Evolution/Devolution you decide...

Have you noticed that there is rarely any need to supply directions anymore? An address will do. Google maps will do the rest. That's really new. I have detailed maps that Sarah made in 2005 to show people how to get to our house. Today, it seems almost unthinkable. We use the phrase "that's so yesterday!" playfully, but it's true, ancient habits are dropping like newspaper subscribers.

Does technology effect the course of evolution? Of course it does. With no data to back this up, just years of observational evidence, I would say that the human species has morphed significantly since the computer entered popular culture a mere twenty-five years ago. The need to adapt new ways of doing things, new concepts, new information, has stimulated our brains to work faster and in more abstract ways. The digital age has altered the activities and priorities of species forever. It's only a matter of time before certain advantageous mutations start to appear in the next generations. You could say that the sheer momentum of change blinds us to the consequenses of change. You could say that, but you'd be trampled under Prius.




















(illustrations by Dan Craig)