RE: Tree of LIfe: Why are we SO lazy?
Biodiversity is an amazing subject. Why we are the way we are is difficult to ascertain because there are so many holes in fossil records leaving so many unexplained jumps in what we see. We can speculate but until we have a reliable way to accurately tell what happened and why we can only specialte. With this said, there are some things we have learned and you present these very well my friend. I am following you and look forward to your continuing series. One question for you that might seem off the wall. Do yyou think at some point we had alien intervention (I do not necessarily mean little green men, I mean something not of this planet that somehow got here), that influenced human development and allowed us to become so different psychologically. I might be jumping a head in class and if so please just tell me to sit down and put my hand down and my questions will be answered later. thanks.
Thanks for reading =)
It's not too wild to think that, but it's not the wildest approach. The idea of seeding a planet with genetic information is kinda common; a comet for example could smash into another planet from the other end of the galaxy which would throw biological extremophiles out into space. That genetic information may have been able to withstand the solar radiation and vacuum of space (as many of our own creatures can without even dying), before landing on Earth and seeding it with life.
That being said, the same goes for us. It doesn't take much to launch bacteria out of our orbit (there are plenty floating around high in our atmosphere already), and it's not impossible that our genetic information has landed in other parts of the solar system or even beyond, riding on the back of a comet or something!
Regarding affecting psychological development, well, that would require intelligent life to consciously make effort to visit us which is a whole different kettle of fish. There's no evidence or even suggestible hypotheses to demonstrate this ever having happened so for all intents and purposes, it's pointless to think about. Right now we don't have any details in the evolutionary tree that simply don't make sense; everything fits without the requirement of an outside influence so far, so there's no practical need or use to think so.
But, who knows for SURE??
Great answer. A question though. Humans have made a particular jump in certain types of thinking and an awareness of ourselves that other animals (mammals) don't share. This would seem to me to be a potential for some outside influence. An I accurate here or is every psychological attribute relatable to something else? The most obvious one being our search for why we are here and where we are going? thanks.
Depends who you ask. Many (I suppose most) would ascribe it to God separating us from the animals. In my search to write these posts, I found (and wrote very briefly in the previous episode I think?) that we were not necessarily the first and only time intelligence could have evolved, and there was a complex nervous system of sorts forming before even animals evolved.
Likewise, humans as they are now were not the only ones in recent history to develop intelligence; Neanderthals are said to perhaps show even more intelligence at the time before interbreeding themselves away into Europeans.
It's not that far-fetched to simply put intelligence down to just being one of many solutions to the environment we adapting to.
Don't forget, our ability to shape the landscape of the earth may make us think ourselves as the most successful species on earth but mites, ants, rats, even wheat have managed to dominate the planet in their own way, covering more terrain than we ever have to date.
They just didn't need the big brain we're so proud of!
But, if an outside influence were to be involved, that just extends the question to where they got their intelligence from, and that would probably be likely through a similar evolutionary process, just earlier in the Universe
And yeah I don't think anything psychological cannot be explained by the natural process of nature. Even pedophilia has its roots in biological history, and outside of society would be an acceptable norm. Our constant curiosity can easily be put down to 'neoteny' and thus a natural tendency to explore and travel the landscape learning about the world around us... it all makes sense in an infinitely complex kinda way =)
Thanks for your thoughtful replies. I can see this is a subject matter you have done much research and lots of pondering on. There was a time when I was really interested an active in learning these subjects. So busy these days that I cannot keep up. But it is great to have the back and forth. Much appreciated and keep up the great posts.
One of the few good things about being jobless - plenty of time to ponder =P