Us...Evolving Into...Aliens?

[SnowyMoon]

I have no idea if this is the correct forum. If it is not, I do apologise.

A friend of mine recently presented a very interesting concept/theory. She says that she has often thought that perhaps we are evolving into aliens as we imagine/know them on film, art and other works.

She notes that we are becoming less and less physical in our daily lives and more and more dependent on computers and machinery. She stated that we would develop large heads to contain our much-needed larger brains. We could develop long limbs with long fingers complete with flattened tips for good button pushing ability. :lol: We really would not need the type of skin we currently have because we would spend most of our time seated at a computer control station to work and live, as we would most likely not go outside and would have no need to. Most physical work, even for activities of daily living, would become computerized and automated. Eating could be done via melt-away strips or pills placed in our teeny tiny mouths, no longer needing to be large enough to eat "real" food. Speaking would not be needed, as we all will communicate, live, work and be entertained right from our "residential cubicles" via computers.

Ewww! What a nasty-looking thing to evolve into! What a nasty existance, IMO. I would not enjoy that lifestyle at all.

She went on to state that perhaps the aliens are, in fact, ourselves, evolved and visiting from the future with our own future technology. Akkk!!!

But the concept is pretty thought provoking, IMO. :nyah:

[The Panther's Dream]

That's a very interesting idea, although kind of disturbing. :woah: I think that people would miss out on so many experiences in nature and being outside if that were to ever happen. It does seem like more and more is being done by computers and technology so maybe it's a possibility. :spaceman:

[covenofkeys]

not such a mad theory i dont think-we are constantly evolving-why couldnt it be into that?

[aeroeng]

won't happen...for all of us anyway. We still do too many physical things, even if for nothing more than recreation. Sports are still incredibly popular and i don't see that changing. Even people that don't do sports, many of them are part of the "gym craze" and work out 4-5 times a week. This mindset would have to completly vanish before people could start to evolve into something like that. even if our heads got bigger to encompass our growing brains...the necks would get stronger for those that remained active.

[Tanemon]

Hmmm... There's a guy who wrote a couple of books, one was called Megatrends and I forget the other title but it was similar. He looked at many trends within society and how they seemed to be interacting with one another. He had this idea of 'high-tech/high-touch' which points out that as people in general use more technology, they have a desire to compensate for it by being more physical (exercise, crafts, sight-seeing in person, camping, sex, aerobics, you name it). There are people who are exceptions - the 'couch potatoes' and 'mouse potatoes' - but there are also people who are exceptionally physical. :jumpshot:

I spent my early childhood years before big era of personal computers, and TV was a temptation for me. My father was working during the week, and my mom only had a part-time job, so she was home more. She always used to get me to go outside rather than watch TV... we had a yard, a huge walnut tree to climb, lawn, shrubs & berry bushes... lots of birds around, pet cats and dogs, I built bird feeders and had projects outside. There are still lots of parents who feel this kind of thing is good for their kids. :jumprope:

Also, I think that the ecology movement in recent decades has pointed out that we cannot possibly automate many of the tasks and jobs where our society interfaces with nature - like forestry, stream-keeping, fish conservation and management, agriculture, and stuff. If we do, we lose the element of close human perception, and intuition, and hands-on care... then we ruin our environment and our health. Same thing (a parallel) with social problems in the cities and towns.

I think the picture is bigger than your friend has painted it. ;)

:sunny: Tanemon

[CoolJ]

I somewhat agree with your friend, I do feel the "grey" depiction especially is very much what we may become... I view the greys as how a very old, frail human being would be.... grey skin, as life barely flows throug the body to give that pink hue,.... the enlongated fingers could be evolution to use our hands better, skin recessing against the skeleton, or both....the total lack of hair even seems very probably, especially being so comfortable with technology...

I'll say one thing for sure, everytime I see a photorealistic depiciton of a grey I get freaked out....

