The Ascent of Humanity's Ancestors

Why does science always have to "debunk" the idea that we are special?  Why can't they accept the possibility that God (gods) chose to uplift an ape who could learn to stand erect to use its hands? We may soon be able to engineer our own genes to remove illness causing defects, and maybe even some day to improve ourselves. So why not imagine that a fantastically superior species might wish for company in a lonely universe?

Every few hundred thousand years or so, our Benefactor could tweak our ancestors' genes to make us a bit more like what they were trying to evolve us into ... and let the new form adapt again to its environment. Making us to evolve into the "divine" image: upright, handy & smart ... just like them. They might even have been working on several lineages at the same time, to see what worked best. Not every change of form seems to have been something likely to change by itself.

Until finally they achieved enough that we began to evolve ourselves by developing technology. Technology promoted brains, by demanding adaptability and improving the availability of food. And then further, we began to domesticate ourselves, by gathering into larger groups, and to choose smarter people to have more descendants.

It doesn't have to have been merely luck and random mutations, "proving" that we are just like any other beast. Indeed, it seems that, unlike other species, several very different varieties of humans could interbreed (Cromagnon, Neanderthal, and Denisovan) and have fertile offspring. It probably produced a better hybrid that could adapt to their environment, and it might have improved the way our minds work. We really could have been the subjects chosen to arise to become ever more "godlike" via directed evolution, and then later inspired to imagine how God(s?) must have made us special.

This doesn't have to be a "science fiction" reference to aliens from outer space. It could  be a recognition that our religions are not merely myths. Maybe our "divine" Benefactors have learned to transcend physical existence and become wholly spiritual,  so it's the same thing, either way.

Here is a rough sketch of how we may have "evolved" from the forest apes of seven or eight million years ago:

1. Orrorin Tugenensis
        - ~6 million years ago
        - femur adapts to habitual walking
        - lives in checkered forest habitat
        - forages on the ground, sleeps above
2. Ardipithecus Ramidus
        - ~4.5 million years ago
        - pelvis & hips adapted to upright gait
        - feet still capable of skillful climbing
        - forests competing with grasslands
3. Australopithecus Afarensis
        - ~3.2 million years ago
        - feet adapted to continual walking
        - spine has moved under the skull
        - savanna has replaced forests
        - makes crude temporary stone tools
4. Homo Habilis
        - ~2.3 million years ago
        - hands become more articulate
        - makes more shaped stone tools
        - carries a few permanent tools
        - begins to modify environment
5. Homo Erectus
        - ~1.9 million years ago
        - shorter arms & longer legs
        - makes typical stone hand axe
        - discovers the use of fire
        - migrates out of Africa
6. Homo Heidelbergensis
        - ~660 thousand years ago
        - can make functional clothing
        - creates a variety of tool types
        - moves into Europe
7. Homo Neanderthalensis & Denisova
        - ~250 to 200 thousand years ago
        - can build temporary shelters
        - making use-specific tool kits
        - develops concepts of spirit & afterlife
        - adapted to cold northern climates (N)
        - migrating eastward with climate (D)
8. Homo Sapiens
        - ~150 thousand years ago
        - gathering into larger tribal groups
        - develops flexibility of articulate speech
        - begins to domesticate himself
9. Homo Sapiens sapiens
        - ~100 thousand years ago
        - thoroughly modern human beings
        - domesticates local plants & animals
        - guides lifestyle by spiritual principles
        - learns to build permanent settlements
        - reshapes the world with technology

Next:
10. Homo Sapiens Celestius
         * genetically engineered
            - removed illness-causing traits
            - enhanced desirable traits
            - recoded genes for longevity
            - selected for minimal aggression
         * adapting to adverse conditions
            - totally dependent on technology
            - micro-gravity in space
            - non-optimal planets/moons
            - blended with non-human traits (?)
         * enabled with technology
            - cybernetic neurological networks
                ` programmed for morality
            - prosthetic enhancements
         * artificially manipulated procreation
            - in vitro selective construction
            - duplication by cloning
                ` alternative gender twins
                ` identical banked for stem cells
            - implantation in chosen host(s)
            - raised by the community

Now, I have to insert a disclaimer. This is not a declaration of what I actually believe. I stand firmly on the grounds of agnostic uncertainty, choosing to believe in God and at the same time in the scientific attempt  to investigate reality by examining the facts on the ground. Generally, I think that the two must accept a harmony, and avoid the close-minded refusal to listen to any different points of view.

Remember that  "directed evolution" is still evolution, which actually isn't random anyway, but is really "stochastic" as being aimed by the local environment to adapt for survival there. No specific mechanism for "direction" is to be implied, except that it must remain non-obvious, so as not to reveal too soon that there might have been some interference. Apparently, the power of faith is a desirable attribute that we need to cultivate, whether God exists or not.