Humans now alter evolutionary heritages and can shape their own biological futures.

Evidence

Unique native plants that have evolved over eons are disappearing as agribusiness supplants them with genetically uniform hybrids and clones. Not only are humans cutting and splicing nature’s genetic material, but through synthetic biology they are also creating new types of genomes. In a budding biotechnology that is forging ahead to bypass evolutionary genetic processes, humans are even toying with the prospect of fashioning some aspects of their own biological nature by genetic design. In short, humans are an agentic species that can alter evolutionary heritages and shape the future. Were Darwin writing today, he would be documenting the overwhelming human domination of the environment for better or worse. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 188

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that native plants are disappearing as agribusiness uses uniform hybrids — worth verifying with specific data on hybridization and monoculture.
• XREF: connects to: Humanity’s defining project is escaping its entrapment by species destiny; Commercialized genetics ultimately aims at self-directed DNA upgrading, not designer children — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 428; Culture has redirected human genetic evolution since Homo erectus, not only recently. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 1051 (+2 more)