No, we are not beyond the laws of evolution; rather, we have introduced new and powerful factors that have dramatically changed its course. While biological evolution through natural selection still occurs in humans, its traditional pressures have been altered by cultural and technological evolution.
The Shift in Evolutionary Pressures
In the past, the “survival of the fittest” was largely determined by an individual’s physical and genetic traits. The ability to resist disease, endure harsh climates, and find food directly influenced who reproduced and passed on their genes.
Today, those pressures are largely mitigated. Modern medicine, for example, allows people with genetic conditions that would have been fatal in the past to live long lives and have children. Technology has enabled us to adapt our environment to suit our needs, from building shelters to producing food, reducing the selective pressure to evolve new physical adaptations.
Cultural and Technological Evolution
This does not mean evolution has stopped. Instead, it has been transformed into a faster, more conscious process:

• Cultural Evolution: This form of evolution is based on the transmission of knowledge, ideas, and behaviors from one generation to the next, not through genes but through learning and communication. Our ability to create and share tools, language, and social structures is what allows us to adapt to our environment far more quickly than through biological changes. This process is cumulative and much faster than biological evolution.
• Technological Evolution: Technology acts as an external tool for adaptation. Instead of growing thicker fur, we invent insulated jackets. Instead of developing a natural resistance to a disease, we create a vaccine. Looking ahead, advancements like genetic engineering and gene therapy have the potential to allow us to directly edit our own genetic code, giving us a level of control over our own evolution that is unprecedented.
  The laws of evolution are still at play, but the game has changed. We are no longer passive participants but active agents in our own evolutionary story, guided by our intellect and innovations.
  This video provides an overview of the key differences between biological and cultural evolution

• A study by Professor Miles Richardson reveals a 60% decline in human connection to nature since 1800, highlighting the impact of urbanization and industrialization. 
• This disconnection is linked to the ‘extinction of experience,’ where reduced interaction with nature is passed down generations, raising questions about humanity’s evolutionary path and dominance over the planet.

We as a society are disconnecting from nature. This is a truism for the human species. But how disconnected are we from nature, from where we evolved? On the face of it, this sounds like a philosophical question. Still, if one gets to measure this, which tool to use? Miles Richardson, a professor engaged in nature connectedness studies at the School of Psychology, University of Derby, UK, has published a study that attempts to measure this widening connection between humans and nature. His finding says that human connection to nature has declined 60 per cent since 1800.

Richardson used a model that simulated people’s interaction with the environment. “It’s built on the idea of the extinction of experience—the cycle where loss of nature leads to lower connection, which can then get passed on to the next generation,” he said. Richardson evaluated the connection in terms of nature-related words being used by us currently, and how it has been used over generations. He delved into cultures, as there were no surveys in the 1800s. He used the frequency of nature-related words like river and blossom in books as a proxy to sense the connectedness of people with nature. “When their use is plotted over time, a clear decline of around 60 per cent is revealed. Particularly from 1850, a time when industrialisation and urbanisation grew rapidly.” “It’s a story of urbanisation, intergenerational change, and the quiet erosion of everyday nature in our lives,” he said.

The “extinction of experience” with nature has a parallel story unfolding: humans colonising, dominating and burdening the natural planet with enormous forces to usher in an imbalance never experienced before. In 2020, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, estimated that human-made objects (excluding waste) outweigh all the living beings on Earth. And it is adding up: every week new human-made objects are produced that weigh equal to the body weight of 7.7 billion people. “We cannot hide behind the feeling that we’re just a small species, one out of many,” said Ron Milo, a co-author of the study, emphasising the unbearable burden of our existence on the planet, and how dominant we have become in the planet’s natural existence. The Sixth Extinction is evidently attributed to humans; besides the first ever change in natural climate triggered by a species.

What technology has changed in human evolution

Technology has profoundly altered the course of human evolution, not by halting it, but by changing the very rules of the game. It has shifted the primary drivers of adaptation from slow-acting biological forces to rapid, cumulative cultural and technological evolution.
Here are some of the key ways technology has changed human evolution:

1. Diet and Anatomy
   The mastery of fire and the invention of tools for cooking were some of the first major technological leaps. Cooking food makes it easier to digest, which reduced the selective pressure for large, powerful jaws and a massive digestive system. This freed up metabolic resources for the brain, playing a crucial role in our encephalization (the increase in brain size) and paving the way for further cognitive and technological development.
2. Reduced Selective Pressure
   Technology has effectively created a buffer between humans and the raw forces of natural selection.

• Medicine: The development of medicine, from antibiotics to vaccines, has drastically reduced mortality from infectious diseases. In the past, individuals with genetic resistance to certain pathogens were more likely to survive and reproduce. Today, medical interventions save lives, allowing individuals with less robust immune systems to thrive and pass on their genes.
• Shelter and Clothing: Our ability to create shelter and clothing has enabled us to migrate to and survive in a wide range of climates, from arctic tundra to arid deserts, without needing to biologically evolve physical adaptations like thicker fur or different body proportions.

1. The Pace of Change
   Biological evolution is a slow process that unfolds over millennia. In contrast, technological evolution is exponential and cumulative. The knowledge and innovations of one generation are passed on to the next, building upon previous advances. This allows humans to adapt to a changing environment far more quickly than any other species. We don’t need to biologically evolve longer limbs to reach fruit; we invent a ladder. We don’t need to develop night vision; we create a flashlight.
2. New Pressures and Potential Changes
   While technology has mitigated many old selective pressures, it has also introduced new ones. For example:

• “Modern” Diseases: The shift to a more sedentary, technology-driven lifestyle has contributed to an increase in lifestyle-related diseases like obesity and diabetes.
• Future “Designer Babies”: Advancements in genetic engineering, such as CRISPR technology, could one day allow humans to directly edit their own genes. This could give us the power to consciously choose certain traits, marking a new phase of directed, rather than random, evolution.
  In essence, technology is not just an external tool; it is now an integral part of the human evolutionary story, allowing us to evolve culturally and technologically at a pace that far outstrips our biological changes.

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