Abstract
Most evolutionary biologists, after Lamarck and Darwin , were concerned with evolutionary processes in the natural world with no special mention of Man – taking him as just another animal. Some dealt with the human species only, and were concerned with human descent from the apes – or, like Wallace and Dobzhansky , with the unique abilities of humans to protect themselves from nature. Still others, like Galton and the Eugenicists, were interested in controlling or improving the future qualities of the human population. That human activities, as a dominant species, affect the natural environment was already noted by Lyell in the early 19th century, but the effect of mankind on the rest of the biological world became of public concern only recently. The implications of human activities for the future evolution – and fate – of our entire planet, seems to be of only limited academic concern, and Man [=mankind, the “international community”] is either uninterested or unable to do anything positive about it.
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Notes
- 1.
Lamarck’s vision is remarkable since no fossils intermediate between man and monkey were known in 1809. Also, he did not hesitate to suggest that Man and the apes shared a common origin!
- 2.
While the first part of the sentence is often quoted, the second is rarely if ever mentioned.
- 3.
Many more Neanderthal fossils were since discovered in Europe (and in Israel. Rak and Arensburg 1987). They are considered a parallel species, not in the line of descent of Homo sapiens . Interest in the Neanderthals was greatly renewed in the late 20th century, when molecular studies discovered some mtDNA sequence similarity between Neanderthal and Homo genomes (Krings et al. 1997). The overlap in the ranges of the two species raised the possibility – still debated – of some interbreeding. A complete Neanderthal mtDNA sequence [taken from a single specimen] indicated that it is outside the range of modern human variation (Clark 2008).
- 4.
As the early hominid fossils – such as “Lucy” – proved, upright stature – and not the increase in brain size, as many evolutionary biologists assumed for years – was the first step in the human line (Rak 1991). Lamarck had it right!
- 5.
It is not difficult to realize that these lines of thought were the same as the racist ideology of Hitler’s followers in Germany in the 1930s – and its disastrous application in the Holocaust. Thus eugenics, which began as a scientific theory directing human evolution for a better future, turned – in the wrong hands – to a means of destruction of humanity.
- 6.
Daedalus symbolizes applied science. In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a sculptor who carved the statues of the gods. He also designed and built the wings which enabled him and his son Icarus to escape from the minotaurs. Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax in his wings melted, and he fell into the sea and drowned.
- 7.
In-vitro fertilization and maintenance of human embryos – even deep-freezing them for long-term storage – is today, only ninety years after “Daedalus”, common practice in modern hospitals. The road is open for selection of embryos – [true, now only for medical reasons –but who knows?] – directly affecting the future evolution of mankind. Aldous Huxley’s and George Orwell’s fictional new worlds may yet become a reality.
- 8.
Past experience shows that the “law of ethics” may prevail – in part – within human populations, but rarely if ever between populations and nations.
- 9.
Charles Darwin took Lyell’s book with him on the Beagle, and the book had a major influence on forming his ideas about evolution. Lyell was instrumental in helping Darwin in his career, but did not accept the theory of evolution by natural selection until late in his life.
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Acknowledgments
I thank my colleagues, Dan Gerling and Dan Graur, for their comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. The comments of the two anonymous reviewers, who pointed out inaccuracies and requested useful additions to the text, are greatly appreciated.
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Wool, D. (2017). Man’s Place in Past and Future Evolution: A Historical Survey of Remarkable Ideas. In: Marom, A., Hovers, E. (eds) Human Paleontology and Prehistory. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46646-0_3
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