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The idea that technology is keeping us from evolving doesn't take into account a catastrophe that dramatically returns us to our prehistoric societal structures.
I think that we'll either "shoot ourselves in the foot" by causing a nuclear holocaust, or be struck by some awesome and terrifying natural disaster (asteroid, mega-volcano,...). In either event, the survivors will have to re-learn how to scramble for food, how to shelter themselves, how to get along,... I think that most of us alive right now on Earth have been sufficiently removed from the survival skills and instincts that kept our forefathers alive and whoever doesn't die immediately from the impact of the disaster will slowly wither away into oblivion from lack of survival skills (having depended on various technologies over the years.)
In my life, for instance, I'm severely perturbed when the power goes out. My PDA, mobile phone, computers, and such are all pressed into limited uses. I have to remember how to live, cook, not be bored all over again. I know that the power company is out there working on the problem and soon the power will be back on again. (Hopefully with Enron not in business, California won't be squeezed into submission by the electricity commpanies. Gasoline companies, on the other hand...)
But, what if there weren't power company people working to fix the issue? What if our world were turned completely upside-down by some unforeseen catastrophe, natural or otherwise? We always hear about all these asteroids that hit the Earth however many billions of years ago, and we see how pitted the moon is, but we always think that such a thing just will not happen on Earth again (or at least not for several milions of years.)
Of course, I'm wrong and we'll all life out healthy lifespans and curse out the future generations' music and clothing and lament on how these things were better in our time.
POL9A
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