Abstract Futurists have recognized the ocean’s depths as resembling space in its promise as a setting for human success, survival, or redemption. Imagined futures of the ocean have been intertwined with reflections on human evolution and what it means to be human. In 1962 Jacques Cousteau announced Homo aquaticus, a vision involving both technological intervention and natural adaptation to intentionally evolve a species of human to live underwater. The story of Homo aquaticus reveals the extent to which humanity’s future has become tied to the ocean. This article historicizes the casual and common understanding that humans are connected to the sea by investigating the precursors to the Homo aquaticus idea, the attempts to realize this prediction through technology, and the legacies emerging from it. Homo aquaticus and its allied visions, while animated by older traditions, flourished in the historical context of intensely optimistic post–World War II hopes for human exploitation of the ocean, especially its depths. In the face of environmental change and awareness, subsequent versions reflect yearnings merely for survival of the human species. The origin, shape, and fate of the Homo aquaticus idea offer insights into our human relationship with the rapidly changing ocean environment, while its persistence may reflect hope for prospective solutions to encroaching, human-caused disasters.

中文翻译：

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“将人类全循环带回大海”

摘要 未来主义者已经认识到海洋的深处与太空相似，因为它有望成为人类成功、生存或救赎的场所。想象中的海洋未来与对人类进化和人类意义的思考交织在一起。1962 年，雅克·库斯托（Jacques Cousteau）宣布了水生动物，这是一个涉及技术干预和自然适应的愿景，旨在有意进化出一种人类生活在水下。水生人的故事揭示了人类的未来与海洋息息相关的程度。本文通过调查水生动物概念的前身、通过技术实现这一预测的尝试以及由此产生的遗产，将人类与海洋联系在一起的随意和普遍的理解历史化。水生人及其相关愿景虽然受到古老传统的鼓舞，但在二战后对人类开发海洋，尤其是海洋深处的极度乐观希望的历史背景下蓬勃发展。面对环境变化和意识，后续版本反映的仅仅是对人类生存的渴望。水生人概念的起源、形状和命运提供了我们人类与快速变化的海洋环境关系的见解，而它的持续存在可能反映了对人类造成的灾难的前瞻性解决方案的希望。随后的版本仅反映了对人类生存的渴望。水生人概念的起源、形状和命运提供了我们人类与快速变化的海洋环境关系的见解，而它的持续存在可能反映了对人类造成的灾难的前瞻性解决方案的希望。随后的版本仅反映了对人类生存的渴望。水生人概念的起源、形状和命运提供了我们人类与快速变化的海洋环境关系的见解，而它的持续存在可能反映了对人类造成的灾难的前瞻性解决方案的希望。