Cassie Tolhurst

Professor Campbell
ANTH 1020 Section 4
Apr. 20, 2014
From GATTACA to Idiocracy: The Evolution of Future Humans

A significant amount of time has passed since Charles Darwin published his
ground breaking On the Origin of Species. In that time we have advanced as a
population reaching new heights in technology, transportation, and understanding
the biological aspects of ourselves and the rest of the world. While we can still see
natural selection and aspects of evolution by tracing through history and even
around the world today, how much of this fundamental principle is still happening in
the human race, and how long will it continue? As time is changing so are we, I
believe that natural selection is still at play, but maybe not in the same ways that it
used to be. Anthropologists argue several different points about the genetic future
of homo sapiens sapiens, but at this point it is all speculation, and only time will tell.
Genetic diversity runs rampant throughout the human race. While certain
areas of the world are so isolated, their genetic variance is still very limited. The
majority of the world has access to fast and convenient modes of transportation has
made it significantly easier for people to relocate all across the world. The U.S.
Census Bureau has collected detailed data on multiracial people only since 2000,
when it first allowed respondents to check off more than one race, and 6.8 million
people chose to do so. Ten years later that number jumped by 32 percent, making it

one of the fastest growing categories. (Funderburg, 1998) Now that mixing of
races that were once so separate is becoming the norm, National Geographic
created a race project with photographs of individuals that identified as multi-racial
to depict what the majority of Americans might look like in the year 2050.
(Funderburg, 1998)
Even though the face of the human race will most likely change, some
speculate that Darwins theory of natural selection will no longer be in play. Ian
Tattersall of New York's American Museum of Natural History stands behind that
theory. Since the advancement in transportation, and advancements in the medical
industry, Tattersall speculates that the game has changed. One part of natural
selection is differential fitness, where a benefitting factor would be the ability to
have traits survive by being able to rear offspring to a reproductive age. When On
the Origin of Species was published in 1859, only about half of British children
survived to 21. Today that number has swelled to 99 percent. (Owen, 2009) Now
that in developed parts of the world the majority of the population are able to
reproduce successfully, that portion of natural selection may now be irrelevant.
Though another theory by Stephen Stearns, from Yale University, conducted a
study where they found that due to ovulatory characteristics, shorter, slightly
plumper women tend to have more children than their peers. These physical traits
are passed on to their offspring, suggesting natural selection in humans is alive and
well (Owen, 2009) Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of
New Mexico, has also made speculations that mate choice will drive natural
selection in modern times. "Parents could basically choose which sperm and egg
get to meet up to produce a baby based on genetic information about which genes
contribute to which physical and mental traits," he said. (Owen, 2009)

Millers theory almost leads into the 1997 science fiction film GATTACA.
Where the main character was one of the last natural born of his era, in a time of a
genetic revolution. The advances that were made in this movie allowed parents to
have unprecedented control over the birth and genetic coding of their child, and the
result was a society that classified you into a predetermined status and limited your
job choices, and even your mate choices. This movie is a window into what future
might be ahead. Although natural selection might be more unnatural, you can still
see the rise of certain traits and the molding of the human race. (Niccol, 1997)
While GATTACA touches on building a more optimized race, that theory is
juxtaposed by another movie, Idiocracy. This 2006 science fiction comedy again
shows us a possible future of the worlds population. This movie depicts a future
where the world has been dumbed down, which is in direct contrast to GATTACA.
The theory in this movie is that the irresponsible population with lower I.Q.
reproduces more than the more intelligent counterpart, and 500 years in the future
the population has been so saturated with low intelligence that a man that had
been frozen in a military hibernation project is easily the most intelligent man alive.
(Judge, 2006)
While natural selection has changed through the human population, and will
continue to change it is apparent to me that it still plays a role in modern day and
will continue to do so although it may not be an exact representation of the
Galapagos Finchs anymore. What the future holds for the human race is still yet to
be seen, but scientists and Hollywood alike will still speculate on what it may be.
Just like the rest of the world, we are forever changing.

Works Cited

Funderburg, L. (2013, October 1). Changing Faces. National Geographic.

Judge, M. (Director). (2006). Idiocracy : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Niccol, A. (Director). (1997). Gattaca : Columbia Pictures.
Owen, J. (2009, November 24). FUTURE HUMANS: Four Ways We May, or May Not,
Evolve. National Geographic.