I am not trying to be either provocative or silly; I am merely stating where I think human evolution is going, and it won't be into people with bigger skulls and tinier bodies as the old SF liked to depict.

I firmly think our next step in human evolution will be a radical one, and it is called AI. It's either that or we face stagnation and extinction. We are already advancing too rapidly technologically and numbers-wise while remaining essentially in our cro-magnon states.

That is a recipe for disaster which we have only avoided out of sheer luck and our capacity for self-preservation (read CYA and Look Out for Number One on a social and biological scale).

Maybe we would evolve into something "nicer", wiser if given the long time periods of the past, but I don't think we're going to let that happen before something gives way, especially if we remain stuck on this one, finite world called Earth.

I posted this elsewhere, but it bears repeating: A recent Nova program focused on how China is one of the most rapidly growing nations. If every Chinese (1 billion people) wanted to live like the average middle-class American (and who says they can't?), it would require TWO MORE EARTHS just to accomodate them resource-wise.

And this is just China.

So yes, we could colonize other worlds in our current human form, but that wouldn't solve the human population problems on Earth, not for a very long time, plus we would still be our cro-magnons with car keys selves.

Yes, we could do genetic modifications to allow our descendants to live on other worlds sans space suits and pressure domes, and if that works for you in terms of seeing the Cosmos through genetically-altered "human" eyes, then okay. But just imagine the hullaballoo over playing God with people, even for so-called noble causes like preserving them on other worlds. Stem-cell research is being given major roadblocks - just imagine if we wanted to modify a person to live on Mars or Venus.

But as I have said before, and I have given you references, I think AI is the way we will go, and it may not be entirely our choice. Regardless, the will be our creations from our brains and hands, so how is that any different from a radically modified human? Just because they are machines doesn't invalidate them if they are also truly aware and intelligent.

And I also state once again that properly designed AI will be able to survive and explore the Universe far better than any human, even a modified one. They will also be able to communicate better with any ETI encountered, who likely will also be some version of AI.

Lest you think I forgot: Do I want to see people on Mars? If it will improve our understanding of Mars over anything a smart machine can do, yes. If it is for placing people there to allow some members of our species to survive in the event of a catastrophe on Earth, yes. If it's just to plant a flag and leave some footprints, no.

And if by the 2030s our AI and mobile technology can outdo any human astronaut on the Red Planet, then no.

You obviously find the idea of humans on Mars and beyond romantic and stirring. So do I, to a point. But I also find the idea of a vastly superior AI exploring the Cosmos and making contact with similar ETI also romantic, exciting, and in many senses more practical and likely.