Random Thoughts

Evolutionary regression

snowygrounds

I do not have a car (it is too costly to own one in my town), so I usually take public transportation. I do not really enjoy it – I live in an overpopulated town and there are jobs to shove people onto trains at rush hours here! But lately, I have found a way to have fun during my rides… I watch evolutionary regression of mankind unfold right before my eyes.

 

Here is a typical series of observations I make:

  1. When people come on the train, they usually already have their smartphones in their hands, or pull them out as soon as they find a place to settle;
  2. As they look down on their gadgets, their posture worsens, with heads dropping forward and shoulders rounding;
  3. They also seem to lose all linguistic skills, with no “excuse me’s” when passing by others and no “sorry’s” when bumping into another;
  4. And after a period of constant scrolling up and down and flicking and tapping, their thumbs begin to malfunction.

 

On any given day, I witness roughly 60 – 80% of passengers regress in posture, language, and opposable thumb – some of the key progress made in the long history of human evolution – handling a device which has assembled some of the greatest scientific advancements in human intelligence in modern day. I do not mean to sound pejorative, but it is quite funny watching ape-like creatures moving (or not moving, for the most part) in exactly the same way as the ones beside them… and they are not even a shrewdness!

 

But today, as I was coming home, I was surrounded by 100% of them. And all of a sudden, it was not funny any more, but rather frightening… it was like I have landed on another planet very similar to ours but ruled by highly sophisticated apes.

 

Maybe I got confused with the movie series?

Or maybe this is another example of scientific advancement possibly becoming a deadly virus, leading to a collapse of human civilization?

 

People, it’s Friday night tonight. Maybe if you take your eyes off your smartphones for a moment, you will find other fun things to do without giving up your posture or linguistic skills or thumb functions… maybe with humans like me, if you only so wish.

 

What have you got planned for the weekend, aside from evolutionary regression? I am thinking of attending a jazzy event – I hope you have an exciting one as well!

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