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“Something determined mostly by us. Though evolution brought us to where we are, our own technology (specifically, biotech and nanotech) and our own choices will have far more to do with what we become.”

I liked your post. But I would like to point out that though we may have some more control than we’ve had in the past over “what we become”, we don’t have control over what genetics and our environment “allow” us to become. A teacher of mine predicts that the jaw will continue to get smaller and smaller as more people survive as a result of refined foods. And I ask you this, if we evolve to a level where everyone survives to an age of reproduction regardless of intelligence(or the level of intelligence of their parents) all the “positive” traits that we wish to come to pass through biotech and nanotech technology, won’t these advances be negated by an over abundance of stupid people. It sure seems to be driving evolutionary force already.

But I would like to point out that though we may have some more control than we’ve had in the past over “what we become”, we don’t have control over what genetics and our environment “allow” us to become.

I think that a very high degree of control over genetics is not that far off - even if it were by the standards we use to judge technological advancements, it'll happen in the blink of an eye compared to the evolutionary forces required to show a visible reduction the size of the average human's jaw.

As long as we can maintain the science and civilization necessary for technology to thrive and grow, we've basically placed ourselves outside of a lot of evolutionary processes. This has been true as long as man has developed and used technology (e.g. I use my 20/15 LASIK eyes to scan this web page, instead of being eaten by some hyena I didn't see coming), and the impact grows greater as the technology grows greater. Our own genetic manipulations and nano-technology based modifications to our bodies will have far more impact on the human race over the next 100 years than evolution could have on us over the next 100,000 years. For example, I'd be very surprised if human aging weren't under serious assault, if not completely conquered, by the time 2107 rolled around.