A fundamental question: Are we evolving faster?
Recent research suggests that ‘microevolution’ – that within species – happens faster in warmer climates – their DNA changes faster. This leads to the extraordinary tropical diversity of our planet.
Susan Kraemer asks: what happens if the planet’s climate gets warmer? Will we all evolve faster?
Which leads me to the bigger question: are we evolving faster? And if so, what is driving that?
We only occasionally think about human evolution, but now well into the 21st century it would be worth knowing if we were indeed evolving at a faster rate, and what that means.
That’s a good research challenge: determine whether and by how much the pace of human evolution is changing :-)
The extropians would of course say it’s accelerating, and I’d have to say I agree.
Once we start to determine our own DNA, as we are beginning to do, we are playing a hand ourselves in our evolution.
We are shaping ourselves, at an increasing pace.