[Willow Rosette]

Although it doesnt sound true to me it was am interestinf theory, amd very deffinately worth the giggles it gave me.
:spaceman: :awilly: :veryweird _handclapp :stooges: :hehehe: :antennae: :alol: :rotfl:

[Darbla]

That would explain some people I know....

Darbla

[mayu]

this is actually one therory to alien vistors, that they are time travellers from our future, I am sure it has been discussed somewhere on the paranormal.

[WokeUpDead]

I'd hate to nit pick but if we're still on Earth isn't it impossible for us to be aliens? At least to our own planetmates.

[_Banbha_]

Isn't more we are becoming machines, like the borg? :spaceman:

[Xentor]

Will we change? Sure. But by the time evolution found a way to change us succesfully (millennia), we'll have seriously changed the way we use technology (decades). So no, not going to happen this way.

[Ninyve]

If we do become more like the 'aliens' it won't happen that way. Evolution works by genetic mutation, and nature keeps what works. What doesn't simply dies out. Life doesn't change merely because the circumstances change, otherwise so many species wouldn't be becoming extinct.

[Libris]

Sorry, it is a cool idea but biological evolution doesn't work that way :-/ What you're describing is Lamarkian. Individuals do not evolve, populations do. We don't accumulate changes based on our environment and pass them on to our offspring, rather random mutation produces variability in the DNA sequence of individuals, which is sometimes translated into physical variability. Those individuals that survive best in a particular environment, live to reproduce more and have a chance of passing on that particular gene combination that made them succeed in the first place.

This requires that the mutation helps the individual have more children and thereby get their genes into the next generation. I don't think that any of the changes you mentioned would help an individual have more children so it is unlikely that if a mutation that produced these changes did crop up it would result in an increase in individual fitness.

Also, the changes you mentioned are physical changes, rather, changes based on how an individual lives, these are called non-genetically based phenotypic traits and are not capable of being inherited. You would have to have a genetic mutation in the individual that caused them to be weaker etc... for it to be inherited. This mutation would occur in the sperm or egg that joined to create the individual, not in some random cell in their adult body.

Still, it is an interesting idea!

[jacqualine1222]

though i hope its not true, i have come up with a similar theory myself, that aliens are us from the future. think about it, they're technology is far more advanced than ours, meaning they must have been around much longer than us, traveling through space is also like traveling through time, so if they are comming from another dimension to present day earth, maybe where they are comming from IS earth, in a different time zone. interesting huh?

[Phoenix_Falls]

It's a cool sci-fi idea, but plausibly and biologically, it's just not going to happen. Yes, we're definitely evolving, that's just the nature of things, but we've been consistently getting taller and stronger as a species, not smaller and weaker.

Not to mention that whatever gene or instinct that makes up the "human condition" wouldn't allow for us to sequester ourselves in such a way. No matter how technologically advanced we become. Without social interaction on a person-to-person level, our brains deteriorate, we become depressed and can even become quite a danger to ourselves and those around us. Hardly sounds like being capable of being able to conquer long-term space travel.

As others have said, there are simply too many people in the world who would pass on a caretaker attitude towards the outside world, not to mention overcompensating with rigorous exercise/activity/non-technological hobbies as a way to make up for how much time is spend on/with technology.

[Phoenix_Falls]

though i hope its not true, i have come up with a similar theory myself, that aliens are us from the future. think about it, they're technology is far more advanced than ours, meaning they must have been around much longer than us, traveling through space is also like traveling through time, so if they are comming from another dimension to present day earth, maybe where they are comming from IS earth, in a different time zone. interesting huh?

Traveling through space, though, won't necessarily result in traveling through time. If long-distance space travel is to be achieved we need to figure out how to create and use rotating black holes (the sci-fi concept of a "worm hole") and the vehicle we're in needs to travel only slightly slower than the speed of light and be able to hold together.

