This blog post explores human evolution and a future guided by intelligent design. Are we truly facing the end of humanity?
Have you ever considered the end of humanity? If asked this question, nine out of ten people would likely say no. It might seem even stranger to think that humans, who are currently living quite well and reigning at the top of the Earth’s ecosystem, could face extinction. Yet, the things we take for granted can sometimes become the greatest threats. Human history has unfolded in unexpected directions multiple times, and there is no guarantee that our current prosperity will last forever. Indeed, we know of numerous civilizations destroyed in the past by nature or external factors. These historical examples compel us to consider the possibility of humanity’s end more seriously.
Humans, commonly called Homo sapiens, began their history in Africa about two million years ago and have endured to this day through three major periods of upheaval. First, around 70,000 years ago, Sapiens began developing the ability to imagine entities that did not physically exist. This is called the Cognitive Revolution and marked the first major transformation for Sapiens. On the surface, the ability to imagine an abstract world might not seem particularly remarkable. However, this Cognitive Revolution enabled Sapiens to outcompete and outlive other hominins. This ability possessed power beyond mere imagination. It created new social norms and rules, enabling the birth of diverse cultures and institutions. Myths, legends, and religion were products of this abstract thinking; they were not just stories, but powerful tools for uniting groups. Thus, the Cognitive Revolution was a crucial turning point that transformed Sapiens from simple animals into complex social beings.
Next, the Cognitive Revolution triggered an exponential development in language ability. Language played a decisive role beyond mere communication, accumulating and transmitting collective knowledge. The ability to explain complex concepts and share abstract ideas allowed Sapiens to organize larger-scale societies. This capability greatly aided humanity in adapting to the environment and overcoming new challenges, leading to the invention of diverse tools and technologies. Through this period, Homo sapiens established themselves as the dominant species in the Earth’s ecosystem.
The next period of upheaval was the Agricultural Revolution we commonly know. The most significant change brought about by the Agricultural Revolution, which began about 10,000 years ago, was the exponential growth in population size. Mass food production became possible, leading to the formation of villages and later, nations. Furthermore, unlike the hunter-gatherer era of conforming to nature, the Agricultural Revolution marked the beginning of Homo sapiens manipulating nature—deciding what to cultivate and how much to grow. This revolution became the catalyst that differentiated Homo sapiens from other life forms. It also reinforced social hierarchies and laid the groundwork for economic inequality. The accumulation of surplus production widened the gap between the wealthy and the less fortunate, leading to the formation of power structures. This paved the way for the emergence of city-states and the development of civilization, laying the foundation for the complex social structures we know today.
The final transformation was the Scientific Revolution. In the past, humans primarily depended on gods, believing everything flowed according to divine will. However, once humans began to question the notion of divine omnipotence and acknowledge their own ignorance, science advanced rapidly, leading directly to modern society. The Scientific Revolution granted humanity the power to understand and manipulate the natural world. This enabled humans to achieve dramatic technological progress and, through the Industrial Revolution, attain material prosperity. Yet, the advancement of science did not merely bring material wealth. It fundamentally transformed the way humans lived and forced a reevaluation of traditional values and beliefs. The changes brought by the Scientific Revolution continue to this day, and we are on a journey whose end we cannot foresee.
Now, humanity stands on the brink of another great upheaval. While humans have altered and dominated nature until now, Homo sapiens themselves could not transcend their biologically determined limitations. Things like freely altering one’s appearance or changing one’s personality were impossible even for Homo sapiens, despite their immense capabilities, and were thought to remain impossible forever. But for Homo sapiens, these things are no longer impossible. Homo sapiens have now begun to shatter the laws of life that have persisted for hundreds of millions of years. Since the Big Bang, all things in nature have evolved and changed according to the law of natural selection: “The stronger survive.” For example, among giraffes with short necks and those with long necks, the long-necked giraffes were more useful for eating food in high places, making survival and reproduction easier. Therefore, the long-neck trait spread more widely in later generations than the short-neck trait, leading giraffes to develop long necks. Similarly, Homo sapiens evolved because their traits were stronger than those of other species, allowing them to pass on their genes to subsequent generations. This enabled modern humans to evolve from the Homo sapiens lineage. However, Homo sapiens have now gained the ability to select these traits themselves, rather than relying on nature, and have actually reached the stage of designing desired traits. This change represents a fundamentally different approach from past evolution driven by natural selection. Humans no longer evolve according to nature’s laws. An era has arrived where humans directly design their own evolution and control its outcomes.
