I
Io Aurelia
Guest
The other day on a web forum it was put to me that humans will most likely evolve to have other senses as well as sight, hearing, smell etc. (this person was coming from a newage perspective, and I think they were implying something about esp/magick).
My argument was something like this: Even though it's theoretically possible for humans to evolve to have another sense, in reality it's unlikely. You have to take into account how evolution works, slight mutations happen randomly and are only retained if they enhance the animal's survival prospects. So for an entirely new sense to evolve, it would have to enhance the competitive edge significantly. Also, if you look at all the complex organisms on earth (some of which have been around for much longer than people, and have had much longer time to evolve), you tend to see more or less the same set of senses. Although some animals have better smell or sight etc than others, generally there isn't a great deal of variation in the senses themself. Maybe if our environment and the way we live changes dramatically this will be reflected in our evolution, but as things stand at the moment, while small mutations might happen over time, the probability of an entirely new sense evolving is not very likely.
I only have a laypersons knowledge of evolution, so I'm not sure if I'm on the right track here. It would really appreciate it if someone with a better understanding of evolution could tell me if my reasoning is correct, or if there's anything else to add to this argument.
Thanks,
Io
My argument was something like this: Even though it's theoretically possible for humans to evolve to have another sense, in reality it's unlikely. You have to take into account how evolution works, slight mutations happen randomly and are only retained if they enhance the animal's survival prospects. So for an entirely new sense to evolve, it would have to enhance the competitive edge significantly. Also, if you look at all the complex organisms on earth (some of which have been around for much longer than people, and have had much longer time to evolve), you tend to see more or less the same set of senses. Although some animals have better smell or sight etc than others, generally there isn't a great deal of variation in the senses themself. Maybe if our environment and the way we live changes dramatically this will be reflected in our evolution, but as things stand at the moment, while small mutations might happen over time, the probability of an entirely new sense evolving is not very likely.
I only have a laypersons knowledge of evolution, so I'm not sure if I'm on the right track here. It would really appreciate it if someone with a better understanding of evolution could tell me if my reasoning is correct, or if there's anything else to add to this argument.
Thanks,
Io