Juan Enriquez: Will our kids be a different species?

www.ted.com Throughout human evolution, multiple versions of humans co-existed. Could we be mid-upgrade now? At TEDxSummit, Juan Enriquez sweeps across time and space to bring us to the present moment -- and shows how technology is revealing evidence that suggests rapid evolution may be under way.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate
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[@GluttonForSex]

This message really reminds me of something Carl Sagan said in one of his Cosmos videos, which are almost 30 years old now: "It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very like us, with more of our strenghts, and fewer of our weaknesses. More confident, capable, far-seeing and prudent." -- Carl Sagan

[@Abayas.]

How does this only have 123,000 views??? This is interesting stuff right here!

[@ajcerenzie4844]

Abayas cause people are stupid and care more about the Kardashians than the future of human evolution.

[@lucasrogan3426]

I know right. I think this is one of the best ted talks I've ever seen

[@kalifusch]

One of the best talks on here. Very intriguing. It makes me want to do a lot more research on this, not to mention get my own genome sequenced!

[@renthicya]

This was the most interesting TED talk (or any) I've heard in the last year!!

[@TURYBoY123]

this talk gave me the goosebumps, great talk

[@iyllustrious]

very good episode , i can listen to you all day long , do you have more ?

[@BlazzingSaber]

This is gonna be EPIC!! :O Awesome talk TED!

[@TaiganTundra]

That was quite the riveting talk!

[@thesystemsucks]

wow he covered some really exciting topics.. my mind is blown.

[@wendt152]

Thank You! It can be irritating when people focus on one iota of the talk, completely missing the idea and nature of experimentation and exploration. This is why TED is, to get us thinking about the unknown, to venture OUTSIDE our comfort zones (C vs.E being the comfort zone here). I know it is silly, but when I scroll through the comments I wish I could see debate on the talk as a Whole! What about the questions he raised, the amazing developments in our time, the mind numbing ideas presented??

[@ianmchugh9685]

This talk blows my mind!

[@aurayon]

Good to see this topic here! One of the better vids on Ted.

[@kji02]

Amazing talk. Thanks TED!

[@TheCoconutCookie]

One of the better videos I've seen on this channel.

[@titanicclash]

Completely agreed. I've seen so many, but this is my favorite by far. That's a big statement for me.

[@OhManTFE]

14:40 LOL epic wolf whistle!

[@Lovebug8779]

I really enjoyed this, very interesting.

[@mc2gregory]

Fantastic lecture!

[@Intersounds]

Absolutely fascinating !!

[@Pasteldqueijo]

Great talk

[@SailOnFlyBy]

Excellent Talk.

[@willismarsh44]

good talk

[@titanicclash]

Amazing talk.

[@YawnGod]

This video is so important.

[@Engeljagd]

this whole talk recalls a thought experiment to mind; 'if you take a galleon, and slowly, but surely you replace, over time, every plank, board, nail and sail of the vessel, but you never changed the crew. Is the boat the same, or has it become a new ship?'

[@Plexicomanning]

This is absolutely amazing

[@Pigeonnus]

Holy smoke, mind=blown. I love TED talks.

[@EvaGreenFanPennyDreadful]

this was simply brilliant

[@maryamchoudhury8334]

Loved this

[@frozencold199]

Now this is an impressive talk

[@johnnytodumb420]

This is why i love ted talks

[@T4l0nITA]

one of the best speeches on ted

[@Sweettart9467]

wow I love this!

[@mseducated9393]

I'm sorry, but I really liked this TED Talks - he's funny and frank, and doesn't overload this presentation with too much information. LOVE IT!

[@joebazooks]

Thank you! I mean, in retrospect, it is easy to design a theory or at least incorporate certain elements in the design of a theory that fit repeated observations. Not only would it be easy to do that but I would go as far to say that it is very likely if not inevitable or at least more likely than not that the majority of theories we design or come up with will without a doubt fit repeated observations. It seems to me like scientists and science enthusiasts have trouble thinking outside the box.

[@zamestol]

WOW .... Mind blowing!

[@emperorkang]

amazing!

[@dandined]

@MarkArandjus yeah he said "either you're measuring it wrong or something's happening quickly" - so yes, it could be the increase in diagnosis rather than increase in numbers (or both), but his speech was focussing on the latter option I guess.

[@koraxsan]

Loved it.

[@enyskept]

...I don't know what to say...I...damn, this is amazing...simply amazing...

