The formation of a person is closely related to his environment, to the society in which he lives. A child, cut off from people, loses the ability to speak and think.
C. Darwin's theory
Polycentrism theory
Myths about the origin of man
The process of historical (evolutionary) development of man consisted mainly of four stages: primitive ancestors(before the archanthropes), ancient people(archanthropes), ancient people(Neanderthals), modern people(neoanthropes).
Russian scientist V. P. Alekseev believed that the emergence of man began with the formation of the hominid family and labor activity. He divides the history of human formation into the history of the primitive period and the history of the subsequent period.
Ancestors of apes and humans
Monkeys are divided into two groups: broad-nosed And narrow-nosed. According to scientists, they appeared on earth 31-35 million years ago, and 23 million years ago, narrow-nosed monkeys split into two branches: dog-headed And anthropoid monkeys With a change in living conditions, that is, a decrease in forest areas, narrow-nosed monkeys as a result of hereditary variability, the struggle for existence and natural selection divided into two branches: the ancestors of the apes and apes. Monkeys similar to ancient man - pliopithecus And Dryopithecus- lived in Asia 12 million years ago.
Dendropithecus (Pliopithecus) and Dryopithecus
According to recent paleontological excavations, the separation of humans and apes occurred over a period of approximately 8-4.5 million years.
- Representatives of Dendropithecus (Pliopithecus) were more adapted to life in trees. As a result of their further development, gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans emerged.
- The second branch gave rise to upright walking monkeys. Due to a sharp change in living conditions, some species of Driopithecus began to walk on their hind limbs.
Australopithecus
Proof of the beginning of the process of transformation of apes into humans are erect walking monkeys - Australopithecus. With the retreat of the tropical forests of Africa to the north and the emergence of steppe savannas, some species of great apes began to emerge from the forests and live in open spaces. As a result, “southern” monkeys arose - australopithecines (from the Latin avstralis - southern, pitiekos - monkey).
The formation of Australopithecus occurred 8-5 million years ago. Although their brain was not sufficiently developed, walking upright on two legs made it possible to use ready-made sticks, stones, and large animal bones as tools. 3-2.5 million years ago, Australopithecines split into several branches. From Australopithecus afarensis came Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus powerful. Later, the powerful Australopithecines became extinct.
Australopithecines lived in forest-steppes and open spaces. Their height was 120-140 cm, body weight - 36-35 kg, skull volume 500-600 cm 3. The structure of the pelvic bones indicates their upright posture. They killed large animals using stone and wooden tools, and dug out bulbs, tubers, and plant roots from the ground (Fig. 79).
Homo habilis
As a result of the development of one species of australopithecus, the first man, homo habilis, appeared. The remains of the skeleton, skull, jaw bones, as well as stone tools of Homo habilis were found in the 1960-1970s. in Africa in earth layers whose age is estimated at 3-2 million years. Based on the study of these remains, homo habilis began to be called a skilled man. The volume of the brain of Homo habilis was 650-690 cm 3, which is 150 cm 3 more than the brain of Australopithecus. His height was relatively higher - 135-150 cm. Homo habilis knew how to use fire and built dwellings from large stones (Fig. 80).
Archanthropes (ancient people) are classified as Homo erectus and include Pithecanthropus And Sinanthropus. Archanthropes buried their dead loved ones and decorated caves with the horns and teeth of various animals.
Pete-canthropus
In 1891, the Dutch scientist Dubois found the remains of pite canthropus bones on the island of Java. Pithecanthropus walked slightly leaning forward, his height was 170 cm, his brain volume was 900-1100 cm 3. The forehead was narrow, sloping, the massive jaw was without a chin protrusion. Pithecanthropus lived approximately 1.5-1.9 million years ago. They made tools from stone and bones, knew how to use fire, and lived in a primitive community. However, they did not have permanent homes.
Sinan-tropes
The skeletal remains of a man who lived much later than Pithecanthropus were found in 1927-1937. in China, in a cave located in the vicinity of Beijing. This man was called a sinan-trope. Sinanthropus lived 500-300 thousand years ago. In appearance they resembled Pithecanthropus. They had a low forehead with convex brow ridges, a large lower jaw, large teeth, and an undeveloped chin. The height of synantropes was 150-160 cm, the volume of the brain was 850-1220 cm 3. They knew how to light and keep fire.
