Introduction

Human kind is still in its infancy. We are far away from the end sta­tion, whatever people may think. When we look in the mirror we see a transient face. Our species continues to be on the move. What do we expect of humanity, say, four million years from now? Will there be those who actually resemble us? In such a period much can change. We started as an upright walking chimp. It has taken us some five to six million years to finally become the species we are today. Evolution is ongoing. Whatever we do – or don’t do.In our present day we are very much confronted with the notion of continuity and its opposite: extinction. We have changed our habitat planet Earth beyond recognition in a glimpse of time – in just a few thousand years - and killed off countless species, gone for eternity. In the process we influence the wheel of evolution, including the evolu­tion of our own species, unwillingly, and mostly unknowing of the nature and direction of that influence. In our habits we both protect and destroy. I believe it will be another ten to hundred thousand years before its cumulative impact can be assessed and solid evidence of ongoing evolution of our species will actually surface.

I never think of the future, it comes soon enough

Albert Einstein

New isolation would have to play a key role. It is a fundamental prerequisite. If it occurs it will most certainly progress through – i.e. by virtue of – adversity: adversity inflicted by nature, or, as likely, by man himself. It may also be that some quality is being favored by other means, e.g. cultural means: ideal models of fashion may well become ideal models of human progress. We don’t know. We either end up with a Planet of the Gods or we create a Planet of the Brutes. Both outcomes are plausible, none is more or less unlikely.

We are being warned today that the western white man is moving towards extinction unless he now starts procreating at a more mas­sive scale. Our western civilization is rapidly becoming short of western children. So, at least we are being warned about one possible course of evolution, i.e. not including the descendants of western modern man. We better make up our minds. But this is a very narrow view of course. We are just a few thousand years into civilization anyway. Many civilizations must still follow. So let’s be a little bit neutral about it. We cannot claim to be the ultimate civilization. We are still very far from that. 

As a species we have only scratched the surface of our brain potential. One Ein­stein will in the long run be thousands of Einsteins, millions perhaps. There is no end to the potential qualities of man and his descendants at any time in any era. And apart from Einstein there are many other things to cherish. We have our accomplishments. We have our western science. We have our libraries. We have our music, our amenities.There is a lot worth preserving and worth transferring to future gen­erations. And this includes our genes.

In the mean time great perils lay ahead. To call for mass reproduction is a slap in the face of the imminent overpopulation of our planet. We have all but exhausted our key resources and many millions of people already lack even the most basic necessities such as clean water. The perils we have to overcome are largely manmade. Our national and international institutions are ill equipped to effectively face them. It is a fascinating exercise to visualize the world many eons ahead, but we better look at the next forthcoming century as our greatest priority, at every level and in every language. In the process our societies, our politics and our corporate world need to address the issues – and the conflicts which arise from them – that they carry along from past history: matters of lifestyle and val­ues, our ambitions, the technology that has been accumulated, and so on. In all these and similar dimensions our present is what we have to deal with. We cannot escape it, but we do have the power – and the responsibility – not to let it dictate our future course. If at any time in human history this is a paramount directive, it is in our time.

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