THE
FUTURE OF MAN
Published:
the Scientific American, scientificamerican.com
Level
of Difficulty:*****
1.
a)
Two views concerning future humans are stated in the text. Which one can be
definitely disproved?
_______________________________________________________________________
b) What erroneous conclusion have scientists drawn
from the above? _______________________________________________________________________
c) Why exactly is the above conclusion erroneous? _______________________________________________________________________
2. The text mentions various species of early humans; it
also mentions one important condition for evolution. What is it?
_______________________________________________________________________
3. At the beginning of paragraph 8, the writer says:”
that turns out not to be the case”. What is the case?
_______________________________________________________________________
4.
In
paragraph 10, the writer says the following: “Harpending and Hawks estimated
that over the past 10.000 years humans have evolved as much as a hundred times
faster than at any other time since the split of the earliest hominid from the
ancestors of modern chimpanzees.” State clearly what this evolution was due to:
_______________________________________________________________________
b) Provide three examples from the text to support the
writer’s contention.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
5. The subtitle above paragraph 11 is “Unnatural
Selection”. What example of unnatural selection can you find in the text?
_______________________________________________________________________
6. Read carefully from the beginning of paragraph 13 to
the end of paragraph 16.
a) What does inadaptive evolution mean?
_______________________________________________________________________
b) Does David Comings agree with the idea of
inadaptive evolution?
_______________________________________________________________________
c) Does the above mean that humans are destined to
develop a host of antisocial and/ or maladaptive traits? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________
7. A three step process to direct the evolution of humans
is mentioned in paragraph 17 and 18. What are these three steps?
a) __________________________________________________________________
b)
__________________________________________________________________
c)
__________________________________________________________________
8. Would pleitropy be an obstacle to studies to control
human aging? Why or why not?
_______________________________________________________________________
9. In paragraph 20, the writer says “One day we will have
it in our power to bring a new human species into the world”. How does he reach
this conclusion?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
10. In paragraph 21, George Dyson says “Darwinian
evolution may be a victim of its own success”. How does he reach this
conclusion? _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
11. The text says “Unlike aging, extinction does not
appear to be genetically programmed into any species”. This view is offered as
support for the following fact:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
12. Read Bostrom’s predictions carefully and make sure you
understand them. Then answer the following questions:
a) What does “that” in the phrase “that would render
us obsolete” refer to?
___________________________________
b) What term does the writer use to refer to Bostrom’s
views?
___________________________________
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