[@BennoTheDutch]

Settled. I appreciate it that you didn't start calling names or got rude. You never know when you respond to a youtube comment...

[@delatroy]

One of the best science fiction speeches on TED that may or may not pan out to be true, but hey, it's fun to day dream sometimes.

[@iamfrancisittv]

@16:09 perfect participle of evolvo is "evolutus"

[@ajscott1019]

best answer ever.

[@JackMayerz]

Best TEDtalk in a long time. Finally T is getting enough attention. Screw E & D.

[@lgrisotto]

wow, great talk singularity seems to be on the way

[@pgh412east]

Oh it's jaun. Automatic thumbs up. I know this will be good.

[@nomaed]

It's not just a guess. It's a quite robust theory that has made predictions that were later been found to be amazingly accurate with real world measurements (see: CMBR). It's a very complex and "large" subject, not "everything came from nothing, lol". People study it for dozens of years, but you are right that currently, it's our best theory to explain the facts and observations. It might not be complete, but it's far from being a "guess".

[@ShadoFXPerino]

that's a great question. look up "speciation" on wikipedia. real life examples cited!

[@holdmybeer]

Outstanding talk, I find myself learning much faster at the age of 33 than I did at 16. I have eaten a whole lot of psychoactive substances though?

[@ThePlayfulDreamer]

I find it interesting that he left out any talk about changes in understanding of autism. Ten years ago we called it something different. Ten years before that we didn't have a word for it as we understand it today. The increasing incidence of autism, it appears, could simply be related to changes in understanding of the disorder (or is it evolution?).

[@harshpal5848]

Underrated

[@fantasy-reader]

good talk. I don't think it's going to go that fast, but offcourse we'll evolve...

[@Hallibutbouy]

Scary and exciting in equal measure

[@thesuperpagamas]

I think I can agree on that. Seems like a reasonable place to end the quarrel. :P

[@TooChune]

always thought of this

[@Mystrigue]

I think he addressed your concern. While evolution occurs over multiple generations, the overall effect of seemingly inconsequential changes often appear suddenly or over a short period of time.

[@sabin129]

15:47 I'm going with we aren't (or weren't) measuring it right.

[@powerkickass]

perhaps this upcoming power is the tool we need to solving these 'problems'

[@DaRealFiberOptix]

its just a way to contextualize it differently, to paint a different overview that might change the way we think about the subject. at 1 point a plant was the most complex expression of us, the universe, and at an earlier point a rock was the highest form of complexity, not scientifically just metaphorically helped create us.

[@Frogtalkin]

The future looks bright we will evolve, and shape are world around us.

[@ShadoFXPerino]

you said that it was unclear how one could consider a new organism a member of a "new species" but the scientific definition of "species" is quite clear on that matter. when the ted speaker says "species" he really means "genetic variation"

[@rociocal23]

I can't believe that FEYNMAN is spelled wrong at 3:48! That seems a bit basic for someone to get wrong, unless they're talking about a feinman that I'm not aware of. Great talk though, really

[@burstofsanity]

The title suggested to me that this was going to be a bad talk. I'm very happy to say I was wrong. Thoughtful and forward thinking.

[@tcorp]

As Wikipedia puts it, a scientific theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment." (Wikipedia is a Internet encyclopedia (An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge))

[@JSmith777]

hmm.. don't really know where are you going with this.. but thanks for the comment! have a nice day!

[@thaiscare]

I guess I'll have to do some research when it is more of an interest that I want to put time behind... But I'm pretty sure we could have some pretty major improvements in autism detection. I mean in the past decade well look at what happened with phones and the internet! Than again more people are probably working behind those topics...

[@Cronuz2]

Ted needs more material like this.. not dancing or people high on acids talking about art

[@kingwillie206]

True, however, he is referring to genetic engineering, not evolution in and of it's self. He also mentioned that the brain may have the ability to adapt much faster than normal given specific circumstances. In addition, he mentioned certain genes being passed in ways we could never have imagined due to our unique ability to choose specific, like minded mates. Never before in history have we been able to do this. Dog DNA is virtually identical, however, Toy poodles are different from Pitbulls.

[@UnlockingYourEnergy]

This is a great speech and what he is saying is dead on the money. Most people are just to scared to embrace our human destiny. Its a scary thought to acknowledge that humans in their current form wont be on top forever.

