Barring your religious beliefs, what's the next step in human evolution?

Question

From a scientific point of view, how are humans expected to evolve over the next 100-1000 years? From being able to walk upright, to losing body hair, all the way to learning how to become civil and communicate with written and spoken languages, the human as we know it today is bound to change in the future. What features will we gain/lose as a result of evolution? Will we gain that "6th sense"? How about an increase in brain size?

I'd be interested to hear your answers because I have not found much research about this on the internet. How we've evolved, yes. How we will evolve, no.

Serious answers please. I don't need to know that we will start growing 48 pairs of arms to multi-task!

Answer 1

Good, yet challenging question.

It's very difficult to guess even if human evolution will take place at all.

Technology provides  to humanity protection against many natural challenges today. So the natural selection of the fittest features is more and more faint.

Answer 2

In all likelihood, the next step(s) in human evolution will be directed by humans, not by natural selection. Already, in the few centuries since the scientific revolution (roughly, starting with Newton and accelerated by Pasteur and his germ theory of disease) humans have taken measures to move away from raw survival of the fittest. The eradicating of certain diseases, the invention of vaccines, antibiotics -- all are examples of developments not found in "nature." And just as mankind has guided its evolution in the short run (a few hundred years is far too short a period to see natural selection at work in human beings), in the coming years the decoding of the human genome will make possible selection for a given trait -- blue eyes, musical ability, athletic prowess, you name it. Almost every week some new gene is discovered that controls or influences a physical manifestation, and it is inevitable that humans, given the choice, will opt for more desirable characteristics such as height, immunity to diseases, and intelligence. On the lighter side, baldness will be a thing of the past...

Answer 3

Evolution is often the result of successful adaptation.  Therefore, it seems likely to me that the next step in human evolution will be the result of environmental degradation.  When the environmental collapse occurs, whether that is through ecological disaster, rampant disease, nuclear holocaust, drought and famine, etc., some humans will survive.  And they will then evolve in order to adapt to the conditions in which they must live.  I don't really see any way to predict exactly what will occur, or in the absence of some world altering event or process, what would occur naturally.  That's because if it does not occur reactively, evolution is likely to occur through some kind of random mutation which provides an advantage.  What that might be is also hard to predict.  Super intuitives might have an advantage, but more likely super resistance to disease.  And there seem to be features that may naturally fade away.  Our little toe isn't much good to us.  Poorer vision will continue to be supported as technology increases.  The old appendix has got to go at some point.  But we're talking 1000s of years rather than 100s.  Interesting question  - lots of science fiction in this area.

Answer 4

I have thought about this many times.  This is my conclusion as of now:

Human beings will reduce in body size.  There are disadvantages in having bigger size.  The "space" factor is very much important in all walks of life such as air travel, housing, and so on and people who have smaller size have advantage over others.  Minute reasons such as "It is too cumbersome for me to travel"  will prevent huge people from going for better opportunities and successful life.

The machines and electronic stuff that has not only taken away the importance of heavy work but also work better with smaller and softer people also helps this trend.

Remember, evolution is not the result of “wanting or requiring for betterment”, but the result of elimination of the weaker sections of the species in the changing conditions.  Hence the question of developing a sixth sense or increasing the brain size does not arise, unless lack of a “sixth” sense proves disadvantages to a section of human race etc

Okay this is enough for now.  More later.  I am learning English