With all of the advances in technology I believe that humans have been evolving to become fit to the society we currently live in. The world looks a lot different now than it did 20 years ago and it can be very difficult for people to adjust and realize this.
One way in which I believe that humans are evolving behaviorally is due to the urgency with which they expect things to happen. With the availability and accessibility that technology provides, it has allowed people to have all the knowledge in the world at the disposal of their finger tips. Whereas in the past, one would need to look this information up in a book or at a desktop computer, the information is now accessible in seconds. This has lead humans to behave much differently, mostly making them expect things at a much faster speed. I feel as if the “pace” at which life moves has become much faster and this has caused humans to charge their behavior to adapt. As a latent effect from this new fast paced world I believe that people have also developed a shorter attention span. There are many more distractions that come with the advancements in technology and people are also more easily distracted. I am fearful of what technology can do if it is not used properly and how detrimental it could be to our society.
I believe humans are evolving environmentally by adjusting to the areas in which humans are able to live. Areas which were previously uninhabitable have become areas where people live due to the advancements in technology. Unfortunately as a result of our industrial waste and byproducts from factories, many areas are becoming uninhabitable and we must seek technology that is able to clean the environment and allow people to live there. We are advancing much in sustainable energy forms such as solar and wind energy and this has allowed us to utilize energy in a way that does not hurt the environment. The connectedness of the world currently has allowed people at all areas of the Earth to be in communication and that makes it easier for people who live in remote locations to function. The development of roads and transportation methods have made the world more connected than ever.
It is hard to tell how humans are evolving biologically but one example I can think of is related to humans ability to digest the sugar lactose. Normally after childhood humans lose the ability to digest this sugar. In areas that have diets rich in lactose, there have been higher rates of the ability to digest lactose. There is also a new trend in genetics called genetic counseling in which people are able to pick and choose the genes they would like their offspring to have. This is a risky trend to follow because it could eliminate the normal gene expressions and cause a directional shift towards a certain trait.
Overall, much of our evolution is currently affected by technology. As we continue to discover new technologies we must also adapt and evolve to how they are used and make sure that we are not doing something we are unsure about. Technology has the ability to improve our lives in so many ways and I believe it will continue to make our society better when used correctly.
Your post really made me think about how fast evolution can occur. Usually when studying evolution of physical characteristics for survival that change takes hundreds-sometimes millions-of years. But, for the example of technology in modern times this was a relatively quick wave that overcame our population, taking only a generation to morph daily thoughts and behavior. I really liked how you mentioned some of the consequences to these changes such as could be a shorter attention span. I didn’t really think about the actual psychological changes we inherit and will continue to pass onto the next generation. This also makes me wonder if there are other ways to prevent this? But, I completely agree that technology serves to make life easier-only when used correctly! Thanks for a great post!
Hey Sean! Your comment about how much the world has changed in just the past 20 years is very fascinating. I knew evolution has been occurring throughout our lives, but really thinking about how different the world has become just in my life time is crazy. You also made the comment “One way in which I believe that humans are evolving behaviorally is due to the urgency with which they expect things to happen. With the availability and accessibility that technology provides, it has allowed people to have all the knowledge in the world at the disposal of their finger tips” which is so true because of all of technology we use now. People don’t realize how much of an advantage our lives have had due to our advanced technology.
Hey Sean! I totally agree with you when you were discussing how much of our evolution is controlled by technology. Honestly without tech these days I don’t think we could survive. However, at the same time I feel like as technology allows us to evolve and change it’s also going to be the demise of us with the climate change. I feel like for our evolution to go on untouched we have to take a step back and not only worry about our own evolution but also how we are changing our planet as well. I think someone said above in a comment we are privileged to have the technology we do have but it will eventually be the end of us as well. I’m excited to see what we do in the future because the world is forever changing.
Hello Sean!
Your blog post was super interesting and actually made me want to keep reading it. I never thought of us developing in a fast way due to technology and I am unsure why. What you said in regards to how people expect things to happen so quickly now is so true. I am currently at a country club babysitting while typing this. Back in the day, I would have to go to a library or somewhere else to even type this. I also have even realized how frustrated I get when things won’t load super quickly… that proves that us humans expect things to be super fast now a days. What you said in regards to humans adapting environmentally was true as well. I also agree that it was hard to talk about humans biologically but I also talked about the sugar lactose in my blog as well.
True , the world we live in now looks drastically different, when I watch old shows or see old history pictures I’m just like wow this have changed so much and just the span of a few decades. I definitely understand what your saying about our patience , the modern human would die if they had to gain information like people did years ago, I do agree we get easily distracted but I also think can be pretty good at multi tasking due to all the things constantly put in front of us. I also agree it’s scary , actually terrifying, I feel like in a few decades people will be so absorbed in the tech world eye contact will be non existent.
I agreed with everything you said in your post. The world is so much different today than it use to be and I think our patience plays a huge role in that. The world is a lot different from just when were kids. Technology plays a huge role in this because its allowing the world to evolve a lot quicker. I also, liked how you talked about genetic counseling because a lot of people are doing this and it could have an effect on evolution.
Hi Sean,
I agree that with all of the advances in technology, it leads to humans evolving. I like that you pointed out the fact that we are evolving behaviorally due to the urgency we expect things to happen. I agree that with the availability and accessibility that technology gives us, humans expect things to go faster. I see this even with myself, I am so used to Amazon Prime sending me packages within 2 days that I don’t want to order anything that is not prime. Plus, when I order from a different site, it feels like it takes forever when it’s only a week. Next, I like that you also pointed out that with technology we have to adapt to have much more distractions. We will have to learn how to focus better.
Hey, I enjoyed reading your post for this weeks material. You did a really good job providing a general overview of the key points of the course and tying it in with your own original and interesting thoughts on human evolution! I completely agree with your assessment of humans being impacted by technology in both positive and negative ways. Specifically, you address how people are becoming distracted by being extremely attached to screens and devices and thus hindering interpersonal communication skills. I think that is a really interesting point to make. It is interesting to connect what we have learned from this course about the history of human evolution and try to predict and analyze our future going forward.
Hey, I enjoyed reading your post for this weeks material. You did a really good job providing a overview of the main points of the course and tying it in with your own original thoughts on human evolution! I completely agree with your analyzation of humans being impacted by technology in both positive and negative ways. Specifically, you address how people are becoming distracted by being extremely attached to screens and devices and thus hindering interpersonal communication skills. I think that is a really interesting point to make. It is interesting to connect what we have learned from this course about the history of human evolution and try to predict and analyze our future going forward.