ILLUSTRATIONS Adams Carvalho
All living beings adapt to the environment in which they live, and this is no different with humans. The modern man’s body is changing according to a more sedentary and technological routine. This is the essence of evolution. But how will we be in the future? Find out what our possible next evolutionary steps are and what our descendants will look like
WALKING METAMORPHOSIS
Mutations, natural selection and technological innovations are the factors that will determine the change of human beings in the next thousands of years.
1) Research points out that the brain will be bigger. Geneticists have proven that two genes that influence the size and complexity of the organ continue to mutate. The brain above is just a little bigger than the current one, but in 1 million years it could grow three times as big, increasing our intellectual capacity. And enthusiasts of artificial intelligence studies believe that, more and more, our body will have robotic parts. Microchips to control diseases and vital signs, metallic prostheses, wi-fi brain… Some already exist, like the Argus 2, which converts images into electrical pulses and transmits them to electrodes implanted in the eyes. With it, people with very weak vision can see again
two) The head of Homo sapiens is already considered large – since it needs to pass through the birth canal during childbirth. Some scientists claim that the skull must remain the same size or even shrink for birth to be possible, but cesarean sections contradict this thesis. They can enable the survival of big-headed humans – that will reproduce and perpetuate this characteristic
3) 50,000 years ago, when men were still hunting to eat and were at risk of being attacked by animals in the forest, seeing well was a matter of survival. Today, a good pair of glasses or contact lenses solves the problem of reading the label on frozen meat in the supermarket. With that ease and without predators, humansmyopic(or with other vision problems) will survive and pass on their genes with these problems
4) Forget that rule that you have to chew 30 times before swallowing each mouthful. This will be a thing of the past. With so many processed and soft foods available, the trend is that the humans of the future will have small teeth and in smaller numbers. And this has already started to happen! Have you noticed that some people are no longer born with wisdom teeth?
5) A sedentary lifestyle can affect our members. To reduce effort, the arms will be longer. If touchscreens are going to be on the rise, fingers will be bigger too. Anyone who wants to have that feeling can buy the Yubi Nobiiru, a thumb extender developed by a Japanese company
6) The number of people with obesity in the world it is already double what it was in 1980. In 2014, 1.9 billion people were overweight – of these, 600 million were obese. And even considering that millions and millions of people still face hunger and malnutrition in poor countries, the abundant access that the rest of the world has to food (often not very nutritious) can transform the silhouette of humanity. (Prediction of the future? In 2008, the animation Wall-E showed obese humans having a virtual life in hi-tech armchairs)
7) Some researchers believe that eating habits will shape our digestive system. One of the most significant changes is in the intestine, it will get shorter. With this new characteristic, it will be able to absorb less fat and sugar. Thus, the metabolism can become faster and, consequently, we will be thinner. This theory, however, would refute the obesity thesis or it would happen thousands of years after the human being was chubby. The tonsils and the appendix, known for inflammation and for having no function, are likely to disappear in the future
The sky is the limit
If abundant food can make us obese, it can also make our descendants gain a few more inches. Over the last few hundred years, the average height of our species increased by about 10 cm. The better a child’s nutrition, the more energy he will have to grow. Based on this assumption, it is believed that the average human being will measure from 1.80 m to 2.10 m. And if food intake remains the same, that number will continue to increase.
Flu again?
For some futurologists, the excessive consumption of drugs and artificial hormones can make the human species completely dependent on these resources to survive. Common weaker immune system and unable to naturally produce the substances that make the body work, our descendants will live in pharmacies
8) Monoethnicity is the most likely evolutionary path to the multicultural society we live in today. The different ethnicities of the whole world must mix in such a way that all people will have skin tone and with very similar hair – more pulled towards brunette and curly. Of course, that is if genetic manipulation does not develop and change this trend, creating new “packages” for humans.
9) Cars, elevators, moving walkways, remote control, delivery… Contemporary life is an invitation to sedentary lifestyle. Adding this to the habit of sitting down for several hours, the result is a softer body. Forget the bombs! Because they don’t need to use physical strength, thanks to the machines that do all the heavy lifting, the muscles will be smaller and much smaller. And sagging isn’t always a bad thing. Thanks to her, one of the jaw muscles has atrophied and, with that, you can relax your jaw
10) The bearded, which are so successful today, will be an endangered species. During the evolution process, we lose a lot of hair of the body. And the trend is for this to continue, leaving the world with more bald spots and putting epilators out of business. This is due to the fact that human beings no longer need natural protection against the cold and also due to the appreciation of the absence of hair in women. As those with less hair are considered more attractive, they would be more likely to reproduce.
11) The feet of the ancestors of homo sapiens they functioned as claws to climb trees and fight each other or other animals. As these activities became obsolete, the toes they are getting shorter and shorter and it is speculated that some could disappear in a few thousand years. There are already reports of people missing their pinky toenails. The thumbs and middle fingers are guaranteed to be preserved: they help us maintain balance as bipeds, so they must be preserved.
towards immortality
In the past 60 years, world life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years. With the development of nutritional supplements and techniques that promise to extend this time even further, it is possible that the human being of the future will easily exceed 100 years. That is, we will have a world full of grandparents
On order
O genetical enhancement of human beings already exists. Today, there are about 3 million children conceived through IVF. Some of them went through a selection process in order to avoid deformities and diseases. If this technology is perpetuated, in the next few centuries the human race will be free of genetic diseases, such as mongolism, and diseases such as arthritis and Alzheimer’s.
Back to the past
Learn some crucial details of the evolution of the human body. Since the emergence of homo sapiens190,000 years ago, we have already gone through several modifications
–We get a bigger head and body with more uncovered parts of fur
–The knees became more protruding and the legs longer
–The brain grew and reached 1,400 cm³, twice what a chimpanzee carries in its head
–Teeth are no longer pointed and become more fragile and more symmetrical
–The larynx and hyoid bone, which is at the base of the tongue, have descended to allow speech
READ MORE
– The bloody history of medicine
– How do calories become fat in the body?
– Why do humans have two sets of teeth?
– What is myopia correction surgery like?
– What is the difference between myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism?
– What is the greenest way to die?
CONSULTANCY Briana Pobiner, anthropologist, educator and scientist
SOURCES Anvisa, The World Bank – Life Expectancy, UN World Population Prospects