It's not a 100% impossible idea that you have, but it's completely implausible and probably better suited to fiction than for serious discourse about the subject if only because there are a myriad of other theories that don't require such a stretch of the imagination in terms of physics, biology, technology and evolution. Also, one would have to assume that this species, if it was indeed humans from the future, would be so much further removed than we are from say, the first single celled organism on the planet, that it wouldn't be proper for us to even be called the same species. This is also assuming that our species is going to survive the next X-octillion years or however long, which I believe is highly unlikely.

[sunnydawn]

The I have been taught and noticed myself, is that we are really the only species on this Earth that, to this day, cannot agree on our origins. Did we evolove from ape like beings? Did we start off with two people, Adam and Eve? Did we originate fromthe oceans organisms like other animals?
or perhaps were we placed here by aliens and are , actually, aliens ourselves from the start. If you look at the age of the Earth and the prehistoric times we began noticing human life, we really have only existed a tiny fraction of the Earths age. Adn look at how we have utilized the Earth and have advanced as a species. We don't even know what we are doing with the Earth no do we understand it in such a way to live and take care of it properly. Plus all the evidence of references to U.F.O's in ancient art and texts.
I believe, myself, that we are teh aliens and always have been. On another note, I don't neccessarily believe every human race is from another planet. Not being racist, but I think there are certain races that did originate here on Earth. I think they are the many aboriginals in the many continents. They are the ones that seem to "get" Earth the most. Some of us may have learned a thing or two and learned to become in tune.

[Terra Mater]

I have no idea if this is the correct forum. If it is not, I do apologise.

A friend of mine recently presented a very interesting concept/theory. She says that she has often thought that perhaps we are evolving into aliens as we imagine/know them on film, art and other works.

She notes that we are becoming less and less physical in our daily lives and more and more dependent on computers and machinery. She stated that we would develop large heads to contain our much-needed larger brains.

This is where the theory falls apart. The idea of larger brains assumes the people are getting smarter as they get more technology. The reality is people are getting stupider because they are using their brains less and the computers more. People do not memorize phone numbers when their phone has a memory to store the numbers. They do not memorize as much information because their computer remembers it for them. So if anything, human brains will get smaller as they get more dependent on technology.:thumbsup:

[LifeOnMars]

This is where the theory falls apart. The idea of larger brains assumes the people are getting smarter as they get more technology. The reality is people are getting stupider because they are using their brains less and the computers more. People do not memorize phone numbers when their phone has a memory to store the numbers. They do not memorize as much information because their computer remembers it for them. So if anything, human brains will get smaller as they get more dependent on technology.:thumbsup:

A thought just popped into my head. It's probably flawed but I thought I'd put it out there. I know that the idea of humans becoming less intelligent because of technology is widely accepted, but is it possible that while technology is making our lives easier in some ways, making memorizing or thinking less necessary, in other ways it makes it more necessary? Kind of like you trade one thing and get another. Instead of memorizing phone numbers we memorize html, we navigate (to my mind) complicated cell phones and computers. Not to mention the huge amount of information that we have access to. Not all of it being good or truthful information, we have to spend a lot of time thinking logically about said information, researching it and discussing it with other human beings. Maybe it isn't that we're becoming stupid, maybe we're just becoming thinner, if you catch my meaning?

[Xander67]

Traveling through space, though, won't necessarily result in traveling through time. If long-distance space travel is to be achieved we need to figure out how to create and use rotating black holes (the sci-fi concept of a "worm hole") and the vehicle we're in needs to travel only slightly slower than the speed of light and be able to hold together.

, that it wouldn't be proper for us to even be called the same species. This is also assuming that our species is going to survive the next X-octillion years or however long, which I believe is highly unlikely.

If you look at the ancient astronaut theory, which is not all that far fetched, you can see where POSSIBLY, key word, POSSIBLY? maybe perhaps we could have at one time possessed such technolgical capabilities ???

Case in point, the recent hermetic texts found in caves, (Scrolls)
and the postmodern era teachings emerging within Qaballa and Quantum Mechanics?

Maybe the ancients were far more advanced, perhaps the Timeline of events on the mayan Tzolkein were merely scratching the surface..

