Another Piece of the Puzzle

Just found this article about a fossil that may play an integral role in figuring out how fish became land-dwellers. It's not that entertaining, just interesting.

So I've thought about evolution and what that means for human beings as they exist today. I have a prediction for the future of mankind, and it's not seemingly impossible. So, we've been on the planet for what, a couple thousand years? And considering our current calculations of how long it takes for evolution to take place in one species, we have yet to see it occur before our own eyes. We have evidence of it and can draw conclusions from our findings, but the only way of reaching a global understanding of it would be to see it happen to our own species.

We are smart. We are VERY smart. But we don't know what to do with our intelligence. Yes, we've made great advances as far as technology goes, but all we've proven thus far is how much money we can make and what that means in terms of status. Basically, we've proven how awesome we are. Woopty-frickin-doo. We are currently in an age of transition, which makes sense when looking at the grand scheme of things. We are searching for sustainable energy sources to ween ourselves off the use of oil. We have networked the entire planet, allowing us to communicate with anyone, anywhere, whenever we want. We're able to foresee weather patterns, economic patterns, and social patterns. This is great and all, but the only thing we do with this information is make money and move it around.

I see us moving towards a more advanced society in the next couple hundred years. And not just advanced in technology, but intellectually. I see the next step in human evolution taking us towards a more SUPER human state, but not in the way you would think. When we think "super-human," we think of -well- Superman and other such fictional comic book characters. I see humans realizing what real conservativism is and how is really doesn't relate to any political agenda. We will understand how to use the movement of markets to benefit EVERYONE (including the planet) and not just the choice numb-nuts running those markets. The super-humans will look at us humans NOW and we will appear hedonistic, selfish, wasteful, paranoid, and just plain ignorant. Oh isn't that funny- we humans today think species before us are ignorant because they don't have free-will! But that's evolution.. I bet insects mocked single-celled organisms for centuries.

I think most of the planet will not believe in a higher power as more evidence of evolution is found and larger spans of the universe are explored. Religion will be something of the past but will be talked about and studied as a primitive system of thought. It will not be cast off as a waste of time, but will be looked at as a stepping stone to the intricate understandings of life. It will be looked at as a means of coping with life as it inevitably leads to death, and as means of motivating large communities to be genuinely good. But the people of the future WILL be genuinely good without the need of collective spiritual thought. They will be able to measure their impact on the planet and the impact their actions have on other people, allowing them to adjust their behaviors in a way that help the greater good. People will be more globally conscious and won't get caught up on every-day semantics that prevent us from progressing and just lead to conflict. We will learn how to work with nature and not against it. We will be primarily vegetarian because we will realize how harmful the every-day consumption of meat is on our digestive systems. People will also realize how hypocritical it is to save a deer from the ocean only to turn around and stuff their face with a hamburger from the local food chain.

I predict that large food scares will also drive the markets towards locally raised food. Notice how many recalls we've had in the last couple years? NONE of them effected the organic food supply because there are strict regulations placed on organic farmers/producers that really prevent the common occurence of human error and carelessness (which I believe is why we have had so many salmonella outbreaks in the commercial food supply). By owning the organic label, food producers are forced to actually LOOK (no way) at what goes out into the supermarkets, otherwise they face a severe penalty and have to pay a large fine. THAT is food regulation at its finest and people of the future will embrace it.

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, which many believe will be the end of the world. I don't think ANYONE can predict that, and my boyfriend and I believe 2012 was the end of their calendar because that's the day they ran out of tools. But regardless of whether we will be wiped off the face of the planet in five years or not, we will be moving towards a more advanced society and will likely flourish until we wipe ourselves out, whether it be from pollution or mass plague. The sociologists who built the foundation of modern sociology predicted these same things, that we are currently in a mode of mass transition and will likely continue for the next couple centuries. All we can do today is make sure tomorrow is brighter so our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren can look back and say "thanks."