Ancient people— paleoanthropes (Neanderthals) lived 0.5-0.6 million years ago. In 1907, near the city of Heidelberg in Germany, a lower jaw without a chin, with teeth similar to the teeth of modern humans, was found. For the first time, the remains of an ancient person - bones of the skull, jaws and limbs were discovered in 1856 near the Neanderthal River in Germany, and later - in more than 100 places in Europe, Africa, South and East Asia, including in the Teshiktash cave in the Surkhandarya region Uzbekistan. In the Obirakhmat cave, skull bones of a man who lived 90-30 thousand years ago were excavated. Judging by the structure of the skull, this person was in the gap between Neanderthal (from the name of the Neanderthal River) and homo sapiens.
Homo neandertalensis was formed over 250 thousand years. His height was 156-165 cm, his muscles were highly developed. The forehead of the first Neanderthals was sloping, the brow ridges and jaws were poorly developed. The lumbar spine is less curved. The brain volume was 1400 cm3. Along with the brain, speech was also developed. The more significant development of the horizons of Neanderthals compared to the most ancient people can be judged by the stone and bone tools they made, with which they hunted animals, removed their skins and butchered meat. By studying the structure of the cranial and facial bones, scientists suggest that Neanderthals communicated with each other through gestures, meaningless sounds, and subsequently meaningful speech. In this regard, Neanderthals are called homo sapiens neandertales.
Cro-Magnons
For the first time, skeletons, skulls and tools of people of modern appearance - Cro-Magnons - were found in the Cro-Magnon grotto in the south of France, and later - in other areas of Europe, Asia and Australia. Cro-Magnons appeared approximately 250-150 thousand years ago. Their height was 180 cm, the volume of the skull was about 1600 cm 3. The wide forehead and prominent chin indicate that they had well-developed meaningful speech. The Cro-Magnons lived in caves, on the walls of which they painted images of hunting scenes, dances, animals and people with different colors. The bone, horn and flint tools they made were distinguished by their variety and elegance. The Cro-Magnons knew how to cut stones and make spears, bows and arrows. They built various dwellings for themselves, practiced pottery, tamed wild animals, and began to engage in primitive agriculture (Fig. 81).
Races of people
Since man, in the process of historical development, descended from apes, the question naturally arises as to why the present-day apes do not turn into humans over time.
First, living apes were never the ancestors of humans. Modern humans and apes represent two branches of ancient, subsequently extinct, apes that have evolved to different living conditions. The ancestors of apes lived more in trees in forests, while the ancestors of humans lived in open spaces and moved on their feet.
Secondly, according to Darwin's evolutionary theory, the wider the distribution area of a species, the more intense changes occur in their historical development, since the diversity of conditions over vast areas also determines the diversity of hereditary changes in species. Of the living apes, chimpanzees are common in the tropical rainforests of Central Africa, gorillas in the forests of East and Central Africa, and orangutans in the swampy forests of the island. Sumatra. Consequently, their ability to move into open areas and walk on two legs is limited.
Thirdly, in order for new species to form, the number of individuals included in these species must be large enough. Meanwhile, there are currently only two species of chimpanzees, one species each of gorillas and orangutans. The number of individuals included in these species is also insignificant.
Evolutionary origins of man
Questions for this article:
List the representatives of great apes.
Describe the most ancient people and their appearance.
What biological factors played an important role at the initial stage of human evolution?
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The sign that separates apes from humans is considered to be brain mass, equal 750 g. It is with this brain mass that a child masters speech. The speech of ancient people was very primitive, but it constitutes a qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and the higher nervous activity of animals. At the beginning of this century, English geneticists discovered a gene whose action is directly related to articulate speech. Its mutation leads people to articulation disorders. Interestingly, this gene differs by only two single nucleotide substitutions from the same gene in chimpanzees. Thus, speech appeared, and the word denoting actions, labor operations, objects, and then generalized concepts, became the most important means of communication between people.
Speech contributed to more effective interaction between members of the primitive herd in labor processes, the transfer of accumulated experience from generation to generation, i.e. training. In the struggle for existence, those primitive herds of ancient people gained an advantage, who began to take care of the elderly and support individuals who were physically weak, but had experience and stood out for their mental abilities. Previously useless old people, eaten by their fellow tribesmen when there was a shortage of food, became valuable members of society as carriers of knowledge. The speech contributed to the development of the thinking process, the improvement of work processes, and the evolution of social relations.
In the process of human development, three stages are distinguished (Table 23.1):
- 1) ancient people
- 2) ancient people",
- 3) modern people.
