this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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What do you think will be the next evolutionary step for our species? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by BevelGear@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org
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[โ€“] luciole@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Biological evolution of our species has been on hold for a pretty long time already and I don't see it changing any time soon. There are two univeral factors:

  • the drive to reproduce away from your immediate group, further enabled by the tendency to migrate all over.
  • the family societal structure, as opposed to a strict alpha male hierarchy.

These two things block the sharp rise of mutations and promote a wide diversity of individuals instead. It helped us to remain a unified species despite our spread all over the planet.

We evolve mainly through our culture, which complexifies at a spectacular rate. The downside is that a catastrophic collapse could wipe all our progress, even if we do survive it.

[โ€“] PM_ME_FAT_ENBIES@lib.lgbt 3 points 1 year ago

the family societal structure, as opposed to a strict alpha male hierarchy.

Those are the same thing twice. In wild wolf packs, the alphas are the parents. The betas are the kids, and the omegas are the grannies. The "alpha male" dynamic you're thinking of only happens in captivity when you take a bunch of adults who don't know each other and tell them to be a family. It's unnatural.