Human species 'may split in two'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6057734.stm

by aww_dang • 5 years ago

15 19 5 years ago

news.bbc.co.uk

(2006)

I think I've been wasting too much time on the net. I remember this silly article from last time... It was probably on digg.com.

vixen99• 5 years ago

Interesting suggestion. No disrespect intended for Dr. Curry but is an 'expert' required (and of what kind?) to merely repeat the implications of the Wells story of the Time Machine from 1895? No additional evidence is adduced.

It remains to be seen how prophetic H.G Wells' story of the 'Island of Dr. Moreau' turns out to be.

p1mrx• 5 years ago

Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.
Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin, large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people.

Nice.

mvzvm• 5 years ago

What a load of nonsense. Imagine thinking you are able to predict this kind of bunk. Straight out of a Monty Python skit.

ageek123• 5 years ago

Is there any methodology whatsoever for these conclusions? It sounds like some kind of baseless speculation.

chalst• 5 years ago

Yes, there was an empirical study done some time back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine#Plot

throwaway5752• 5 years ago

"He carried out the report for men's satellite TV channel Bravo."

Fluid_Mechanics2• 5 years ago

Openly questioning policy pronouncements by celebrated academics on state-sponsored media

That’s the kind of thinking that gets you assigned to group b you silly man.

thirtyseven• 5 years ago

I'm impressed that this old version of the page is still up, perhaps implying that at some point they switched CMSes, but left the old one or an archive of it up instead of migrating everything. I actually appreciate this since it preserves the original context of the page and makes it feel historical.

protontorpedo• 5 years ago

producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people

Doesn't know a thing about biology or anthropology, but knows even less about coffee.

101001001001• 5 years ago

This will be the split between societies that practice eugenics plus other genetically deliberate policies and those that don’t. People talk about science denial but nobody points out the largest group of science deniers in the entire world: people who deny that natural selection exists. It’s as stupid as thinking the earth is flat.

Natural selection will happen whether or not we want it to. Every trait, physical or otherwise, that human beings posses is the result of natural selection. If we continue down this road where nobody gets removed from the gene pool because of modern medical intervention, we will eventually become very, very sick creatures. It will be a horrible existence. If health, intelligence, empathy and other traits aren’t selected for then they will shrink and eventually disappear. And it could happen much faster than it took to evolve those traits.

Don’t be a science denier. Confront the difficult truth that natural selection exists. We can find a morally acceptable solution if we put our minds to it.

Fluid_Mechanics2• 5 years ago

I’m hopeful that the 5001st reincarnation of the Cosmic Entity Zuckerborg would have successfully eradicated all life on the planet before then.

rey09272• 5 years ago

well if they can make shit up to this level why cant u say that in 200 years genetic engg would be prevalent and nobody would have to suffer due to their natural genes

bennyp101• 5 years ago

I don't know, it doesn't sound /too/ far fetched - there is already a class divide, and the pandemic has shown that quite nicely.

If the circumstances were right, I could see a catalyst creating a more 'rigid' divide. I doubt it will, but I don't think it's out of the question for 1000 years time.

rey09272• 5 years ago

well if they can make shit up to this level why cant we say that genetic engg in maybe 200 years would be prevalent and nobody would have to suffer due to their natural genes

xg15• 5 years ago

makes a 10.000 year prediction about the evolution of the human species
CRISPR becomes a thing 10 years later

poor guy...

pelasaco• 5 years ago

That's nonsense, here is the reaction to that (2007) https://phys.org/news/2007-10-debunking-commercial-scientist...

the TL;DR using the words from the Dr. Curry himself:

"In the summer of 2006 I was commissioned by Bravo Television to write an essay on the future of human evolution. The essay was intended as a science fiction way of illustrating some aspects of evolutionary theory."

ricc• 5 years ago

(2006)

Human species 'may split in two'

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