GEN-Y SUPERHUMANS

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution could be true after all. At least, in the case of humans it definitely seems so. Ancient man needed to be instinctive due to many dangers from nature, like predators for instance or just for food. Survival of the fittest is a great notion, and in our quest for survival and competition at all times, we are constantly pushing ourselves further; and that trait becomes ingrained in the DNA. As generations pass, more hybrid breeds of homo-sapiens are born who also have to survive in a competitive environment like their predecessors. The result is a myraid complex mix of DNA in newer generations who are programmed genetically to be "superhumans".

There is a definite change in the last 100 years- teens hit puberty much earlier now than what used to be, harmones are overflowing; we've adapted ourselves to changing lifestyles in the last century; our life expectancy has increased by many years, and so on. We seem capable of doing a lot of things which were thought of as impossible earlier. We amaze ourselves in this great race of survival and competition in a material world. We are on the top of the food chain, but it doesn't stop there- we have to be on top of each other too. Evolution has taught us to survive by competition, and that means someone has to fall. And usually that spawns further competition and before you can blink, its a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Michael Phelps is a great example to illustrate the change. The past 9 days were magical for him: he created 7 world records in his 8 olympic gold medal haul at Beijing! 14 gold medals in the olympics so far and he's just 23! He's a story of dreams: Phelps was raised by a single mother (his parents got divorced when he was 7), suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder as a child- but that didn't stop him from becoming a superhuman. With extra long arms, flipper-like 14" feet and a tall muscular body frame, he was built to swim. And his 12,000 calorie/day meals kept his metabolism very high. During the baby boomers generation, the world record in 400 metres medley was clocked at 5:15.6; now current generation Phelps has reduced it to 4:03.84. Almost one minute and 13 seconds have been shaved off the world record in a matter of just 51 years! This is not something extraordinary- it is completely mind boggling.

Another great genetically programmed person Usain Bolt has shattered his own record and ran 100 metres in just 9.69 seconds, even after gingerly ambling along towards the end and pre-maturely celebrating his victory with 30 odd metres to go. How far can you stretch that mark?

When we see atheletes raise the bar all the time (Olympics 2008 is a great showcase to illustrate this), it is evident that such extraordinary ability could be possible by only better built bodies, something not possible in the earlier generations. The current generation-Y, and the future generation-Z who will hit their teens in their next decade would never cease to amaze us. It is good to have a historic perspective, or else we won't know the significance of our advancement.

But still, we struggle to survive. In any given era we compete among equally strong superhumans- so there is competition and there is rise and there is fall. And we will continue to raise the bar, physically. Our bodies will continue to change as the next generation unfolds. We are now much healthier than our ancestors. Perhaps we will be naturally resistant to more diseases in the coming decades. Body hair would reduce even more, and the instruments we use the most would be more developed- this would mean that mental development has to be greater as man has conquered everything mostly by brain, and a little by brawn. But are we really mentally advanced than our forefathers? That is subjective and one can never actually measure the actual intellectual capacities across the ages.

True, the opposite could also be possible(i.e., newer generations getting weaker) as natural selection (process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations) plays out its part. But we can be certain of one thing- as environment changes, our abilities to tackle them also changes, and that would be a trait. So by natural selection we can be assured of more and more favourable traits- favourable to survive in a changing environment; favourable to compete and excel even further, favourable to become "superhumans".

Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images, Xinhua.