After millions of years of evolution, our species has, like an aging rock band, settled into a comfortable, familiar groove. But, there is another class of humans. This class has spectacular powers, such as mind control or the ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves, and exists mostly in big-budget global superhero franchises, like X-Men (or in mid-budget Ben Stiller-starring cult classics from 1999, like ‘Mystery Men’). These characters aren’t generally celebrated for their realism – but are they really so implausible? Let’s find out...
We can’t become superhumans but few cool modifications are possible
It’s unlikely that natural selection is currently operating to give people telepathy or mind control. And it’s fair to say that traits which defy the laws of gravity, like flight, are unlikely to ever evolve in humans. But one thing that’s being developed now is technology which allows us to make changes to our DNA, through the use of CRISPR/Cas 9, a way of editing genomes — including, in principle, the human genome. For example, humans are able to see within a certain range of light – we call it the visible light spectrum, because that’s what we can see. But insects in some cases can see light that is invisible to humans – ultraviolet light, for example. So it means that it’s physically possible for an organism to see UV light; we just don’t have the ability to do that, because the photoreceptor cells in our eyes aren’t attuned to those wavelengths of light. So if we knew all the genetics that allow an insect to see light in the ultraviolet spectrum then at least in theory it might be possible to alter our own genes to allow humans to see light in the UV range as well.
We asked evolutionary biologists and academics, if it is at all possible that people with superhuman abilities are living amongst us, or one day will
We could make super-soldiers
It’s all about super-soldiers. This is what the holy grail is going to be: getting that better military creature. Nothing is more efficient than biological structure – no silicon, no metal. A soldier who’s much harder to bleed to death, or a soldier that doesn’t need to drink as much water, or doesn’t need to eat for five or six days, or doesn’t need to sleep – any one of these things would be an enormous advantage in warfare. (With CRISPR/ Cas 9) you can put a new gene into an organism, or you can tweak a gene and turn it on where it had been turned off, or turn it off where it had been turned on. The most important genes are regulatory genes – they’re like generals who control hundreds of other genes, by messing with one of them you could change entire swaths of what an organism looks like or how it behaves.
Still in the realm of science fiction
Today’s transhumanists claim that the only way for humans to have superhuman powers is through technological, biological, or genetic enhancement. The more extreme views of human-machine interface include cyborgs; Ray Kurzweil’s singularity – the idea that human functioning can be technologically advanced exponentially until convergence; and Elon Musk’s neural lace, which merges the human brain with AI. These ideas are still in the realm of science fiction, yet they are attracting fundings.
Billions will die because of failed experiments
A few random genetic mutations are incapable of producing new, highly complex capacities such as a winged flight. It is as unlikely as it would be for a random earthquake in a medieval village to re-arrange everything to produce a modern city. This is because gene-based evolution proceeds largely through blind trial and error. The great majority of mutations will be harmful. Complex new adaptations can be discovered only through the accumulation of small advances over many, many generations. Unfortunately, billions of individuals must in these failed experiments that are complex and adaptive. In contrast, we can use our intelligent minds to narrow down the search and then try out targeted possibilities in our minds. It is a lot more efficient and acceptable to try out changes in our minds rather than by producing vast numbers of mutant individuals, nearly all of whom would die as failed experiments. As the great philosopher Karl Popper put it, “our hypotheses die in our stead”.
Our body structure will have to be drastically altered
Flight, mind control, telepathy (are the least plausible superpowers). I’m not even sure how mind control and telepathy could occur (although you could say “mind control” if you have particularly charismatic people paired with heavily suggestible people). Flight would require us reshaping our body beyond just getting wings. We’d need much better chest/back muscles, and, I believe, a shifting in our centre of gravity, which would be long-coming and difficult. Night vision might be the easiest, though it also won’t be easy or quick to come.
Source: Gizmodo