Maybe there is something to be said about Asutra teachings and the Native American teachings that we are missing???

[C. Iulia Regilia]

this is actually one therory to alien vistors, that they are time travellers from our future, I am sure it has been discussed somewhere on the paranormal.

I've often wondered the same. So many of the things that "aliens" are doing shouldn't be possible -- like aliens inpregnating women. Biologically, there's a greater chance that you could be inpregnated by an oak tree than an alien -- compatable DNA at least, similar proteins and so on. With an offworld alien, the genetic code might by stored on RNA rather than DNA for example (like some viruses) or something other than DNA/RNA altogether. They do have odd fascinations with us -- nukes and so on. Why would ET care if we blew ourselves up? doesn't hurt them.

[Terra Mater]

A thought just popped into my head. It's probably flawed but I thought I'd put it out there. I know that the idea of humans becoming less intelligent because of technology is widely accepted, but is it possible that while technology is making our lives easier in some ways, making memorizing or thinking less necessary, in other ways it makes it more necessary? Kind of like you trade one thing and get another. Instead of memorizing phone numbers we memorize HTML, we navigate (to my mind) complicated cell phones and computers. Not to mention the huge amount of information that we have access to. Not all of it being good or truthful information, we have to spend a lot of time thinking logically about said information, researching it and discussing it with other human beings. Maybe it isn't that we're becoming stupid, maybe we're just becoming thinner, if you catch my meaning?

Its a nice theory, but how many people using computers really take the time to learn HTML? How many people post here on MW looking for other people to do something simple like make banners and other graphics for them. The reality is that while our computers do have the ability to allow us to evolve our minds without the limitation of bad teaching styles and overcrowded classrooms, the greater number of people do not maximize their computers any more than they maximize their potential intellect. The most popular uses of computers are porn and gaming, neither of which is going to improve their intellect which is what is needed to increase brain size.

As for thinking logically, researching, and discussing, its a garbage in garbage out system. Most people only accept research that confirms what they believe about a topic. If they cannot find research that confirms their preconceptions, they do not learn from the experience, they shut down and shut out the potential for learning. Thinking only comes from contemplating all sides of an issue and there are numerous posts where you can how rarely that actually happens. Folks prefer their assumptions, they prefer information that confirms their ideas being "right", in short, they hobble themselves intellectually.

A perfect example is the 25 students in the College Algebra class that I take. There are only five students in the class making more than a C in the class. I am the only A student in the class. I listen to my classmates before class complaining that they are not learning because our teacher is not explaining things right when in fact they are not learning because they are not reading their textbook. How do I know? Because the questions they ask are clearly answered in the book. If they would merely open the book and read the chapter while the teacher is explaining it, they would understand more of what is going on.

Nor does the average person these days really appear to know how to think logically. In discussions I have seen a lot of non sequiturs, oversimplification, post hoc ergo propter hoc arguments. People try to prove points by too many or too few examples. In other words, I see a lot of logical fallacies being passed off as logical thinking and gods help anyone that points out the fallacies, you get assaulted with a slew of bandwagon arguments.

People by and large are more interested in being popular rather than being intelligent or even correct in their facts. They are happy to be in the herd, whether leading it or as one of the many sycophantic followers of a more charismatic leader. More hobbling of intellect done freely and willingly by people who have decided that intellectual evolution involves far more work than they are willing to put forth.

The devices we are using which you term "complicated to navigate" have actually gotten easier to operate since their invention. When I first started using computers the "internet" was little more than a series of bulletin boards and you had to have some basic programming knowledge just to load a game let alone log onto a BBS. Now its all point and click and any trained monkey can operate a computer. Used to be that you needed college classes to maximize the use of your computer, now all you have to do is follow the ribbons, drop down menus, or click the help file.

In my youth, when you wanted to know the definition of a word, you had to open a dictionary and expose yourself to many other now words while looking for the one you wanted. Now people just Google the word and never expose themselves to the other words they would have found in the search.

