• Question: Is it possible that humans will eventually evolutionize into some kind of super human? Such as if all of the humans who didn't have photographic memories were to die out could we be left with people who could remember everything they see, smell, hear, taste and touch from birth?

    Asked by purplegiraffe to Suzi, Tim on 24 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by kfarquharson.
    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      Hi @purplegiraffe

      If there is an evoluntionary advantage to something, then anything is possible given enough generations 😀

      However it seems unlikely for things like memory to become superhuman because we have invented machines to remember things for us – video recorders etc… your mobile phone even remembers telephone numbers for you. The evolutionary advantage doesn’t seem to be there anymore, we’ve replaced it with technology.

    • Photo: Suzi Gage

      Suzi Gage answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      Hi @purplegiraffe
      I agree with Tim. Unless the advantage makes us more likely to be able to pass on our genes, it’s unlikely that it will be selected for by breeding! We have created technology these days to do the things we can’t do, so the chances of us evolving in ways that are already achievable via technology is fairly small.

      Hope this helps – let me know if you’d like more info.

      If you could have any ‘super’ skill, what would you like? I think a photographic memory would be really cool!

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