Human Race May Split in Two in 100000 years

Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : Human Race May Split in Two in 100000 years
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Profile Jeffrey
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Message 739870 - Posted: 16 Apr 2008, 16:38:58 UTC - in response to Message 739832.  

allow me to state a GLARINGLY OBVIOUS FACT:

There have always been tall people and 'little people' in the world... ;)
It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .
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Message 739879 - Posted: 16 Apr 2008, 16:52:10 UTC - in response to Message 739870.  
Last modified: 16 Apr 2008, 16:55:38 UTC

Any proposition that's based on the notion that people will be "spoiled by gadgets" ain't scientific.

Natural selection pressures have no opinion on whether someone is "spoiled" or not and they do not retaliate against such behavior. Evolution is not a linear process.

Even if it were, human breeding in modern civilization is no longer significantly impacted by natural selection, ecological circumstances, or habitat changes beyond human control. And like I said, genetic engineering is already a reality. Anyone who assumes it will play no role in the future biological development of the human race is being grossly naive.
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Message 745771 - Posted: 29 Apr 2008, 13:05:25 UTC - in response to Message 739879.  

i´d like to point out that in ten thousand years since people start to cultivate we have ruined the earth so there will be no humans 1000000 years from now, which is good
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exist elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
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Message 746576 - Posted: 1 May 2008, 18:05:28 UTC - in response to Message 745771.  
Last modified: 1 May 2008, 18:06:44 UTC

i´d like to point out that in ten thousand years since people start to cultivate we have ruined the earth so there will be no humans 1000000 years from now, which is good


No offense, but how have we "ruined the Earth" and what exactly are you basing your assumption that "there will be no humans in 1000000 years" on?

Even assuming the most dramatic and dire predictions about global warming are accurate, the Earth will remain perfectly habitable.
It will remain habitable for complex animal life, including human life, at least for another 1 billion years when the the sun's surface temperature will be too hot for life to survive on Earth's surface.

Specifically what mechanism do you assume would cause the extinction of humanity in 1000000 years?

I actually agree that there will likely be no humans in 1 million years, but the habitability of the Earth will have absolutely nothing to do with it.
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Message 761194 - Posted: 31 May 2008, 6:49:38 UTC

Considering how dependent on technology the western cultures have become, it would be easy to assume that in a world wide natural disaster, 2/3's of western civilization would be eliminated in the first few months after the event.

Of the third world countries, unfortunately 4 out of five would perish during the initial stages of the disaster.

Now, the so called primitive people that still roam the planet refusing to join the modern world, they would have a good chance of survival considering their ability to adapt to environmental changes.

The 1/3 of western culture population that would survive would also have the ability to adapt, these people fall into the categories of those who have been trained to adapt to any situation, such as the military, those who can adapt to sudden changes, such as those people who have gone off grid or spend much of their time in areas of little or no technology, or indigenous people who have revived their culture, such as the Native Americans.

Depending on the type of disaster, either pandemic or some geological or astronomical spawned catastrophe, would influence the over all impact to the human race in a number of ways.

Pandemics would be more likely to impact cities and large urban areas simply because of the population density. Even the flu Pandemic of 1918 had a much lower impact in small towns and rural areas than in the cities. When you consider that one of the first reactions to such a situation is to put a stop to travel, essentially, these rural areas would be isolated almost from the start.

The point is that in the interim after such an event, while the human race begins to grow again, mutations would begin to show up. Again depending on the type of catastrophe, the species would adapt, and in the process mutate. Some speculate that a possible backlash to such an event would be some general taboo against too much technology.

The future of the human race cannot be based on what we know today. It is foolish to try and do so. There are too many variables that can and will affect the species in the years and centuries to come. One super volcano erupting will change the species in one way, while a large object impacting the planet will affect it in another, and a pandemic will have still different effects on the future of the species.

Not to mention the fact that too many world leaders have nuclear arsenals and it appears to me that stupidity and politics walk hand in hand (mix in some religious fanaticism and things are really SNARFU.) All it would take is one nuke going off somewhere in the world and all these mutual defense treaties kick into effect and suddenly, the human race is mutated (if not outright destroyed) by every Tom, Richard and Bin whosits launching nukes at each other.

Lets face reality, the human species, taken as a whole is not the smartest bunch around. The only reason we have survived this far is that no one has gotten royally pissed and launched a first strike.

And, yes, before anyone says it, I do have a low opinion of the human race, considering that I have seen first hand what people do in the name of freedom, religion, race, ethnic group, and political belief. I have walked the green line in Lebanon, seen people butchered because they belonged to a different ethnic group.
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Message 761221 - Posted: 31 May 2008, 9:43:25 UTC - in response to Message 667607.  

What will make the taller, slender, more creative ones that way? Do they have to be ludites for the next thousand years?
"For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream." Vincent van Gogh.
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Message 761932 - Posted: 2 Jun 2008, 6:31:38 UTC

Kind of like the book/movie, "The Time Machine"?

:D
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
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Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : Human Race May Split in Two in 100000 years


 
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