NEWS: The Cold, Hard Science of the Eloi and the Morlock

CULTURE: The Cold, Hard Science of the Eloi and the Morlock

Is it science...or is it science fiction!? London-based evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry has declared that humanity is actually evolving into two sub-species, which will have fully emerged within 100,000 years. Half of the family will be an attractive, intelligent ruling elite, while the others will form an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, strikingly similar to the the Eloi and the Morlock in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.

According to Dr. Curry, the men of the ruling elite will have deeper voices and bigger penises, and the women will have smooth hairless skin, large eyes and pert breasts. Interbreeding will have produced a single coffee-coloured skin tone. That's great, but there's a downside, too:

Okay, so--aside from which subspecies you think your descendants will fall into--the real question here is, why are Oliver Curry's claims being published? This story, which made headlines in the past week, seems to have originally appeared last year in the BBC, the Telegraph, the Sun, the Scotsman, and various other news outlets. Why again, now? First of all, he's a political theorist, not a scientist or geneticist. Second of all, the idea the humanity is still evolving seems legitimate, but everyone turning coffee-colored? Really? Human beings have been geographically and socially mobile for a long, long time now, and we don't show any overarching signs of blending, yet.

Last year when it appeared, Bad Science ripped it apart.

Sounds like Curry would have been better off doing an MFA instead of a PhD, although then he would have wound up facing plagiarism charges. Are we still evolving? Yeah, I would guess so. Are we evolving in the direction of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine? Probably not so much. Soylent Green? Maybe. Bladerunner? Perhaps. But The Time Machine? Gimme a break.

Pft, everyone knows humans will have evolved into cream-colored snub-nosed brunettes with tremendous brains, psychic capabilities, and photosynthesizing bacteria on the skin that eliminate the need for eating.

Wait, I'm confused. While I believe that Mr. Curry is full of crap, I fail to see how Bad Science's criticism even applies if indeed he claims that humans will divide into subspecies rather than separate species.

Well, he's not a scientist, you see. And that makes Bad Science's panties all twisty.

I'm evolving into http://www.myspace.com/zorloq

There should be a movie about this where Jeremy Irons explains to Curry, Played by Guy Pearce, how incredibly wrong he was...maybe with Orlando Jones as a lovable but slightly annoying computer sidekick?

Thanks for pointing out he's not a geneticist; I missed that.

But the whole genetics thing is a bit silly, in human terms. Human evolution is mediated by intelligence and language.

Not in a scientific sense it isn't. Have a look at the definition of evolution provided by talk.origins

No amount of difference in language and intelligence alone could possibly result in speciation.

Now, if you wanted to argue that the evolutionary pressures humans now face are related to language and intelligence...

But the genetics thing is very much not silly. Let's not confuse the advancement of the human race with its evolution.

Edit: Emphasis added.

Beg to differ. Evolution is about adaption to the environment. The whole reason that intelligence and language work is that they bypass genetics; that behaviour in intelligent species modifies them faster than genetics can keep up with. How do you think we got where we are?

(And BTW, language is probably the more important of the pair. It allows adaptation in people without any genetic link. !! )

Unless a Vulcan starship shows up, we will destroy this planet in way less than 10,000 years.

Vulcan?

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Thank humanity we won't live to see this...

Okay actually I wouldn't mind humanity ending up looking like

I see. So we're throwing out the scientifcally accepted definition of biological evolution for one that suits you better?

You're going to have to do some pretty fast talking to convince me that language changes us on a biological level in addition to a cultural one.

And change in culture does not evolution make.

As you wish. I'm not going to get into a fight about it. But it appears to me that the whole point about evolution is adaptation to changing environment, and intelligence and language allow humans to do that faster than other species, which is The Secret Of Our Success . (Though of course my definition of "our" needs to be looked at carefully, if I'm right.)

I'm not attempting to convince you that "language changes us on a biological level in addition to a cultural one". What I'm saying is that intelligence and language alter us - make us different - in ways that subvert and supersede the biological level.
For instance, the capacity to feel sympathy for individuals without any genetic tie to ourselves.

Yes; the difference in our opinions seems to be that I'm arguing about biological evolution, while you're arguing about cultural evolution. Genetics versus memetics.

And while I agree that language, and cultural evolution in general, does the things you say, the article was about humans dividing into sub-species--a biological change. A change like that just isn't something culture alone can do. The culture of western Europe is vastly different from that of Australian aborigines, yet they're both human. Capable of interbreeding. The same species.

And if we're going to say that culture is capable of creating subspecies, there's no need to claim that it will happen in the future, because it's already happened.

This is perhaps man's biggest arrogance. We very well might destroy ourselves, but it is extremely unlikely we will destroy the planet. Reshape it. Sure. Destroy it. I don't think so.

didn't this news first come out like, a year ago?

I'll take that as a challenge.

i, for one, would like to welcome our Eloi overlords.

Wasn't the big twist that the highly intelligent but ugly and amoral morlocks were breeding and pampering the eloi for later consumption?

Man, that's one of the best twists ever. Bitch, your ass is veal!

I think H.G. Wells did describe what may happen to humanity very well. Though he did not do it in "The Time Machine". He did it in "War of the Worlds" (and no... I am not talking about aliens coming to blow us all up with their heat rays).

In "The Time Machine" the different paths of evolution that led to the Eloi/Morlok species gap came about because of one devision of humanity being subjugated/pampered to* by another, and there fore physically and genetically isolated. After many thousands of years the two evolved into different species. What Wells described in "War of the Worlds" was much more interesting. He talked about a race of beings (the Martians in this case) having evolved into a form that was totally dependent on technology (Note: they look A LOT different in the book than in any of the movie adaptations).

This is what I think SockPuppet was trying to describe. As our technology develops and we become more and more dependent on it, we change our enviornment. Not just by pollution or global warming, but we change the factors that influence our evolution. Essentially living in an artificial enviornment and evolving to adapt to it.

For example: The appendix is now a virtually useless organ in the human body. I have heard that these days some people are even born without one. It's purpose was to store bacteria that aid our digestive system in breaking down vegetable matter. Something our bodies can't do by themselves, but also something that happens when we cook food. Since we have been cooking our veg for some time now, the appendix has gotten smaller and smaller from one generation to the next, until in modern times it has started to disappear.

We have made our bed now we shall Evolve in it. That is the one part of Curry's statement that may actually ring true:

We may very well end up looking like the aliens from "War of the Worlds". And we all know how that weak immune system worked out for them.

*Edited in respect of strangebeastie's comment

I had to check the calendar, October 27th not April 1st right? Is there a glut of scientists that this is the crap theories that they have to come up with to keep themselves entertained? This is as laughable as the crazy evangelists and their ridiculous ideas.

Yes I agree, I think a few dozen hydrogen bombs would "reshape" the earth quite well...into several million pieces, actually.

How do you see this as arrogant? I quite think that the attitude you have - that we can't possibly destroy the earth - is quite a bit more arrogant than that.

Exactly.
I'm saying that the original question is not very useful in any terms we care about.

Uhhh... If anything, the ugly and stupid would quickly outnumber and overwhelm the attractive. There's no way the pretty people would ever be able to put together their own distinct society. Which also brings to mention that being attractive has no connection at all with being intelligent.