Question

Not sure if this is appropriate for this section. The human brain, What is its next step? i've heard that we are evolving hundreds of times faster than we have in the past few thousand years. Could we be on the verge of telepathy? mental transmutation? I'm not sure what the future holds, but in the world of biology/physics/technology things are getting more and more exciting each and every day.

Answer 1

Interesting you say you've heard we're evolving fast, I've heard some people saying we're not involving at all any more.

Answer 2

Agreed that it is very interesting question, however human progression is going slightly differently to other forms of evolution.
Mainly selection. In the wild species select sexually by who has adapted with the most favourable survival characteristics.
However human selection is less about selecting the best mate for survival and is far most complex.
This means the best characteristics are not always selected to carry on to the next generation. Leading to evolution in a single direction quite improbable.

Answer 3

But we are in a completely different stage of evolution. no longer bound to the cold Darwin approach of natural selection. we are adapters not survivors, our evolution is taking a completely different direction.

Answer 4

but not a single direction, the characteristics chosen by your forebearers may not be the same ones you choose, evolution may be broader but less definable single changes.

Answer 5

I am not sure about any change in the rate of evolution, but it would make sense that as the population has increased so drastically over the past few centuries that more individuals leads to more mutations occurring and being passed on, and thus an increase in the "rate" of evolution.

In recent history (by which i mean the past 100 million years or so), evolution has favored large brains because those allow us to be more social. Social interaction requires a great deal of cognitive power, thus individuals with larger brains were better able to recognize other's belonging to their group. Larger groups do better than smaller groups, and thus natural selection increased our brain size over time.

As to the other things mentioned, telepathy and such; we have yet to find definitive proof that such things are even genuinely possible, but who knows what might happen. It is unlikely, however, that our brains will grow to be much larger. This is because the brain consumes a great deal of energy and only in the form of glucose. This is why it is difficult to think straight when your really hungry. The trade-off to having such a large brain is that other tissues cannot function as well. For example, other primates such as gorillas are much stronger because their brains use less energy, allowing their muscles to function at a higher capacity. Also if you have been watching too much X-Files, it is true that we only use 10% of our brains, but that is at any given moment. Over the course of the day, you will use pretty much 100%, just not all at once.

Also as an end note: I am not sure that evolution as we usually think about it even applies to our species anymore. Technology has made is so that it is no longer the strongest member of the pack that mates with the most females. We are with the person we "love" which itself is a very interesting product of evolution. Organisms tend to have one gender that is more "choosy" when it comes to reproduction (usually females) since that member contributes more energy towards the offspring. Human females are now often attracted to a mate for a more abstract concepts, such as personality, rather than physical traits such as being the tallest or strongest. Take this as you will, but i am simply stating an observation, not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers.

If you really want to understand what evolution is, there are some very well written books out there. I recommend Carl Zimmer's: Evolution, The Triumph of an Idea, or Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene. Both have unique perspectives on the topic.