Scientists Uncover 14 Evolutionary Traps Threatening Humanity’s Future
A new study has revealed that humanity is at risk of falling into 14 evolutionary dead ends, termed “evolutionary traps,” ranging from climate change to artificial intelligence. The research, focusing on the Anthropocene era, highlights the need for global cooperation and active societal transformation to avoid these traps.
Misaligned AI is not the one you should worry most about (yet)
For the first time, scientists have used the concept of evolutionary traps on human societies at large. They find that humankind risks getting stuck in 14 evolutionary dead ends, ranging from global climate tipping points to misaligned artificial intelligence, chemical pollution, and accelerating infectious diseases.
The Anthropocene Era: Success and Challenges
The evolution of humankind has been an extraordinary success story. But the Anthropocene — the proposed geological epoch shaped by us humans — is showing more and more cracks. Multiple global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, food insecurity, financial crises, and conflicts have started to occur simultaneously in something that scientists refer to as a polycrisis.
Image Credit: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
Human Creativity and Unintended Consequences
“Humans are incredibly creative as a species. We are able to innovate and adapt to many circumstances and can cooperate on surprisingly large scales. But these capabilities turn out to have unintentional consequences. Simply speaking, you could say that the human species has been too successful and, in some ways, too smart for its own future good,” says Peter Søgaard Jørgensen, researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere program and Anthropocene laboratory.
Image Credit: Stockholm Resilience Centre
A Landmark Study on Evolutionary Traps
He is the lead author of a new landmark study published today as part of a larger assessment in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. The assessment gathers insights from a wide range of different scientific disciplines across the natural and social sciences and humanities, to understand how the Anthropocene evolved and how global sustainability can continue to evolve in the future.
Identifying and Understanding Evolutionary Traps
The new study shows how humanity could get stuck in “evolutionary traps” — dead ends that occur from initially successful innovations. In a first scoping effort, they identify 14 of these, including the simplification of agriculture, economic growth that does not deliver benefits for humans or the environment, the instability of global cooperation, climate tipping points, and artificial intelligence.
Image Credit: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
Evolutionary Traps in the Animal World and Human Societies
“Evolutionary traps are a well-known concept in the animal world. Just like many insects are attracted by light, an evolutionary reflex that can get them killed in the modern world, humankind is at risk of responding to new phenomena in harmful ways,” explains Peter Søgaard Jørgensen.
The simplification of agricultural systems is an example of such a trap. Relying on a few highly…