same amount of brain power, except in extreme diseased cases. Doesn't matter whether you lineage for the past 10,000 years has come from australia or africa or europe. For some reason genetically our brains are capable of the same capacity, unchanged by other mutations. This goes for class as well. It just that some people like to use there neurons and the majority of people don't. And of course in that respect your first 3 years will affect you for the rest of your life too.

My point is, A couple of stupid people can have a child that is smart and a couple of smart people can have a child that is stupid.

Another thing, what does "wrmgrl" mean? warm girl? war mongrel?

I think it means worm girl... about as sexually appetizing as me!

Yes I to believe that human intelligence is affected by environmental factors, but genetics does play a role as well, let worm girl get into this because I have to leave in 30min and she will just bi7ch at me if I give a quick 4ss response.

i think we should stay the same as we are right now. well guess what im not really impressed if that guy got a ph.d....people thought 50 years ago we would have flying cars. we will never be able to control the weather and that stuff. and what do u mean by smart. are you calling the people living in africa stupid? what if they dont have the resources to learn. ignorance and being "stupid" have nothing in common. a "dumb" person can be "smart" if they try hard.

Originally posted by rayzinnz

Another thing, what does "wrmgrl" mean? warm girl? war mongrel?

Wellcooked is right, it is short for worm girl, though I like the warm girl interpretation, and war mongrel cracks me up. I do reasearch on a small nematode (a type of worm) called C. elegans (you know, those worms that survived the space shuttle crash).

Besides I don't disagree with you entirely. The thing is de-evolution happens. The most intelligent, most complex organisms are not always the best able to compete. This is why bacteria are so sucessful, relatively speaking. It takes a lot of energy to maintain those complex brains of ours, and if they don't offer a substantial reproductive advantage there is no reason to expend our resources maintaining them, things may revert, entropy is always acting upon us. For this reason, de-evolution could happen, but I think an earlier post was more correct in thinking we'll probably be in the same state we are now for a long time, unless a severe selective pressure acts upon us.

As for the genetics of intelligence versus environment, it is clear that both play a role. Besides the real value of intelligence is that you use it. I know a lot of really smart people who don't make use of their intelligence, and a bunch of average people who excel and have vast knowledge because they work hard. Like most things, you get out of intelligence only what you put into it.

Originally posted by WellCookedFetus
I think it means worm girl... about as sexually appetizing as me!

Yes I to believe that human intelligence is affected by environmental factors, but genetics does play a role as well, let worm girl get into this because I have to leave in 30min and she will just bi7ch at me if I give a quick 4ss response.

Does that mean you think I really am a woman, or part of that 1% of perverts pretending to be women?
Perhaps it's my cattiness that tips you off.
Besides Wellcooked, I haven't bitched at you in a good 12 hours. I let the sequencer post go untouched didn't I, and yes it was very thorough, but you know me, I'm just plain verbose.

And thanks for pointing out my name isn't "Sexually appetizing" because you know, that's really what I'm shooting for in a science forum, to wet all the other science geeks sexual appetites with my witty screen name.

Oh baby your turning me on! http://www.guru3d.com/forum/images/smilies/fouet.gif

Why don't you join spuriousmonkey in the "lets spank fetus" club!, if you’re a guy it won’t matter: I can’t really see to well in bondage.

Well sounds interesting - what exactly do you do with the worms wrmgrl?

Originally posted by rayzinnz
Well sounds interesting - what exactly do you do with the worms wrmgrl?

Well, my research involves a family of four proteins that are present in the germline (ie where the eggs and sperm are made). C. elegans is a unique little creature really, and it's very well suited to geneitc manipulations and other standard molecular biology and biochemistry sorts of techniques.
Right now I'm trying to make transgenic worms that have green proteins (only the protein I'm interested in will be green). We also make mutant worms in our lab, and do some other pretty cool stuff (at least in my opinion).

Currently I haven't been playing with my worms much, as I've been writing my comprehensive exam on something entirely unrelated. After next week though, back to work.

You been playing with the worms? :bugeye:

Originally posted by WellCookedFetus
You been playing with the worms? :bugeye:
In a sense.
It's just easier than saying: harvesting DNA from worms, harvesting protein from worms, harvesting RNA from worms. Performing immunocytochemistry, using a biollistic approach to creating integrated transgenes, cloning (DNA not worms, as since worms are hermaphrodites, most worms are clones anyway).

Etc, etc, it's just more fun to say I play with my worms. Besides, science is fun for me (usually) so working is kind of like playing.

:rolleyes:

Even if our immune systems become much stronger and better at fighting diseases, wouldn't the diseases just mutate and take on new forms. Isn't that awhat diseases do? So are you saying that our immune systems will either be able to change at the rate of hte diseases or that they'll just be so incredibly strong that almost nothing can penetrate it. Along that note, what about AIDS and cancer, would it be able to combat them?