This blog post delves deeply into whether humanity’s future lies in evolution or ruin, focusing on the concept of intelligent design from ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’.
Chapter 20 of ‘Sapiens’ (Yuval Noah Harari) begins with the title ‘The End of Homo Sapiens’. The author states that history is the next stage in a continuum extending from physics, through chemistry, to biology, and that Sapiens are also subject to this historical process. Are you familiar with ‘natural selection’, the core concept of Darwin’s theory of evolution? Natural selection is the biological theory of evolution traditionally supported by the scientific community, where those adapted to their environment survive and reproduce in the struggle for existence.
As a result of this natural selection, Homo sapiens has continuously developed abilities suited for survival by adapting to their surroundings. However, despite this, the results and efforts gained through natural selection cannot transcend the biologically limited boundaries of maximum capability. Just as a giraffe developed a long neck to access food in higher places, thereby growing in a direction more nutritionally advantageous for survival, it cannot acquire transcendent powers like growing wings. This is a concept readily understandable in reality, not only for those who have studied biology in higher education but also for others.
What is intriguing is that the author of this book argues that, entering the 21st century, Homo sapiens has begun to break through the finite boundaries formed by the laws of natural selection and is replacing them with the laws of intelligent design. Discussions of intelligent design can be considered in connection with creationism, which has emerged within religious circles. Proponents of intelligent design theory posit that biological complexity presupposes the existence of a creator who pre-designed all biological details. While the theories of past biologists, based on the examples of natural selection and adaptation that have unfolded thus far, are reasonable, the future evolution of Homo sapiens, ironically, may align more closely with the views of intelligent design advocates. Replacing natural selection, which has shaped human history thus far, with intelligent design—the author explains in three parts how such intelligent design could be occurring even at this very moment.
The first is biotechnology, which refers to deliberate human intervention at the biological level. Examples of biotechnology mentioned above include recombinant DNA technology and monoclonal antibody technology. Even those without a biology background are likely familiar with the cloned sheep ‘Dolly’. By replacing the nucleus of an unfertilized egg with a somatic cell nucleus, then implanting this fertilized egg into another ewe (a surrogate mother), a lamb genetically identical to the first sheep was born. Dolly is the product of this biotechnology cloning technique. With the rapid advancement of genetic engineering and biotechnology, humans are intervening artificially in the evolutionary process of living organisms, defying the traditional laws of natural selection. In this way, humans are assuming the role of an intelligent designer, as if encroaching upon the domain of the divine. If this continues, it might even become possible to reconstruct society, starting with genetic manipulation, once ethical objections are set aside.
Second, the author mentions cyborg engineering, where a cyborg refers to an entity combining organic and inorganic matter. Have you heard of bioengineering? Suppose you suffered an unexpected accident and lost an arm and a leg. When biological interventions prove insufficient to improve the situation, attaching robotic limbs to your arms and legs could restore your ability to live a normal life. This would be akin to a creator gifting a new life to an unfortunate human. What if, in this manner, internal organs were replaced with artificial cyborg organs, eyes with cyborg eyes, and nerves, brains, and other inferior parts of a specific individual were replaced with cyborgs possessing transcendent power? Whether to view this as human or robot would spark debate among many scholars, but what is certain is that humanity has begun to enter a new evolutionary dimension beyond existing natural selection.
The third is inorganic engineering. That is, the third method of altering the laws of life is to create entirely non-living entities. Computer programming, artificial intelligence robots, and the like—these entities, while not rooted in a biological base, possess characteristics similar to life and have evolved. It is significant that life, after wandering for 4 billion years within the small world of organic compounds, has finally begun to intervene in the realm of the inorganic.
In reality, only a tiny fraction of these imaginings have been fully realized. What is certain, however, is that we are breaking free from biological boundaries and liberating ourselves. As things once taken for granted become uncertain, we find ourselves needing to reflect and ponder more deeply. In the final part of the chapter, the author mentions Mary Shelley’s novel ‘Frankenstein’ and cautions against the development of such radical intelligent design. We could be mass-producing monsters like Frankenstein, hastening the end of Homo sapiens.
We must diligently contemplate the direction we are hurtling toward beyond existing biological laws, and what our true desires truly are, striving relentlessly to become rational intelligent designers. The end of Homo sapiens may well be in our own hands. The choice of whether to embrace new evolution while maintaining our human essence or to transform into transcendent beings will ultimately be ours to make.
Between natural selection and intelligent design, which path will we choose? This transcends mere scientific and technological debate; it is also a philosophical and ethical question surrounding the meaning and future of human existence. The author poses this crucial question to readers, guiding them to find their own answers.