[@CharlesFerraro]

This talk was aimless and theoretical. People probably liked this for the same reasons they like Raymond Kurzweil... Juan proposes the idea that intelligent people will hand us immortality, we just have to wait till the research is finished. I would much rather hear about a new discovery in a specific field than wishy washy hopes and dreams about a tomorrow that isn't here yet.

[@HulkHodnFtw]

Thtas the definition of an idea

[@nomaed]

You're right. I shouldn't be so pedantic about scientific accuracy, especially when it's in a comments section of a video of a TED Talk that is pretty much everything BUT scientific accuracy, which is fine because it doesn't have to be.

[@joebazooks]

It is a theory, just like the big bang theory; in other words, they are the best EXPLANATIONS we have at this given moment.

[@roidroid]

A WHOLE NEW WOOOOOOOOOOOORLD

[@TimmacTR]

Welcome to Gattaca..

[@TheGerogero]

The future will be glorious.

[@kaichrono]

Wayyy Gattaca....its pretty cool though

[@metaljacket1983123]

I agree with Michio Kaku when he said that we are at the peak of our evolution because there is no natural pressure that requires our body's to change. It's not as if only the smart and strong survive in our current society. I personally believe if any evolution is to take place, it will be a psycho-evolution where we use bio-techonology to enhance ourselves and that it will not occour naturally.

[@FeLiNe418]

The fact is the variation of life we see on earth. The theory (explanation) is the change overtime (evolution).

[@TheFatalGuide]

Actually there are numerous observations that have been made that help to cement the understanding of a scientific theory. A theory isn't tested, scientific theory looks find observational things to support the idea, which are further tested to prove validity.

[@SpookyFan]

Correct.

[@GameFrosts]

Agreed

[@tims0l]

species always evolve it never stopped. as long as kids are different then there parents evolution is working

[@TimtheWinzard]

The autism increases can be partially attributed to the changes in autism classification. Since 2000 the guidelines for diagnosing someone as autistic have become more general and inclusive.

[@nomaed]

If these are the kinds of med students we have these days, I weep for humanity.

[@dookiecheez]

"Or it's chemicals"...Ok, I liked this talk but the end killed it for me.

[@nmende00]

Despite our flawed design, I challenge any engineer to build a better machine. A machine that self repairs. Self lubricating joints. Pumps that last 80 years without replacing parts. A machine that is able to grow and multiply in number. An intelligent self defense mechanism that is capable of recognizing self from non self. A data processor capable of creating new ideas and concepts. Our brain is so complex yet brain cells are not that different than the neurons in our fingertips.

[@moulingalette]

Now we just need to analyze everyone's genomes and figure out which traits/activities are more correlated with which genes.

[@TeamCoercion]

my schools science book from 10 years ago is sometimes inacurate in light of more recent discoveries but yeah im sure a book from 2000 years ago is completely accurate

[@4relevants]

I didn't notice any changes in dental office for over 20 yrs except that they are taking more for less

[@Chinomareno]

I've always wondered about this, whether humans have or are experiencing a gradual speciation. Perhaps we aren't smart enough to master quantum mechanics but maybe our descendants will find it trivial, almost intuitive thinking.

[@deathstreaks]

beast talk.

[@time4ascension]

after we pass a galactic center...all bets are off...we think we know but we have no idea i would love to be a new a better species...this is not ridiculous this is what we are suppose to be striving towards ourselves regardless of the "time" we use to measure it

[@BennoTheDutch]

A scientific theory differs from the normal 'theory'. Miami University, 'An introduction to science': "A theory in science is not a guess, speculation, or suggestion, which is the popular definition of the word "theory." A scientific theory is a unifying and self-consistent explanation of fundamental natural processes or phenomena that is totally constructed of corroborated hypotheses." In other words, a scientific theory is the highest achievable form of explanation.

[@ELACproductions]

oh. this sharp TED humor

[@Movitmite88]

Actually, on the DSM scale the numbers on the Autism scale decreased because health care insurance doesn't want to "treat" Autism even if the numbers have increased that only means that we recognize that "something" is going on. As a parent of an aspie, I I have often said that the human being is changing to its surroundings. In my sons case, he never forgets anything that he sees, is told, or does.

[@khatack]

The problem is that the coffin is so full of nails that its becoming rather hard to find a spot for new ones.

[@devourerofbabies]

Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains the fact of evolution. In science, theory is a higher level of understanding than fact.

[@oicub2]

12:10 War ? or just TSA ??