ScienceAnd Blog

THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

“At any moment in time, any race – human or alien – that feels moved to pick up the gauntlet may do so.  To whoever wins, the reward is survival” Strong [1965].

In this third, and final, section a path is outlined that I believe humankind will take in extending itself into the Solar System. Beyond the Solar System other stellar systems in the Milky Way galaxy are beckoning; and, beyond that our whole Universe will open-up to our descendants.

There is a biological mechanism that has allowed humankind to adapt to new environments, and this will provide the drive for humankind’s expansion throughout the Solar System and perhaps beyond. Hopefully, our collected consciousness will be part of what is offered to the future.  Improvements in the global cultural gamodeme will make humankind’s galactic future easier to achieve but it will take considerable time for a unified Earth System to evolve. In the immediate future an existing society could make the initial commitment to become an intra-galactic species. The United States, China or Russia are all possible candidates.

Most humans understand time poorly, because they think within spans of human generations.  A more realistic, broader view recognizes that even a million years is only a short time in our phylogeny indeed, Homo sapiens could naturally continue to evolve for a hundred million years as a chronospecies that populates the Milky Way Galaxy.  However, it is unlikely that natural evolution will continue that long, for the future will necessitate tasks such as terra-forming other planets and our Moon; inhabiting space itself; and, altering the nature of humankind at the DNA level.

The Greeks championed the concept of cultivating human traits through socialization and education, establishing a model for study, the humanitatis, which has endured for more than two-and-one-half millennia. Today, we can consider cultivating certain traits and de-emphasizing others through genetic manipulation and this presents important questions pertaining to our future. Both approaches can lead to changes in our species abilities and we need to understand the benefits and deficits attached to each before making deliberate alterations to our phylogenic line.

Personally, I see human-chimera playing an important role in the colonization of the Solar System. Initially, Earth’s cultural gamodemes may disallow human-chimera to
live on Earth. Nevertheless, given sufficient time the number of individuals altered by genetic manipulation will become common within Earth’s population: initially by genetic improvements and then by outright genetic alteration. This will set the stage for definite major phylogenic changes within Homo sapiens , whose taxonomy
will become queer. The necessity will be provided by the need to adapt to environments within our own stellar system. It is important that permanent changes in the human germ-line are controlled and coordinated because of political reasons of State.  Whereas it is important that somatic cell improvements should be available throughout the gamodeme as a question of ethical fairness; germ cell modifications must be controlled because of the danger of social conflict.  This is the spectre of the development of a Master variant. Many regard the idea of a super-variant of Homo sapiens, existing for a long period of time side-by-side with Homo sapiens var. sapiens, as an aberration. Such a variant would be fraught with disastrous social problems, but that does not mean a small initial gamodeme with novel traits should not be formed as a desirable start for an off-earth population.    For humankind  to become a truly galactic species there are three techniques that must be addressed.  Firstly, we must understand how to alter Homo sapiens to produce novel traits.  Secondly, real progress must be made in developing space colonies on the Moon, on Mars and on manufactured Space Liners. Venus [Sagan, 1961] and the other Solar System planets are highly unlikely locations for early colonization. Thirdly, research into the acquisition of novel genetic traits must be directed towards evolving Homo roboticus and Robotico earthensis . Once a functional brain can be functionally transplanted into a donor body the technology to utilize manufactured bodies will probably progress rapidly. Specific connections will be developed that can control purely manufactured body devices, through the brain.  At this point Homo roboticus will be ready to explore our galaxy.