The most ancient people. It is believed that the earliest people arose about 1 million years ago. Several forms of ancient people are known: Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Heidelberg man and a number of others (Fig. 23.3). Outwardly, they already resembled modern humans, although they were distinguished by powerful supraorbital ridges, the absence of a chin protrusion, and a low and sloping forehead. The mass of the brain reached 800-1000 g. The brain had a more primitive structure than that of later forms. The most ancient people successfully hunted buffalo, rhinoceroses, deer, and birds. Using hewn stones, they cut up the carcasses of killed animals. They lived mainly in caves and knew how to use fire. At the same time, there were quite a few forms of ancient people, standing at different stages of development and evolving in different directions (including in the direction of gigantism).
The most promising direction of evolution was a further increase in the volume of the brain, the development of a social way of life, the improvement of tools, and the wider use of fire (not only for heating and scaring off predators, but also for cooking). All other forms, including giants, quickly disappeared.
Ancient people (Neanderthals). TO Ancient people include a new group of people who appeared about 200 thousand years ago. They occupy an intermediate position between the earliest humans and the first modern humans. Neanderthals were a very heterogeneous group. The study of numerous skeletons showed that in the evolution of Neanderthals, with all the diversity of structure, two lines can be distinguished.
Rice. 23.3. One of the forms of ancient people is Pithecanthropus, classified as Homo erectus (Homo erectus)
One line went in the direction of powerful physical development. These were creatures with a low sloping forehead, a low nape, a continuous supraorbital ridge, an underdeveloped chin protuberance, and large teeth. With a relatively small height (155-165 cm), they had extremely powerfully developed muscles. The brain mass reached 1500 g. It is believed that Neanderthals used rudimentary articulate speech.
Another group of Neanderthals, apparently descended from ancient forms independently of the first, was characterized by more subtle features - smaller brow ridges, a high forehead, thinner jaws and a more developed chin. In general physical development, they were noticeably inferior to the first group. But in return, their brain volume increased significantly in the frontal lobes. This group of Neanderthals fought for existence not by increasing physical development, but through the development of intra-group connections during hunting, while protecting themselves from enemies, from unfavorable natural conditions, i.e. through the combined forces of individuals. This evolutionary path led to the appearance 40-50 thousand years ago of the species Homo sapiens - Homo sapiens.
For some time, Neanderthals and the first modern people coexisted, and then, about 28 thousand years ago, the Neanderthals were finally supplanted by the first modern people - Cro-Magnons.
The first modern people. Cro-Magnons were tall - up to 180 cm, with a high forehead, the volume of the cranium reached 1600 cm 3. A continuous supraorbital ridge was absent (Fig. 23.4).
Rice. 23.4. Cro-Magnon - a representative of the species Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens)
At least four genes associated with brain size in humans and other primates have now been well studied. Mutations in these genes in humans lead to the development of a serious disease - microcephaly (from lat. micro- small and Greek. ancephalon - brain), accompanied by a decrease in brain volume by more than 70%. A comparative genetic analysis of the genomes of humans and apes showed significant changes in the group of these genes throughout evolution, and they were especially rapid during the divergence of humans and apes.
Computer comparison of genomes made it possible to identify more than two hundred more regulatory genes that determine the switching on and off of the genes described above located next to them.
Thus, although the number of genes that determine brain development is small, changes in them can significantly change the human brain by affecting the activity of many interacting genes.
Cro-Magnons had articulate speech, as evidenced by a well-developed chin protuberance. A well-developed brain and the social nature of work led to a sharp decrease in a person’s dependence on the external environment, to the establishment of control over certain aspects of the environment, to the emergence of abstract thinking and attempts to reflect the reality around them in artistic images - rock paintings, bone figurines, etc. .
Human evolution has escaped the leading control of biological factors and acquired a social character. The main stages of human development are depicted in the diagram (Fig. 23.5).
Rice. 23.5. The main stages of human development
The role of labor in the origin of man. Such human features as a highly developed central nervous system and speech as a means of communication between people, the separation of the functions of the upper and lower extremities, an unspecialized hand capable of producing hundreds of diverse and subtle movements, the creation of society instead of the herd, were the result of human labor activity. This qualitative uniqueness of human evolution was pointed out by F. Engels in his work “The Role of Labor in the Process of Transformation of Ape into Man.” Such traditional ideas have been confirmed in molecular genetic studies of the human genome. One of the regulatory regions of human genetic material has undergone the greatest changes compared to apes. It turned out that the human version of the genes allows you to control the activity of genes in the wrist and thumb, but the ancestral form of regulatory genes cannot do this. This fact indicates morphological changes in the human hand, which allowed people to maintain the precision and dexterity necessary for the production and use of delicate and complex tools.