While there are a few people who take full advantage of the wealth of learning that a computer and net access puts at their fingertips, the number is small and the percentage of the whole gets smaller with each passing year. If we were really evolving intellectually as a group by using tech devices, Bill Gates would never have created Windows to give computer access to the computer illiterate because there would have been too damn few of them to make a profit off of. Google and Yahoo would not exist because everyone would have been able to figure out Boolean search terms. In other words, the simpler things are made, the simpler the greater number of people remain because they have no motivation to encourage them to learn about their toys.

[LifeOnMars]

...

Wow. That was a really decent answer. Thank you!

[Terra Mater]

Wow. That was a really decent answer. Thank you!
You're welcome.

Of course I could be an evolved alien just trying to keep everyone on the wrong track.:toofless:

[Xander67]

You're welcome.

Of course I could be an evolved alien just trying to keep everyone on the wrong track.:toofless:

You know, I kinda like the analagy and comparison you gave in your very well thought out post.

As a web designer myself, I use a few different programs. I taught web design in NY back in 1999/2000.

one of the first things I did was give a brief intro to HTML and how to code n view a page locally using nothing but Notepad and Internet explorer.

That was ten years ago, and now I myself have gone back to the books to learn XHTML, PHP, MYSQL, and some of the other web 2.0 features.

It is nearly impossible for anyone to have an internet experience without being exposed to at least a tiny dose of html.

We use roughly 10% of our brain's abilities, and I would venture to speculate even less than that of the capabilities our PC's of today can do.

I have been using photoshop now and PSP scince version 4 back in 97 and haven't even tapped into the alpha channels or the other more detailed functions.

I think I might have used telnet maybe five times?

Now the technology that is emerging on the horizon uses post modern concepts that have been "Re-discovered" that ancient civilizations may have been taught in the classrooms.

The computers being developed in the R & D labs do not use the now outdated and soon to be obsolete "Binary" operating system based on the on or off states. They can now go into the subatomic level and utilise any combination of those states. A bit of data can be On, Off, both on and off, niether on nor off or any combination of combinations that can be thought of.


Not only can these kinds of computers run 1,000,000,000 times faster than current silicon based computers, but they can theoretically run with no energy consumption. These computers will obsolete the silicon chip much as the transistor did the vacuum tube. Consequently, silicon chip and computer manufacturers, the U.S. government, and Japan are allocating huge funds for quantum computer research
http://www.carolla.com/quantum/QuantumComputers.htm

Mastery of this technology, IRONICLY, requires a comprehinsive background in disciplines that have been taught centuries ago if not millenia.

Sacred geometry
Qaballa
Quantum Physics (yes the hindu culture has been teaching this under other names)

and even a dose of Hermetic philosophy and Alchemy.

Ok, now that your brains hurt worse than mine did just to type this out, where am I going with this??

I have no clue, maybe someone at Tesla or one if the R & D guys can make sense of these links because my brain hurts just reading them.
:idea2:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101109081606.htm

[Woden's Spear]

This is where the theory falls apart. The idea of larger brains assumes the people are getting smarter as they get more technology. The reality is people are getting stupider because they are using their brains less and the computers more. People do not memorize phone numbers when their phone has a memory to store the numbers. They do not memorize as much information because their computer remembers it for them. So if anything, human brains will get smaller as they get more dependent on technology.:thumbsup:

And then the miniaturization of technology results in computers being able to fuse -WITH- our brains and maximize our natural ability. Can't remember that phone number? Your new CPU-powered cyberbrain can store and process it. Need to remember a trivial fact to impress your friends at a dinner party? Access the Web through an antenna in your skull and hit up Wikipedia.

I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.:thumbsup:



Mastery of this technology, IRONICLY, requires a comprehinsive background in disciplines that have been taught centuries ago if not millenia.

My God, it's true! The Yggdrasil really is a massive supercomputer! Fujishima was right!:awilly:

/faints with terror