What qualities would the next step in human evolution bring?

Question

Mentally and socially. Not physically.

Answer 1

Evolution acts all around us - and physical qualities are integral to it.  We can see in ourselves the forces of evolution, what are "desirable" traits.  Beauty (a symmetrical body in the proportions of the Golden Ratio - as favoured by sexual selection), Intelligence (Abstract Thinking, advanced mathematical thinking, skilled manipulation of language, music, art...), and socially?  A high EQ.  These people are more likely to survive.  Although not favoured by natural selection in the modern day (the easiest way to have a lot of babies now is just to sit on welfare chroming in a trailer park), these attributes lead to survival.

In particular, leadership, team-work, reciprocity, and selflessness.

We might develop into a passive, domesticated species (if the scenarios envisioned in Brave New World and 1984 come to pass), or we might develop into a selfish, thoughtless race.  The fact is that humans have the tendency to recreate natural foodchains amongst themselves (one society particularly warlike "feeding" on weaker neighbours - aka Vikings).

So, really, no-one knows.  Our genetic structure will remain essentially the same until there is any major shift in any of the major regulator genes (which maths has shown to occur in a pattern throughout our evolution).  This key mutation usually effects a bone in the skull that effects its size.

The fact is evolution is not perfect, the added benefits that come by chance with such a mutation (presumably an enhanced intelligence), might also have serious disadvantages as well.

Humans, for example, suffer extremely difficult childbirth due to large skull and skinny hips critical to our locomotion (and hence our intelligence).

Answer 2

People will become more social. The brain will recognize and process more faces and names. Our social family will increase from 30 to 150 to 300 to 2000 people and just continue. People who depend on eachother will form a greater community and individual people will become less important in the gene pool.

Answer 3

The extinction of idiots longing for the upcoming superrace

Answer 4

Well we can hope it brings forth children that realize they need to work for what they want, they are not "entitled" for simply being born - increasing scores in schools and productivity in work, AND children that can look past who or what material things another has, and accept others simply because they are, AND will take care of the earth because I'm pretty sure we can't go out and get a new one.