Table 23.1
Main stages of human evolution
Fossils
person
Where and when did you live
Appearance
Lifestyle
Australopithecus
Southern and Eastern Africa, Southern Asia, 5-3 million years ago
up to 50 kg, height 120-140 cm, skull volume 500-600 cm 3
They walked on two legs, lived among rocks in open places, and ate meat. Herding
Used
animals
Africa, South Asia, 3-2 million years ago
Weight up to 50 kg, height up to 150 cm, skull volume 700 cm 3
Cooperation during hunting and group defense
Making primitive tools
The most ancient people (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus)
Africa, Mediterranean, o. Java, Central Asia, 2 million 200 thousand years ago
Height is about 160 cm, brain volume is 900-1,000 cm 3, low forehead, massive jaws
They lived in primitive herds in caves, kept fire, dressed in skins, had the rudiments of speech
They made well-made stone tools
Ending
Fossils
person
Where and when did you live
Appearance
Lifestyle
Ancient people (Neanderthals)
Africa, Central Asia, about 250-50 thousand years ago
155-165 cm, brain volume up to 1,400 cm 3, low forehead, with brow ridge, chin protuberance poorly developed
They lived in groups, used fire for cooking, and dressed in skins. In communication they used gestures and primitive speech. Division of labor appeared
They made a variety of tools from stone and wood
The first modern humans (Cro-Magnons)
Everywhere, 50-40 thousand years ago
Height up to 180 cm, brain volume 1,600 cm 3, high forehead, without a ridge, lower jaw with a chin protrusion
They lived in a tribal society, built houses, and decorated them with drawings. They made clothes from skins, used speech when communicating, tamed animals, and cultivated plants. Moved from biological evolution to social
Manufactured complex tools and mechanisms
The main feature separating apes from humans is brain mass. The brain mass of great apes does not exceed 450 g. With a brain mass of 750 g, the child masters speech. Excess brain mass is directly related to an increase in the volume of the cranium (Fig. 53).
Rice. 53. Changes in the volume of the human brain in the process of historical development: 1 - giant australopithecus; 2 - Australopithecus africanus; 3 - the oldest person; 4 - ancient man (Neanderthal)
In the process of human development, three main stages are distinguished: 1) ancient people (archanthropes), 2) ancient people (paleoanthropes) and 3) modern people (neoanthropes) (Fig. 54).
Rice. 54. Ancestors of modern humans: 1 - Australopithecus; 2 - homo erectus (ancient man); 3 - Neanderthal (ancient man); 4 - Cro-Magnon - the direct ancestor of modern humans
Dutch anthropologist. The main scientific works are devoted to human evolution. He irrefutably proved the correctness of Charles Darwin's theory about the origin of man from closely related higher apes.
The most ancient people (archanthropes). All groups of ancient people belong to a single species of upright people (Homo erectns). In 1891, the Dutch scientist E. Dubois (1858-1940) found the fossil remains of an ancient human on the island of Java. The age of this find is 1.9 million-600 thousand years. E. Dubois called him Pithecanthropus (Greek pithekos - “monkey” and anthropos - “man”, i.e. ape-man). The forehead of Pithecanthropus is strongly sloping, a solid bony ridge above the eyes protrudes forward, and the occipital bone is pushed back.
These were signs characteristic only of great apes. The mass of their brain reached 900 g, that is, it was significantly greater than that of apes. Noteworthy are the similarities in the structure of the femur of Pithecanthropus and humans, and walking on two legs. In some ways they resembled monkeys, and in others, they resembled humans, which is why they received the name “ape-man” (Pithecanthropus). Later, their remains were found in China, Germany, Hungary, North and South Africa. When the fossil remains of Pithecanthropus were found, nothing was known about Australopithecus and Homo habilis, so Pithecanthropus has long been considered a connecting creature between apes and humans (Fig. 55).
Rice. 55. Pithecanthropus
Now Pithecanthropus is classified as archanthropus (ancient people), or upright walking people (Homo erectns). Despite significant external differences, all ancient people are classified as one species. Archanthropes lived on Earth from approximately 1 million to 500 thousand years ago. According to the place where the fossil remains were found, they received the names “Pithecanthropus” (“Javanese man”), “Sinanthropus” (“Chinese man”), “Heidelberg” man. The most ancient people looked similar to modern humans; compared to Australopithecus and Homo habilis, they were distinguished by a large brain mass. The brain mass reached 750-900, sometimes 1000-1100 g. Archanthropes were quite tall, 165-170 cm, which further proved their similarity to modern humans. However, they were distinguished by powerful brow ridges, a low and sloping forehead, and the absence of a chin protrusion. Their jaws are large, the facial part of the skull is well developed, but the cerebral part of the skull was still small. The next group of archanthropes - Sinanthropus ("Chinese man") - lived in East Asia. The remains of Sinanthropus were found in 1937 in a cave near Beijing. They dressed in animal skins, lived in caves, and used fire and stone tools. In many ways, Sinanthropus, compared to Pithecanthropus, was more similar to modern humans.
