The Evolution of Man

Everything as we know it all started with a bang literally, it formed planets, stars, and even life forms. When it comes to mankind however, we are relatively new to the universe despite most people's beliefs that the universe revolves around us. Without bringing religion into the mix, “all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years"(human origins) which is quite some time compared to our life span. As we evolved we adapted and became smarter and better able to survive. Survival of the fittest did not appear to be the case, the more we evolved, the more over populated the world became. So what have we over come as a species, and where are we heading for the future generations?

When humans first appeared as a species we were near the bottom of the food chain compared to dinosaurs, and other predators of that era. During the Neanderthal period, "As a species of seeming feeble, naked apes, we humans are unlikely candidates for power in a natural world where dominant adaptations can boil down to speed, agility, jaws and claws. Why we rose to rule, while our hominin relatives died out, has long been a curiosity for scientists"(scientificamerica). Even scientists are baffled by how our ancestors came to rule the world or even thrive, while ancient predators and dinosaurs died off. As stated before we had no claws, jaws, or speed compared to the predators of the time. What scientists believe as the reason for our human survival is our cognitive skills as well as our cooperation with one another. This same behavior can be seen in a distant relative of ours which is the bonobo monkeys. Unlike most sub groups of monkeys bonobos use tools to get ants in hard to reach spots as well...

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...ack then the strongest were the most likely to survive and rule, these days anyone one can become powerful or survive. We value knowledge over strength which is a huge transition from the days of old.

Though out man’s existence we have somehow overcome all odds of survival and have become the main inhabitants of this planet. We have also gone through a great deal of competition amongst one another forcing each other to evolve. Disease has also played a major part in our evolution, stimulating individuals to advance the way we live and survive through medicine and technical advances. Finally the theory that we have once again evolved from the Homo sapiens in to a new race. The hunt and gather nature we had for so many years is now obsolete reducing us from hunters to lazy consumers. So where will evolution lead us next, will it lead to destruction or advancement?