What Will Happen to Human Evolution after 1 Million Years?
Introduction
Our earth is 4.543 billion years old. The age of the continents varies from 66 to 225 million years. It means that after a million years, there will be no significant change in the shape of the continents. It is just that the water level will rise and engulf our lands to a considerable extent. But, what will humans look like in 1 million years? This is a considerable time span where abrupt changes can happen within us.
Our anthropological studies reveal how a certain species of apes have transformed to form humans. It also means the same thing is currently happening within us and among other ape species. As per the scientists, we will not be able to recognize the human species after a million years of evolution. So, what will happen to us? Let us find the probable answers that will baffle us.
Human Evolution After 1 Million Years
A Million Years Back
If we go a million years back, we will find ourselves surviving in the caves with what we have gathered to eat. The intelligence level of humans back then was nominal. They might have figured out how to use a stone axe and learned to make fire out of dry twigs. Imagine explaining to them what a computer is!
Vice versa, imagine surviving in the darkest hours in the cruel wilderness as a caveman. We, in our current evolutionary stage, will not be able to survive a day. They were stout and tougher than what we are today. We have evolved to become softer due to our discoveries and inventions. In fact, we are the ones who were chosen by evolution and nature among the types of human existing a million years back.
A million years ago, Home Erectus and Homo Heidelbergensis were the prime human species that differentiated themselves from the apes. The human evolution chart shows that Homo sapiens did not exist back then. In this context, the answer to what is the scientific name of human beings is Homo sapiens. The elaborate study of human skeletons from that age and comparing them with modern humans (10,000 years before) shows significant differences.
The human body changed and adapted to the lifestyle changes from hunting and gathering to agricultural living. We did not need a stronger and stouter body. Hence, there is a huge change in certain locations in our physiological system. Hence, humans have become fatter and softer in some areas but have shown bigger brains and more intellectual thinking.
What Will Happen to Us in a Million Years?
If we compare it with what we were 10,000 years ago, we will find that the human body has added 10 centimetres on average to its height. In fact, it just happened in the past 150 years. Well, some races have reduced in height. We have also added nearly two decades of increased lifespan using science.
Human evolution suggests how we have been using science to alter the way we evolve. We are the only species that use science as an evolutionary factor. We have added artificial elements to our environment resulting in certain physiological changes.
Researchers suggest that we are reducing in size as it is an evolutionary step for low energy consumption. It is evident from the morphological development of the animals in the forests and deep seas. The size of all animals has reduced considerably. It is because of the reduced food resources.
Similarly, the earth exploding from the human population will lead to a shorter version of human beings in the future. The future human evolution might signify that we will become shorter to reduce our energy consumption in a highly-populous world.
We might also become highly dependent on technology and lose many of our physiological functions. Consider this example first. In the human evolution stages, when we were gatherers and hunters, we used to communicate using hand signs. Once we developed a unique thing called language, we started calling ourselves individually with names. Hence, remembering names was a feat we achieved.
In the same context, when we proceed to a million years of evolution of mankind, we might become a hybrid of physiology and cybernetic prosthetics. In science fiction terms, we might become cyborgs, a more durable form.
Modern humans might be able to transform a human being into something else. We have implants and prosthetics to tackle various physiological problems. These scientific advancements will take us a long way where we can literally change organs with mechanical ones. We might be able to replace eyes, ears, heart, etc with cybernetic prosthetics. We might become capable enough to move things with the implants in our brains. In fact, we might become successful in rewriting our genes during the embryo stage.
Predicting the human evolution timeline a million years ahead is based on speculations. We are not capable of extrapolating data and finding out what exactly will happen to us. We can rest assured that the intervention of scientific inventions will markedly change our natural evolutionary path.
Trivia of Human Evolution
The human evolution theory combines the effect of natural and scientific developments. We are the only ones to deny the natural selection theory by artificially changing the way we live. Our natural ways of writing new gene codes based on generations-old practices and information will be rewritten using technology.
In 2014, it took 1.4 million GB of RAM and 705,204 processors to do a job for 40 minutes that a human brain takes 1 second. Imagine the path we will traverse in a million years and defy nature. Our intelligence will shoot to a new level but our physiological development will not be impressive. Everything we discuss regarding human evolution is just a projection of our intelligence and speculations.
