This blog post explores whether the dazzling advancements in science and technology will hasten the end of Homo sapiens and enable the birth of a new humanity.
Human history began approximately 4 to 3 million years ago with the emergence of Australopithecus. Since then, humanity evolved through Neanderthals to ultimately take the form of Homo sapiens. This process signified more than just physical changes. More crucially, it signified humanity’s adaptation to the environment and the maximization of survival capabilities. These changes resulted from natural selection, driving humanity to continuously evolve and adapt its survival strategies.
However, humanity now faces another critical turning point. The time has come to contemplate the end of Homo sapiens. The cause of this impending end lies in the enhancement of human intellectual capacity and the resulting advancement of science and technology. For millions of years, early humans lived by reproducing among those species that survived according to nature’s course. But at some point, humans began developing the ability not merely to follow nature, but to actively transform it.
During the Neanderthal era, humans developed consciousness and the ability to formulate plans, and the Agricultural Revolution approximately 10,000 years ago provided concrete methods to realize those plans. The Agricultural Revolution held significance beyond merely producing food. It signified humanity’s acquisition of the ability to reorganize nature, rather than merely depend on it. This positioned humanity to dominate the environment, ultimately leading to the explosive development of science and technology.
Today’s science and technology do not merely provide material abundance. For example, in 2000, bio-artist Eduardo Kac inserted jellyfish genes that emit green fluorescence into a rabbit embryo, creating a green fluorescent rabbit named ‘Alba’. This is a prime example demonstrating that science and technology can alter the very essence of living beings. Such advances in science and technology have opened the possibility of artificially manipulating the emergence and extinction of life forms. What was once only possible through evolution—the emergence of new species—can now be achieved by human hands.
This shift carries the potential to herald the end of Homo sapiens. We have entered an era where new life forms, selected and manipulated directly by humans rather than through natural selection, can emerge. The science and technology enabling this primarily include biotechnology, cyborg engineering, and inorganic engineering.
First, biotechnology is the technology that recombines the genes of living organisms or fuses cells to utilize the characteristics of living organisms in useful ways. Examples of biotechnology include green fluorescent rabbits, technology that manipulates E. coli genes to produce insulin, and technology that uses the genes of fish living in the Arctic to create frost-resistant potatoes. While biotechnology currently makes significant contributions to the biological revolution, ethical issues inevitably follow. Caution is needed to prevent situations where biotechnology exceeds human control. However, if this technology advances further to control human physical responses, emotions, and even thought processes, new entities with superior abilities to current humans could emerge, potentially hastening the end of Homo sapiens.
Next, cyborg engineering is the technology of creating beings that combine biological and non-biological elements. Hearing aids, retinal implants, and bionic prosthetic limbs are examples of cyborg engineering already deeply integrated into our lives. The advancement of cyborg engineering opens the possibility of maximizing human capabilities and could pave the way for the birth of superhumans. However, this could ultimately lead to the extinction of the current Homo sapiens.
Finally, inorganic engineering is the technology for creating non-living entities. Representative examples include computer viruses and the robot ‘Sophia’. Sophia is made from materials similar to human skin. Utilizing artificial intelligence, she can express over 60 emotions, think independently, and converse with humans. If recreating the human brain in a computer becomes possible, we may face a world where non-living entities surpass humans.
Because humans have lived as Homo sapiens until now, contemplating the end of Homo sapiens—the end of humanity—can evoke resistance. Yet science and technology continue to advance rapidly, and a new era will dawn. We must recognize that the end is approaching and deeply contemplate what form the new humanity succeeding Homo sapiens will take. The questions “What kind of beings do we want to become?” and “What do we desire?” will hold profound significance for humanity moving forward.