When traits are designed by humans rather than selected by natural selection, this is called the law of intelligent design. And Homo sapiens are gradually replacing the law of natural selection with the law of intelligent design through three methods. The first method utilizes biotechnology. This approach, consistent with the concepts discussed earlier, primarily involves inducing desired traits in organisms through DNA or genetic manipulation. Strictly speaking, intelligent design using biotechnology has existed in the past. A simple example is castration. Cattle were castrated to produce docile animals, and men were sometimes castrated to maintain a high-pitched voice. Whereas in the past, such physical methods were used for intelligent design, modern approaches directly alter DNA. Today, we have completed genome maps that reveal the function of each DNA segment in organisms. Using these maps, we perform genetic manipulation—inserting desired traits or removing undesired ones—to carry out intelligent design. Examples include inserting jellyfish genes that express green fluorescence into white rabbit embryos to create green fluorescent rabbits. A more productive example involves genetically modifying cows to produce milk containing lysozyme, an enzyme that attacks the bacteria causing mastitis, thereby reducing losses in the dairy industry from mastitis in udders. Such biotechnological approaches now show potential for application to humans. For instance, gene editing technologies are being researched to preemptively eliminate genetic diseases or enhance specific physical abilities. If these technologies become reality, humans will no longer be bound by fate determined by nature but will be able to choose their own futures.
The second method utilizes cyborg engineering. A cyborg is a partial fusion of biological and non-biological components, exemplified by a person wearing a prosthetic limb. Research spans diverse areas, from simple hearing aids that amplify sound information to prosthetic limbs controlled by brain signals. While fundamentally human, or Homo sapiens, these entities could be viewed as akin to new life forms. Cyborg technology is advancing beyond simple assistive devices to dramatically augment human capabilities. In the military field, cyborg soldiers with enhanced physical abilities are already being researched. In medicine, technology is being developed to enable paralyzed patients to move again through neural interfaces. These technologies open new possibilities beyond human physical limitations, blurring the boundaries between humans and machines.
The final method involves creating entirely new inanimate entities. Humanoid robots exemplify this approach. Starting with Japan’s Asamo in the 1990s, humanoid robots—possessing human-like appearances and behaviors—have evolved. Recent developments include humanoids capable of expressing dozens of emotions and communicating freely. The robot ‘Sophia’, developed by Hanson Robotics, can actually express 62 different emotions and communicate in multiple languages. It is a robot that has even been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. This is why the statement that the day when robots created by humans replace humans is not far off is not wrong. Humanoids have transcended the category of simple machines. Through artificial intelligence, they can learn independently, mimic emotions, and demonstrate thought processes similar to humans. If these robots reach a level where they are nearly indistinguishable from humans, how should we accept them? Are they truly our friends, or potential competitors? This question will become a crucial issue as we prepare for the future.
Through the three methods listed above, humans are advancing intelligent design. But can we truly call these lifeforms, created through intelligent design and new laws of life, Homo sapiens? If we manipulate genes to design and create humans in desired forms, or produce humanoids so similar to humans they are nearly indistinguishable, calling them sapiens becomes difficult. This is why Homo sapiens faces extinction in the modern era. As seen in various sci-fi films, the world depicted in ‘The Island’—where ‘engineered’ humans live—may soon become our reality. And that world will no longer belong to Homo sapiens. Perhaps we are witnessing the final scene of the Homo sapiens saga, spanning millions of years. The end of Homo sapiens is no longer a distant fantasy. It may well be part of the reality we are creating.