In 1907, near the city of Heidelberg in Germany, the remains of an ancient man were found. Scientists called him “Heidelberg Man” and classified him as an archanthrope. There have been noticeable changes in the way of life of the archanthropes. They mostly hunted large animals together and knew how to use fire. Stone tools were improved. They knew how to make cutting, chopping, and sharp tools from stone. One of the main features in the history of the development of archanthropes is the appearance of speech. The word became the most important means of communication between them, since the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain associated with speech were quite well developed.
Fossil remains of archanthropes have been found in large quantities in Central and North Africa, Southern Europe, and Western Asia. There is an opinion that from these places the archanthropes gradually spread to other areas of Europe and Asia.
On the territory of Kazakhstan, many remains of the dwellings of ancient people, the stone tools they used, and the remains of wild animals that they hunted were found. However, the remains of ancient people were not found. This is proven by archaeological research conducted recently in Kazakhstan. Stone Age tools were first found in 1928 in Kazakhstan in the Altyn Kolat pasture area. Later, similar stone tools were found on the territory of the village of Kyzyltu, Zhambyl region.
As a result of research, scientists have clarified several areas of distribution of ancient people on the territory of Kazakhstan. Such areas include Mangistau, Ustyurt, Karatau in Southern Kazakhstan, the small hills of Kokshetau in the north and the areas of Naryn-Bukhtarma and Irtysh. Based on these data, Kazakh scientists Zh. Taimagambetov and others came to the conclusion that 1 million years ago the most ancient people lived on the territory of Kazakhstan.
Archanthropes lived mainly in caves and could use fire. Many scientists support the view that modern humans descended from groups of archanthropes who lived in Central and North Africa. The period of appearance of people, from archanthropes to modern man, covers about 500 thousand years.
The main directions in the evolution of archanthropes are an increase in brain mass, a social lifestyle, improvement of tools and the use of fire. However, biological factors played a major role in the evolution of archanthropes, among them natural selection.
Archanthropes (ancient people). Pithecanthropus. Sinanthropus. Heidelberg Man.
1.What stages of human evolution do you know?
2. Describe synanthropes.
3.What groups of archanthropes existed?
1.Name the main directions of evolution of archanthropes.
2.Describe the main features of the body structure of archanthropes.
3.Which signs of Pithecanthropus were similar to those of a monkey, and which were similar to those of humans?
1. Describe how, with an increase in the brain volume of individual groups, a change in the lifestyle of individual groups of archanthropes occurs.
2.Where in Kazakhstan were archanthrope sites and tools found?
3.Where in the world were the remains of individual groups of archanthropes found?
Give characteristics of the main groups of ancient people in the form of a table.
There are many theories that suggest different ways for the human body to develop in the future. Scientists are constantly looking for clues about where we came from and where we are going. Some experts argue that Darwinian natural selection continues, while others believe that humans have already reached their peak.
For example, Professor Steve Jones from University College London says that the driving forces of evolution no longer play an important role in our lives. Among the people who lived a million years ago, it was literally survival of the fittest, and the hostile environment had a direct impact on the human form. In the modern world with central heating and plenty of food, mutations are much less likely.
However, there is a possibility that our bodies will continue to develop further. Humans can continue to adapt to the changes taking place on our planet, which is becoming increasingly polluted and dependent on technology. According to the theory, animals evolve faster in isolated environments, while people living in the 21st century are not isolated at all. However, this issue is also controversial. With new advances in science and technology, people were able to exchange information instantly, but at the same time they became more isolated than ever before.
Yale University professor Stephen Stearns says that globalization, immigration, cultural diffusion and ease of travel are all contributing to the gradual homogenization of the population, which will lead to a homogenization of facial features. Recessive traits in humans, such as freckles or blue eyes, will become very rare.
In 2002, a study by epidemiologists Mark Grant and Diane Lauderdale found that only 1 in 6 non-Hispanic white Americans had blue eyes, whereas 100 years ago, more than half of the white population in the United States had blue eyes. It is predicted that the skin and hair color of the average American will darken, leaving very few blondes and people with very dark or very light skin.
