Humanity Finds Itself in the Midst of a Significant Evolutionary Shift, According to Recent Research
In a pioneering study published in the journal BioScience, researchers at the University of Maine have proposed that human evolution might be undergoing a significant shift. Associate Professor Tim Waring and coauthor Zachary Wood suggest that humanity could be evolving from individual genetic organisms to cultural groups functioning as superorganisms, akin to ant colonies and beehives.
The debate about whether humans can be considered eusocial, a highly social behavior seen in organisms like ants and termites, has been ongoing for decades. However, the role of culture in human evolution is impossible to overlook. Culture, with its ability to solve problems much more rapidly than genetic evolution, has played a pivotal part in human advancements.
One of the most striking examples of this cultural evolution is the availability of personalized gene editing technologies that can save newborns from genetic illnesses. The coronavirus pandemic also offers an example of humans acting as a community, working as a 'national immune system' to protect society as a whole from the disease.
The importance of culture is accelerating in human evolution, according to Waring. He and his team argue that this mutually reinforcing system is speeding up, with cultural organization making groups more cooperative and effective, and larger, more capable groups adapting more rapidly via cultural change.
Two thousand years ago, societies were complex and advanced enough to create the first vaccines and boasted infrastructure like roads, aqueducts, and public toilets. Ten thousand years ago, societies supported themselves by promoting the mass growth of crops. These advancements were all the result of cultural evolution, not genetic.
The 'March of Progress' picture commonly used to illustrate human development is misleading, as evolution has no predetermined outcome. Instead, human societies have gradually grown stronger and more self-supporting over time, providing the conditions for individuals within them to create advancements that safeguard them.
Interestingly, eusociality is not unheard of in mammals. The naked mole-rat is a classic example. More than three quarters of people wear vision-correcting eyeglasses, and about one in three births in the US are via C-section, which are solutions to problems that would be debilitating or fatal in the 'natural' world.
Waring and Wood are developing mathematical and computer models to quantify how swiftly humanity is transitioning from a species primarily governed by genetics to one ruled by cultural and societal change. However, at present, there are no available search results identifying researchers at the University of Maine studying a possible evolutionary shift in humans emphasizing the role of culture, nor detailing their descriptions of the causes and consequences of this change.
As we move forward, the future of humanity may increasingly depend on the strength and adaptability of our societies. The study serves as a reminder that human evolution is an ongoing process, and our understanding of it continues to evolve with time.
