There's No Turning Back, Evolution And Explosive Growth

I think what we tend to get wrong about evolution is that we think it is always an upward progress, in that we climb to higher levels.

But what becomes obvious over time is that evolution also entails moving downwards and this is quite different from going backwards.

Knowledgeable people tell us that the opposite of evolution is devolution, which means an evolutionary decline or loss of a system, in the broadest meaning of the term. See how that relates to moving downwards?

Upwards, downwards, forwards, backwards, these are just directions in a 3D universe.

One could say a key characteristic of devolution is also moving backwards instead of just downwards. Whereas evolution can mean upwards, downwards and forwards.

Image Source

Rethinking Evolution And The Dawn of Transhumanism

Now, let's take a human being as an example. Naturally and generally, a human reaches a peak in terms of physical health after which this aspect of the system starts to decline or move downwards.

Does it mean the human being is going backwards or devolving? Absolutely not. In fact, he still evolving although he's seemingly moving downwards.

Despite, it becoming less of a concrete fact in terms of human evolution. Once an evolutionary peak is reached, there's no turning back from it, as in an undoing or returning back to a previous state or stage before the peak or at the peak, a case in point is the example above about physical health.

The reason I said it's becoming less of a concrete fact is because technological advancements are blurring the lines between decline and devolution.

For instance, anti-aging research offers a glimpse into a future where we might transcend these limitations and gene editing technology could potentially rectify the genetic mutations that contribute to aging, effectively hacking the very code of death.

No doubt, this will raise profound questions about the ramifications of such interventions when it actually becomes a reality. For one, will physical immortality be a choice? At what cost? What will be the price of physical immortality?

Image Source

On a similar note, history tells us that we evolved from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens. Yuval Noah Harari, in his book Homo Deus, explores the possibility of transhumanism, where humans transcend their biological limitations with the help of technology. This could be seen as a potential next step in human evolution.

The more I read about transhumanism, the more I realize how humanity seems to be on the verge of taking their own evolution into their own hands, akin to a young adult leaving home for the first time - a heavy mix of excitement for the boundless possibilities ahead and a tremor of fear for the unknown.

One could surmise the differing opinions on transhumanism into a debate about whether we, as a species, are ready for it or not.

I would say that we could test the waters first before diving in head first, simply because at this moment, the potential losses seems to outweighs the potential gains.

Unlike traditionalists, I don't think that transhumanism is avoidable. How it will happen is still up in the air but the journey itself has already begun.


Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on comments.