In some parts of the planet (for example, in the USA), genetic mixing occurs more actively, in others - less. In some places, unique physical traits adapted to the environment have a strong evolutionary advantage, so people won't be able to give them up so easily. Immigration in some regions is much slower, so, according to Stearns, complete homogenization of the human race may never happen.
However, overall the Earth is becoming more and more like a big melting pot, and a scientist has said that in a few centuries we will all become like the Brazilians. It is possible that in the future people may acquire the ability to consciously change the color of their skin thanks to the artificial introduction of chromatophores (pigment-containing cells present in amphibians, fish, and reptiles) into the body. There may be another method, but in any case it will provide some advantages. Firstly, interracial prejudices will finally disappear. Secondly, being able to change will help you stand out in modern society.
Height
The trend toward increased growth has been reliably established. Primitive people are thought to have had an average height of 160 cm, and human height has been steadily increasing over the past centuries. A particularly noticeable jump has occurred in recent decades, when human height has increased by an average of 10 cm. This trend may continue in the future, since it largely depends on diet, and food is becoming more nutritious and affordable. Of course, at the moment, in some regions of the planet, due to poor nutrition with a low content of minerals, vitamins and proteins, this trend is not observed, but in most countries of the world people continue to grow. For example, every fifth resident of Italy is taller than 180 centimeters, while after the Second World War there were only 6% of such people in the country.
beauty
Researchers have previously found that more attractive women have more children than less attractive women, and that more children are girls. Their daughters grow into attractive, mature women, and the pattern repeats itself. Scientists from the University of Helsinki concluded that the trend towards an increase in the number of beautiful women is increasing with each new generation. However, the trend does not apply to men. However, the person of the future will likely be more beautiful than he is now. His body structure and facial features will reflect what most are looking for in a partner today. He will have finer facial features, an athletic build and a good figure. Another idea, proposed by evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics, seems to be inspired by ideas from classic science fiction. According to his hypothesis, the human race will over time be divided into two subspecies: a lower class, consisting of short people who look like underdeveloped goblins, and a higher class of tall, slender, attractive and intelligent superhumans, spoiled by technology. According to Curry's forecasts, this will not happen soon - in 100 thousand years.
Big heads
If a person continues to develop, turning into a more complex and intelligent being, his brain will become larger and larger.
With technological progress, we will depend more and more on the intellect and brain and less and less on our other organs. However, paleontologist Peter Ward from the University of Washington in Seattle disagrees with this theory. “If you've ever experienced or witnessed childbirth, then you know that with our anatomical structure we stand at the very edge - our big brains are already causing extreme problems during childbirth, and if they got bigger and bigger, then this would cause greater maternal mortality during childbirth, and evolution will not follow this path.”
Obesity
A recent study by Columbia University and Oxford University researchers predicts that by 2030, half the US population will be obese. That is, there will be 65 million more adults with problematic weight in the country. If you think that Europeans will be slim and elegant, then you are mistaken. Obesity rates have more than doubled in most European Union member states over the past two decades, according to a report published by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. As a result, on average, more than 15% of European adults and one in seven children suffer from obesity, and the trends are disappointing.
Will the people of the future become obese and lazy creatures, like the characters from the cartoon "Wally"? All in our hands. There are other points of view on this matter. The fact is that modern diets are high in fat and cheap “empty calories.” There is currently quite a negative attitude towards the problem of obesity, which will make people in the future better adjusted and picky eaters. With the popularization of the concept of proper nutrition, as well as with new technologies of “food of the future,” everything will fall into place. When humanity finally figures out healthy eating, it is likely that heart disease and diabetes, which are currently among the leading causes of death in developed countries, will disappear.
Hairline
Homo sapiens is often jokingly called a naked ape. But like all mammals, humans grow hair, of course, in much less quantity than our hominid cousins and ancestors. Darwin, in The Descent of Man, stated that the hair on our bodies is a vestige. Due to the ubiquity of heating and affordable clothing, the previous purpose of body hair has become obsolete. But the evolutionary fate of hair is not easy to accurately predict, since it can act as one of the indicators of sexual selection. If the presence of body hair continues to be an attractive aspect to the opposite sex, then the gene responsible for it will remain in the population. But it is likely that people in the future will have much less hair than they do today.
