The future of man

by Robert Klark Graham

Book Overview

The Furture of Man traces the gradual development of man into the most intelligent and most dominant creature on Earth. But as man progressed materially, his intellectual growth did not keep pace. At... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815800339
• ISBN13: 9780815800330
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Christopher Pub. House
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A humane way to improve the survivability of our species w/o killing

The basic premise of this book is that humans evolved from lower primates. The largest change has been our increased intelligence. This is what allowed us to become the dominant species on earth, and the only species who might be able to save the earth from outside destruction (asteroids). The formation of the human brain, like every other biological entity, is determined by DNA, which is inherited. Graham's take on it is that along the past few thousand years, the ease of living from modern technology has increased the amount of people in the world, but not our average intelligence. This is because intelligent people have limited their offspring in order to enjoy a higher standard of living, but which results in the next generation having fewer intelligent people, given that intelligence is mostly inherited. Graham's solution is a mixture of ways to help smart people increase their birth rate, and not harm those of lower IQ. Because humans have essentially neutered the role of the environment in selecting for higher intelligent bipeds, we must guide our own evolution towards ever higher intelligence. This is Graham's wish, and his "Nobel Prize sperm bank" was the most impacting legacy of his vision, which resulted in over 200 births of offspring from highly intelligent men and women. As long as we act humanely and not harm people just because they have a low IQ, ideas like Robert K. Graham's should have the full support of every progressive, technology-oriented person. The smarter our society gets, the higher quality our lives will be, and the universe's unforeseen threats are best fought by brilliant minds, the more the better. Man is but a bridge, not an end in itself.