Why I have hope that rationality will win out. Using Autism as part of the explanation.
We (Autistic people) lack some of the evolutionary programing. My hypothesis is that Autism is caused by a few different things converging. But essentially it is “damage” to the social brain that is prewired at birth, to help the baby with survival. (Mostly by being cute with its parents).
Depending on the DNA a person has, and how damaged the social brain is, it affects how the brain rewires itself to compensate. This is how the spectrum is created.
I say damaged because of things like this:
Autism risk linked to fever during pregnancy
Prenatal exposure to maternal fever during the second trimester raised odds of autism spectrum disorder by 40 percent
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170613102024.htm
But there are other studies that show a similar thing.
(Cognitive) Empathy (or theory of mind) helps a baby without language, on an intuitive level, understand how to interact with their parents.(and other people).
So, why is this important?
Because without the social evolutionary wiring (and attenuated emotional attachment) we (autistic people) make better decisions:
People with Autism Make More Logical Decisions
Experiments show lower emotional awareness lead to more rational choices
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-with-autism-make-more-logical-decisions/
People With Autism Spectrum Conditions Make More Consistent Decisions
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797617694867
So why is this evidence for humans becoming more rational over time?
One picture should explain it:
A lot of people hate that… I smile every time I see it, because:
People are attached to Technology; and that attachment will only get deeper. Walking like that is not optimal, as time goes on the devices will become part of us, inside our eyes (literally) and inside our brains and minds.
You add an Artificial Intelligence to the mix… and you can see where I am going. More people, without realizing, becoming more rational.
I believe we have hit our limit in our biological body, it is not changing fast enough, our intellect is close to outpacing our biology. CRISPR/cas9 (or a better version of it) and cybernetics is the future of mankind. Or we mess it up (either with a mistake, or fall into the nationalism/isolationism rabbit hole, and destroy ourselves. The Great Filter from the Fermi paradox).
Technology evolves faster than people. Writing – > Printing Press – > Internet – > ?