Is there any evidence that shows that humans are on the cusp of receiving the next evutionary upgrade?

Question

Are we at the end of the line? Is there a bit of evidence that shows where evolution will be headed for and what will that be: E.S.P., the end of the concept of good and evil, "new car" scented farts?

Well yes, of course it has nothing to do with upgrades by definition of the word, the question is if there is any speculation based on any kind of physical change/trend
that may give thought to where the next step in evolution takes us. Have we already mastered our environment enough to assume this is the end of the line?

Answer 1

There is no such thing as an evolutionary upgrade. The theory of evolution states that a population develops new traits through random mutation in their genetic material. These traits are not necessarily advantageous (see: diseases caused by genetic mutations like Down's Syndrome or MS).

A species can only "upgrade" so that everyone has this trait if the trait increases one's fitness (the ability to survive and reproduce) AND there is an environmental pressure that causes natural selection to weed out portions of the population that are not as fit as those with this trait. Most traits float through the population in what's known as genetic drift -- very many traits are essentially meaningless in terms of fitness.

So, ESP? Well, people would have to randomly develop ESP as a genetic, hereditary trait (not likely), and then there would have to be some sort of environmental pressure that causes ESP to be come essential to the act of reproduction. This is also unlikely.

RESPONSE TO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: There is no trend in evolution - these genetic changes are random, and have neither purpose or function. They result in very minor changes, some of which might be very noticable (e.g. albinism), but which are not purposeful. Evolution is not there to help us develop skills or mastery of our environment. The reason evolution does that is only that it produces differences.

Sometimes, very rarely, an external factor (predator, environmental event, etc) will cause people with one trait to die, while the rest live. If the sun got really hot and killed all the albino people (an exaggerated, silly example), that would mean that those who were not albino "evolved" away from albinism. However, people can "carry" an albanism gene without being albino, so this albino-killing sun would have to keep up for a long time, until that genetic trait was out of the gene pool for us to "evolve past" albanism.

Evolution has no "end of the line" and does not stop when we are self sufficient and invulnerable to our environment. If anything, we are more vulnerable now than ever, as we depend on technology, social infrastructure, and so many other things - and we also have developed nuclear weapons. A single environmental or cosmological event could wipe us out in a flash.

The forces of random genetic mutation will continue to make people "evolve" - but only randomly, with no purpose or function. No one will evolve traits that are useful until the environment makes those traits useful. Sterility, for example, is not a common trait because it can't be inherited - sterile people can't reproduce (at least not very easily).

You see, evolution is not about a species adapting to possible threats or environmental factors to that they are best suited to their environment. It is a bare-minimum effect. Species evolve random traits, and if they're lucky, environmental disaster will not kill all of them - sparing the ones with a particular trait because they meet the bare minimum requirement for survival: the ability to survive and reproduce.

Answer 2

Your question displays that you have a very elementary grasp of the concept of evolution. Once you understand that evolution is not linear, than you will see the flaw in your (and most of the worlds) feeble grasp of such an elaborate concept.

Answer 3

ha ive heard about humans next thing will be losing the pinky toe.. but i think new car scented farts is much better

Answer 4

not in the life time.. but maybe

Answer 5

autism