The theory of evolution has been one the most hotly debated questions in the history of mankind. Ever since Charles Darwin proposed that there was some sort of adaptive feature that allowed the fittest to survive, humanity has been at a crossroads. While there is a lot of evidence that supports evolution, there are still some out there who believe that God put us here as we are, and that we have been in our current form for as long as we have existed. How does humanity going to into space help prove or disprove that we have the ability to evolve?
Well, I don’t know if humanity going into space in itself necessarily proves that all people will believe that humans evolved from something else, but it goes a long way to prove the theory. We all know that space has certain effects on the human body, and that people who come back from Earth from outer space have to go through certain processes in order to get readjusted to the environment on Earth. While in space, the body changes, most notably in bone density, and changes in muscle mass.
If humanity were to survive in outer space, we would have to find some way to adapt to this. At first we would use special space suits, and have to live in artificial environments, so that we could live in our new environment. However, after some period of time, we would be able to compare people living on the Moon, or Mars, and see what the differences between the two are.
For the first time in history, we would be able to mark the changes that environment has on humans. Would the humans who are living on other planets look differently than us? I would see that they would, due to the effects of different gravity, and weather, and other environmental factors, that they should. For examples, the Neanderthals, despite being very close to humans, were smaller, and more muscular to allow for their bodies to adapt to the colder, harsher environment that they had to live in.
I think that if we went to outer space, we would have to adapt to different conditions. As I understand it, the theory of evolution is how we explain the ability of organisms to adapt to changes in environment. If humans are forced to adapt to a new environment, then we will most likely see changes in our bodies meant to offset the changes in our environment.
If science can prove that humans living on another world are genetically different, or show different traits based on evolving conditions, then the theory of evolution should be proven. If science cannot show that different environments cause changes in humans over time, then evolution may be a flawed theory. Personally I believe that space travel will prove evolution, but only time can bear that out.
