Development – whether that is industrial, technological, economic, or social – has expanded exponentially over the last couple of hundred years. This sudden upsurge contrasts with the slow, steady, incremental progress that had preceded it for many generations.
Why has that suddenly happened? What triggered it? What sustains it? How long will it continue for?
Fundamentally, the expansion in our human development is a consequence of our increased mobility as a species.
Not only have we accessed and settled on more of our planet, but we have also become increasingly able to move around it – travel times have reduced, locations are more reachable, and costs are more affordable. When these factors are combined with an increased awareness of the wider world and a growing desire to travel, mobility – holidays, relocations, and migrations – becomes a major influence on our existence.
Recognition of this mobility as being the driving force for human evolutionary development has tended to be overlooked or overshadowed by other considerations. Its significance has therefore not always been fully identified or appreciated. This is because there is not necessarily a direct link between the phenomenon of mobility and that of evolutionary development.
Instead, there is an intermediary stage that triggers the causal effect. Mobility’s influence is more observable in economic, social, and cultural changes. It is only once these changes have occurred, once they have impacted our reproductive behaviour, that deeper-seated evolutionary adaptation will follow.
Mobility will, most certainly, have genetic consequences. This is because it is when a mobile population impacts an established population that the genetic pool is most vigorously mixed, leading to greater diversity of mutational possibilities (it may even increase the number of mutations). It is through these mutations that evolutionary advances can take place.
Generations ago, people, for the most part, did not travel far. The difficulty and impracticality of moving between locations meant it seldom happened. They led rural lives, marrying locally and generally dying in the same vicinity where they were born. Genetic mixing was therefore limited.
This lack of genetic mixing is primarily for two reasons:
- Static populations do not encourage the introduction and spread of new genetic variants. This means that the less mobile the population, the more limited the pool of genetic variation.
- There is also – even if there is no immediate incestuousness – a tendency for inter-breeding. Given that settlements were much smaller, a reproductive partner may be only a couple of generations away from another person and thereby share similar genetic variations.
Although throughout history, there may have existed migratory populations, in a harsh, fearful, mostly lawless world, they would have tended to be quite insular and wary of outsiders. In general, they would be reluctant to mix with other communities, preferring to keep to themselves.
As humanity has progressed, we have become a more mobile species. In particular, this seems to have culminated in a colossal expansion in our mobility during the nineteenth century, which has continued ever since. This increased mobility may have been for a number of reasons:
- Population growth may have forced people to seek new residences, resources, and opportunities.
- Practical advances such as new transport methods and facilities may have made mobility more accessible.
- Commercial activity has encouraged mobility – travel organisations, mass media, and the general ambition to expand business.
- The shift to a more urban society led to greater population concentrations.
Individually, we, as do all species, take behavioural actions on the basis of what would be beneficial for our survival. Increased human mobility was one such action. There were personal gains to be made from greater mobility.
From an evolutionary point of view, the significance of this increased mobility for our development lay not in the immediate returns of individual actions but in the genetic consequences that resulted from subsequent intermixing of different human populations.
Mobile populations encourage genetic mixing. Genes from “foreign” climes are introduced into new localities. When that happens, there is the possibility of both increased and more diverse genetic permutations.
New intelligences, fresh imaginations, and creative innovations will emerge from the genetic mixing pot. It will be those genetic mutations that are considered desirable and advantageous to us that will help us survive and prosper. These selected qualities will feed our human advancement.
The more genetic mutations that occur, the more able we are to identify and promote those that are advantageous to us. Without that choice of mutations, there would be no opportunity to pursue certain particular pathways.
If the item isn’t on the supermarket shelf, then we cannot buy it. Genetic mutation puts things on the shelf. It is then up to us whether we select them.
In effect, mobility has enabled humanity to put the accelerator on human evolution. More genetic opportunities and advances have been made. And that has fed through into our human developmental output.
It is like furnishing a room. If we have only a small range of decor and furniture to choose from, our final design and layout will be limited. The more materials and furnishings we have available, the greater the scope for design. We can be more radical, more varied, more imaginative.
Similarly, with a wider range of genetic mutations to choose from, the human possibilities and potential are enhanced.
We may not have made the link explicitly or deliberately that increased mobility is genetically advantageous, but it is an outcome that has proven most beneficial.
One of the essential characteristics of this developmental course is that we have identified a progressive, self-sustaining pathway. Our human development encourages mobility, which enables and promotes genetic mixing, thereby furthering human progress and leading to greater human development. We are in a perpetual loop.
Of course, pursuing mobility as a course of action would have carried some risk. Increased human intra-species genetic mixing didn’t necessarily lead to improvements in human progress. It could easily have gone the other way, leading to the dilution of the genetic mix. It’s difficult to know whether we were just fortunate, whether we are a one-off or whether, in all species that extend their range, the tendency is for them to improve their genetic position.
As further evidence of the advantages of mobility, historically, the most progressive civilisations have been expansionist, such as the Romans. That expansionism will have enhanced their genetic pool and thereby furthered their development.
Additionally, it is worth noting that individuals who are more mobile or migratory tend to have more proactive, ambitious, and enterprising qualities. They’re the sort of people who make things happen. They have genetic strengths that incline towards progression, meaning that, in all likelihood, with their reproduction, they’re already halfway there towards some genetic improvement.
Looking ahead, given that mobility continues to flourish, there is no immediate limit to the advancement of human development. In fact, arguably, as religious, racial and cultural barriers lessen, the scope for increased genetic mixing and subsequent human advancement will become even greater.
In terms of our societal development, mobility – by shaping and driving genetic variation – has been humanity’s greatest force for change. It has enabled us to make great advances, strengthening our position against the relentless, challenging forces of Nature.
As such, the more we can take advantage of the immense expanse of human genetic variation, the better it will be for human development and progress.
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