Hi, Im new here.... I would like to have a chat about the possibility that the human mind can or could obtain new skills and knowladge beyond our current state of evolution... in other words do you think that if the right conditions were met that the human mind could advance to say the next level.... Don't know if this is the right forum for this If not let me know.... I personaly think that Religion, Evolution and everything you see feel touch and think about are just very small pieces in the biggest puzzle ever.....so all are welcome is this thread Technopolis
Hi and welcome to sciforums. I don't think your thread should be in religion. It would be more appropriate in the Human Science forum. Would you like me to move this thread to that forum?
I think that it is very possible to push our minds to the next level, but what that level is, noone knows, or only has a slight clue about. Evolution is going to happen. Whether you want it to or not, we are going to change. This is a simple fact. Now what we can do with our "next" evolutionary boost is unknown, but it is known that it probably wont happen extremely fast, but will take time, and be less noticed. Look back a few years and you can see it in effect. We have not only grown to meet standards of higher logic and intellect, we have also pushed our evolution externally, learning to survive in different conditions. As technology grows, we will grow.
I think the area of interest will be external to the human mind...the creation of synthetic life, able to understand and change it's own structure...
Your question anwers itself. Anything is possible if the right conditions are met. Perhaps in asking your question, you are wanting to discuss conceptualizations on "what the next level is", or maybe what "skills and knowledge" are beyond our current capacities?
Homo sapien evolution from cave man and the advent of the use of fire, through - or parallel to - alongside Neanderthals, from the stone age-to the bronze age-to the middle ages-to the industrial revolution-to revolutions in scientific knowledge-to the information computer revolution-to robotics and bioengineering-to where we are today, has shown the progress in evolution that the human mind has already been capable of: all of this only during a few thousand years of man's history out of the hundreds of thousands of years that man has been on Earth. With this in mind, can you see any limitations?
Nope... Well said. thank you.. Do you think technology is dangerous ? one part of me says yes and the other says no. machines only do what man tells them to do.. very confusing.. JB
I don't think anyone can answer that. Technology has allowed us to live longer and much more comfortably, yet look at all the pollution that the production of technology puts out. Only the future can tell if we can balance this trade off.
I can see were technology could be dangerous. If we become too dependant to the point were the weak survive too much our species could become too weak to survive without technology. This could leave us vulnerable if at some point technology becomes unavailable. Say at some point we use up our energy stores and we are left in a position so as not to be able to operate technological crutches on a mass. We might then see a dramatic loss of life in our species. I think maybe the real question is has mankind come to a point where we are devolving?
The evolution of humankind to a new psychological level is the theme of John Wyndham's "The Chrysalids" (1955). The "Sealanders" have gained the ability to communicate by telepathy. Clearly Wyndham did not foresee the development of the ubiquitous mobile phone which renders this ability unnecessary. The reader is intended to sympathise with the mutants in the farming community of Waknuk who have developed the same ability. However, as a regular human, I took the side of their persecutors who wished to eliminate the threat that they posed. An evolutionary mutation which conveys some new advantage (such as the "milk gene" or immunity from some disease) is broadly to be welcomed. A mutation, especially one affecting the brain, which threatened the existing nature of the human species is to be feared. Any group of "people" who developed such a mutation should be ruthlessly destroyed. (The point is, of course, that they would actually be something other than "people".)
First Technopolis, welcome to the forums. Now, I have some difficulties with the way you have phrased this question. Mpst (arguably all) knowledge, and many skills, are aquired. They are not inherited. Therefore, the development of new knowledge or skills has nothing to do with evolution. The advances made by man over the last several millenia are not related to evolution. [One could make a nitpicking argument against this. River Ape mentioned the 'milk gene'. I presume he means by this the mutation that keeps the lactose tolerance switched on into adulthood. By improving our nutritional input this would have contributed to the development of civilisation.] The problem with this is, as other posters have pointed out, what is meant by the term 'next level'. For one thing this implies evolution has a direction, which is not the case.