Impact of technology
Computer technologies, which have become part of our daily lives, will undoubtedly affect the development of the human body. Constant use of keyboards and touch screens can cause our hands and fingers to become thinner, longer and more dexterous, and the number of nerve endings in them will increase dramatically. As the need to use technical interfaces increases, priorities will change. With further technical progress, interfaces (of course, not without surgical intervention) can migrate to the human body. Why shouldn’t a person of the future have a keyboard in the palm of his hand and learn to press the conventional OK button with a nod of his head, and answer an incoming call by connecting his index and thumb? It is likely that in this new world, the human body will be stuffed with hundreds of tiny sensors transmitting data to external devices. An augmented reality display can be built into the retina of the human eye, and the user will control the interface by moving the tongue along the front incisors.
Wisdom teeth and other rudiments
Vestigial organs such as wisdom teeth that are surgically removed may also disappear over time as they no longer serve their function. Our ancestors had larger jaws with more teeth. As their brains began to enlarge and their diets began to change and food became less tough and easier to digest, their jaws began to shrink. It was recently estimated that about 25% of people today are born without the rudiments of wisdom teeth, which may be a consequence of natural selection. This percentage will only grow in the future. It is possible that jaws and teeth will continue to become smaller and even disappear.
Poor memory and low intelligence
The theory that future people will have higher intellectual abilities is also questionable. A study from Columbia University shows that our dependence on Internet search engines greatly harms our memory. The Internet replaces our brain's ability to remember information that we can easily find on the Internet at any time. The brain began to use the Internet as a backup memory. “People are less likely to make the effort to remember something when they know they can always find that information later,” the study authors said.
Neuroscientist and Nobel Prize laureate Eric Kandel also points out in his article that the Internet is making people dumber. The main problem is that excessive use of the Internet does not allow you to concentrate on one thing. Mastering complex concepts requires paying serious attention to new information and diligently trying to associate it with knowledge already in memory. Surfing the Internet does not provide this opportunity: the user is constantly distracted and interrupted, which is why his brain is not able to establish strong neural connections.
As noted above, evolution follows the path of eliminating traits that are no longer needed. And one of them can be physical strength. Comfortable transport of the future, exoskeletons and other machines and tools of our ingenuity will save humanity from the need for walking and any physical activity. Research shows that we have already become much weaker compared to our distant ancestors. Over time, advances in technology may lead to changes in limbs. The muscles will begin to contract. The legs will become shorter and the feet smaller.
According to a recent study, the population of the United States is caught in a vicious cycle of constant stress and depression. Three in ten Americans say they are depressed. These symptoms are most common among people aged 45 to 65 years. 43% report regular outbursts of irritability and anger, 39% report nervousness and anxiety. Even dentists are seeing more patients with jaw pain and worn teeth than thirty years ago. Because of which?
Because of the stress, people clench their jaws tightly and literally grind their teeth in their sleep. Stress, as experiments on laboratory rats show, is a clear sign that the animal is becoming increasingly unfit for the world in which it lives. And as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace astutely noted more than 150 years ago, when a living creature's habitat is no longer comfortable, the species goes extinct.
Weak immunity
Future people may have weakened immune systems and be more susceptible to pathogens. New medical technologies and antibiotics have greatly improved overall health and life expectancy, but have also made our immune systems lazier. We become more and more dependent on medications, and over time our bodies may stop “thinking” for themselves and instead rely entirely on medications to carry out basic bodily functions. Thus, people from the future may actually become slaves to medical technology.
Selective hearing
Humanity already has the ability to direct their attention to specific things they hear. This feature is known as the "cocktail effect". At a noisy party, among many conversations, you may well focus on one specific speaker who has attracted your attention for some reason. The human ear does not have a physical mechanism for this; everything happens in the brain.
But over time, this ability can become more important and useful. With the development of media and the Internet, our world is becoming overcrowded with various sources of information. The man of the future will have to learn to more effectively determine what is useful to him and what is just noise. As a result, people will be less susceptible to stress, which will undoubtedly benefit their health, and, accordingly, will take root in their genes.
Artist Nikolai Lamm and Dr. Alan Kwan presented their speculative view of how the person of the future will see. Researchers base their predictions on how the human body will be affected by the environment - that is, climate and technological advances. One of the biggest changes, in their opinion, will affect the forehead, which has become increasingly wider since the 14th century. The researchers also said that our ability to control our own genome will affect evolution. Genetic engineering will become the norm, and facial appearance will be increasingly determined by human preferences. Meanwhile, the eyes will become larger. Attempting to colonize other planets will result in darker skin to reduce exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation outside of Earth's ozone layer. Kwan also expects people to have thicker eyelids and pronounced brow ridges due to low-gravity conditions.
