Human Evolution and Technology – A Biological Basis for the Homo Digitalis?

Feb 20, 2014

Sogeti Labs

Has man stopped evolving? Or are we now co-evolving with our technology? Will our future children be predisposed to better online communication? This is a question that has crossed my mind more than once. This week, I came back to it, thanks to Facebook posting about how they can tell when you’re in a relationship based on the number and type of posts you make. It basically shows what we already thought: that an increasingly significant part of our courtship rituals now take place online. Evolution is not just about survival and finding food, it’s specifically about finding a mate and then: having children. What happens if ‘finding a mate’ is increasingly a digital affair? Do the individuals with an outstanding digital persona stand out and take the place of the alpha male, increasing their chance of generating offspring?

Today 10% of all people have used dating sites, of which 23% have found a ‘mate’. If these numbers keep increasing, at some point there may be a real influence where the children of digitally matched people may become significantly better at finding a digital match of their own. Perhaps looks will be less important, or being photogenic becomes MORE important? Who knows? Perhaps people who can write (or speak) heartfelt positive notes through digital gadgets will get the best dates? The people who can best interpret and respond to cryptic online posts will be most attractive?

But that’s not all! There is also the measure of ‘successuccess in life’, and my assumption that ‘success’ generally translates to more (chance of) offspring . I believe that the successful people of the future (and today) will be the ones who can handle the constant stream of digital interruptions well, who can create and follow their own paths, and who are very consciously using technology to enhance their own capabilities. These people use technology to achieve their bigger goals ; they don’t get bogged down in trivial Facebook posts and retweeting funny quotes. This may also be a way in which, in the long run – thousands of years – technology will exert a force on the course of human evolution.

And finally, there are some who believe that the unique human capability for humor was in part created to give us a better chance of mating, as a way to swoon the opposite sex or ridicule a competitor. Can you create funny content online? Will you spread your genes?

(btw: any lost evolutionary biologist who wants to set me straight, feel free to do so in the comments!)

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Sogeti Labs

SogetiLabs gathers distinguished technology leaders from around the Sogeti world. It is an initiative explaining not how IT works, but what IT means for business.

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