Devolution of the Species

Devolution of the species doesn't mean going backwards: regression.  That would be the case if evolution were actually synonymous with progress, but it isn't.  Evolution is adaptation.

The Theory of Evolution is misunderstood as talking about how a species progresses or gets better.  This is because of the connection that the word evolution has developed with the idea of progress.  It is really​ better named the theory of adaptation-- to get around the idea of progress.  It is about being better adapted to the environment or surroundings and as a result surviving.

As modern humans armed with science and technology, we feel we are masters of the universe; we feel we don't need to fear the physical world or our impact on it. (Science tells us differently, but our everyday experience tells us things are fine, and we are in control.  Even if we accept things are not fine, we believe that we can analyze, control and fix the problems with science and technology.) In our daily lives we are more and more detached from our basic surroundings.  Our ideas and words, technology and theories, society and habits all keep us further and further from basic experience with the physical world.

We are not going backwards, but we are not keeping up with our surroundings.  We are making progress in freedom, democracy, science, technology and profits. The complexities involved with making and sustaining this progress are becoming greater and greater.  This is in part a necessity of progress, but I think it is also partly a necessity arising from the fact that we are further and further detached from physical reality and differing views.

In any case, things are changing faster now (in society, technology, economics and the physical world) than maybe any other time in human history. The odd thing is that we are what is changing our surroundings more than anything else, but we seem to be more and more outof touch with them on a day to day basis.  Through science and technology (and our obsession with 'information' and news over experience, both of which are highly shaped by science and technology), we act and think in ways that change our world (both physical and mental) in ways and speeds that are unprecedented.  And we do this while we pay less attention to the world and develop tunnel vision that increasingly shows us only what we do and what we think.

We are progressing in many ways, but I fear we are not adapting.  It is a devolution of the species.  Is that best described as a failure to adapt or a degredation in the ability to adapt?  I don't know, but I fear both. My greatest fear of all of these is what will happen because of this if adaptation and natural selection are as important as the Theory of Evolution says they are.