Post-gender society
With the development of reproductive technologies, reproduction in the traditional way may disappear into oblivion. Cloning, parthenogenesis and the creation of artificial wombs can significantly expand the potential for human reproduction, and this in turn will completely erase the boundaries between men and women. People of the future will not be attached to a particular gender, enjoying the best aspects of life as both. It is likely that humanity will completely intermingle, forming a single androgynous mass. Moreover, in the new post-gender society, not only will there be no physical genders or their supposed signs, gender identity itself will be eliminated and the line between the role models of behavior of men and women will be erased.
Many creatures, such as fish and sharks, have a lot of cartilage in their skeletons. Human beings could follow the same developmental path to develop more flexible bones. Even if not thanks to evolution, but with the help of genetic engineering, this feature would provide a lot of advantages and protect a person from injury. A more flexible skeleton would obviously be extremely useful in childbirth, not to mention its potential for future ballet dancers.
Wings
As Guardian columnist Dean Burnett writes, he once spoke to a colleague who doesn't believe in evolution. When he asked why, the main argument was that people do not have wings. According to the opponent, “evolution is the survival of the fittest,” and what could be more convenient for adapting to any environment than wings. Even if Burnett's theory on this matter is based on immature observations and a limited understanding of how evolution works, it also has its right to exist.
Moreover, we are now doing it much faster than before. Over the past 10,000 years, the rate of evolution has increased 100-fold, causing our genes to mutate and selecting from those mutations the most beneficial ones. We are not the top of the evolutionary chain. At best - the middle!
We drink milk
The gene that regulates human absorption of lactose has developed in us during evolution. Initially, a person could only absorb mother's milk in infancy. However, as a result of the domestication of cows, goats, sheep and the development of cattle breeding, our body began to produce a hormone that promotes the breakdown of lactose. People with this gene had an advantage in spreading their own genes.
A 2006 study confirmed that this gene is still evolving as it was 3,000 years ago in East Africa. A genetic mutation that promotes the absorption of lactose is now present in 95% of Europeans.
Many people never grow wisdom teeth.
The diet of ancient man largely consisted of roots, leaves and nuts. This diet caused teeth to wear out quite quickly. Wisdom teeth are an evolutionary answer to this problem. A kind of reserve, stored for the time being right in the mouth of our ancestors and appearing precisely when the other teeth had already served their purpose. It was they who did not allow the ancient man to die in the prime of his life from hunger due to such a misunderstanding as caries or an overly hard nut.
Today's food is much softer, and we have all kinds of devices for grinding it. Wisdom teeth are no longer needed because the rest serve us much longer. That's why we have to part with the extra pair.
Our immunity has increased
In 2007, a group of scientists from Royal Holloway College, University of London, conducted a study aimed at identifying the latest signs of evolution. To do this, they studied about 1,800 genes that appeared in humans over the last 40,000 years. The vast majority of these genes are in one way or another associated with a person’s ability to resist infectious diseases. Scientists have come to interesting conclusions.
About 12 new genes have been distributed among Africans that help the body effectively fight malaria. Residents of large cities are armed with genes that allow them to fight tuberculosis and leprosy. Thus, the place of residence (or “habitat,” as scientists would say) influences the formation of immunity.
Our brains are shrinking in size
While you feel a sense of superiority over the animal world due to the size of your brain, which makes you the crown of creation, your brain becomes smaller. Over the past 30,000 years, the average volume of the human brain has decreased from 1500 cubic centimeters to 1350! The difference is about the size of a tennis ball.
Scientists have several theories about the reasons for this. First: we are becoming dumber, the reason for this is the high standard of living and the complex organization of society. Simply put, now you don’t have to be a very smart guy to survive. Another theory suggests that a small brain is much more efficient than a large one because neural connections are made much faster. Finally, there is a theory that smaller brains make our species more social, allowing us to function more effectively in groups. Or its ersatz - Facebook.
Some of us have blue eyes
In theory, we should all have brown eyes. But 100,000 years ago, somewhere in the vicinity of the Black Sea, a mutation appeared that gives the eyes a blue color. Why it was preserved remains a mystery. After all, as you probably remember from your school biology course, the gene for brown eyes is dominant, and the gene for blue eyes is recessive, which means that it needs to try very hard to come to power. Nevertheless, blue eyes are not uncommon these days; the gene is determined to survive in the most decisive manner. Moreover, he programs his masters.
A 2007 study found that blue-eyed men and women find members of the opposite sex with blue eyes more attractive. But brown-eyed people do not show the same integrity.