Evolution by prosthesis

It has been postulated (Dr John McHale) that technological development is part of man's evolution and has, up to now, been as little under his control as other aspects of the evolutionary process. Such development includes means to sense, monitor and control the environment, the evolution of man's [external metabolic system]

. It could be said to have commenced with the use of hand-tools to extend the power of the hand, this having extended to the manufacturing process of the automated factory (where the control systems may be considered extra brains). Protective enclosures acting as extended functions of the skin could be interpreted as including clothing, housing, cars etc. Means of transport are not simply extensions of the skin giving protection against environmental extremes but also as extended capabilities of the legs. The development of aeroplanes is "easier" in environmental terms than developing physical wings on the body. The senses have also been extended. Vision has been amplified through microscope, telescope and camera; mankind can now "see" in frequencies beyond the visible spectrum - ultraviolet, infrared, x-ray. Hearing is extended to radio frequencies. Instruments can "feel" more sensitively than the most sensitive skin. Meanwhile, the [internal metabolic system]

has evolved to the extent of increasing life expectancy through biophysical developments, from heart valves to transplanted organs.

External and internal development combine in the extension to sensing, monitoring and control of the whole planet - as man's affairs extend he develops the tools necessary, both conceptually and physically, to deal with this expansion. It is postulated that the next stage in evolution is a radical change in social, ethical and economic ways in which society operates. Scientific and technological developments are such that evolution is no longer beyond man's control but a matter of conscious choice as regards socio-ethical decisions, even as to whether the the social and physical environments remain habitable.