Evolution: Understanding Our Physical and Mental Existence ...
Evolution: Understanding Our Physical and Mental Existence
Cosmic Evolution – Natural Evolution – Evolution of the Human Mind– Evolution of Civilizations
– Extraterrestrial Evolutions – the Future of Mankind and the Universe – the End of the Universe.
What were the important aspects and steps of evolution? What remains unanswered?
What could be the consequent meaning or purpose of our life?
. last up-date 2-21-06 * 100109
Abstract:
Discussion and new interpretations of the most surprising aspects of evolution – abstract cosmogony, the miracle of fields in originating empty space, the “granular” energy structure yielding “particles”, the emergence of the “combinatorial principle”, forces, and natural laws causing the structure and dynamic evolution of the universe, and the complex, probabilistic formation of our Earth, its moon, and its atmosphere – the origin of the first “organic” molecules, the “Basic Principle of Natural Evolution” causing open-ended development and diversification; from self-replicating “living” molecules, complex “molecular dynamics” with genomics and proteomics within the cell, and resulting natural evolution in diversity, to the reasons for and appearance of cardiovascular systems and the brain – finally, the evolutionary appearance of mental “visualizations” leading to the origin of the human mind, based on emotions, valuation, and memory providing thought, consciousness, creativity, ethical values, the arts, and also religion – on another level: evolution of advanced societies, civilizations and organizations, with hierarchies, politics, commerce, laws, cultures, warfare, and superstructures Can there be a super-brain? – Beyond Earth, does the universe hold other intelligent life? What could that mean to us? – Finally, what can happen in the future on Earth and in the universe? The end of mankind and the universe.
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Content
Part 1: Cosmogony, Cosmic Evolution, Evolution of Earth Page
Introduction 4
1.1. Cosmogony, Cosmic Evolution 4
1.1.1. Abstract Beginnings 4
1.1.2. A first surprise: Granulation: Strings, Subatomic Particles, Forces –
Diversification and Complexity arise 7
1.1.3. Another surprise: The Combinatorial Principle and Evolution: Atoms, Molecules 11
1.1.4. Order or Chaos – Deterministic or Open-Ended 12
1.1.5. The “Basic Principle of Evolution” 13
1.1.6. Collapsing Clouds: Quasars, Black Holes, Galaxies, Stars 13
1.1.7. Formation of the Heavy Elements 17
1.1.8. Supernova, Heavy Dust, Pre-Organic Molecules. Foundation for the next step 17
1.1.9. The “Principle of Limits in Development and Branching Progress”:
The Origin of Planetary Systems, Our Own Solar System 18
1.1.10. Some Remaining Mysteries of the Originating Universe 22
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1.2. The Origin and Evolution of Earth 22
1.2.1. The Origin of Our “Earth” 22
1.2.2. The Moon 23
1.2.3. The History of Earth 26
1.2.4. The Early Oceans, the Early Atmosphere, and Climate 27
1.2.5. Resilience in Great Catastrophes 31
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1.3. Singularities in Earth’s Evolution 32
1.3.1. At the Beginning, a Suitable Dust Disk 33
1.3.2. The Appearance of the Moon 33
1.3.3. The Climatic Balance Through all Catastrophes 34
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Part 2: The Origin of Life, Natural Evolution, Human Evolution 34
2.1. The Origin of Life and Natural Evolution 34
2.1.1. Habitable Zones 34
2.1.2. The Origin of Life 36
2.1.3. DNA, RNA, Ribosomes, Enzymes, Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, ATP 42
2.1.4. Cell Evolution: Genetics, Proteomics, Computational Biology, Epigenetics, Death 47
2.1.5. The Changing of the Oceans and Atmosphere. Organisms. The Tree of Life 54
2.1.6. Oxygen, Life Feeding on Life, Mobility, New Functions, the Brain
Complex “Systems”, Ecological Communities 57
2.1.7. The Virus – the Sneaky, the Parasite, the Drop-Out 61
2.1.8. Further Changes and Interruptions – the Extinctions and New Beginnings 61
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2.2. Biological and Human Evolution, the Human Brain 65
2.2.1. Advances in Animal Development, Mammals, Homo Sapiens 65
2.2.2. The Human Brain 67
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2.3. Singularities in Natural Evolution and Anomalies in Nature 69
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Part 3: The Human Mind and Beyond, Societies, Extraterrestrial Life, the Future 70
3.1. The Origin, Evolution, and Function of the Human Mind 70
Introduction and Etymology of Concept 71
3.1.1. A New Energy Cycle Leads to Mobility, Sensors,
and Signal Processing for Strategies 72
3.1.2. Fundamental Capabilities Leading to the Human “Mind”:
Emotions, Memory, Visualizations 73
3.1.3 The Basic Functions: Thought, Creativity, Ethics, Personality, Art 77
3.1.4. The Abstract or Virtual Functions:
Consciousness, Free Will, “Soul”, Spirituality, Religion 85
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3.2. The Origin, Evolution, and Function of Society, Civilization, and Culture 95
3.2.1. Another Step of the “Combinatorial Principle”: New Dimensions 95
3.2.2. Main Dimensions: Hierarchies, Politics, Commerce, Cultures, Warfare, Media 97
3.2.3. Virtual Societies? Super-Societies? A “Super-Brain”? 105
3.3. “Intelligent Design Theory”; Plan and Meaning Versus Natural Evolution 106
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3.4. Extraterrestrial Life and Intelligence 109
3.4.1. What is Life and Intelligence, Intelligent Life on Other Celestial Bodies? 109
3.4.2. The Minds of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Beings, “Cosmo-Psychology”? 113
3.4.3. Consequences for Us, Resulting Philosophical-Theological Questions 116
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3.5. The Future 117
3.5.1. Mankind’s Future? 117
3.5.2. How Does the Future of the Universe Look? How Will It All End? 122
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Closing Comments – Conclusions – Personal Comments 123
Appendix of Open Questions 128
Part 1: Cosmogony, Cosmic Evolution, Evolution of Earth Earth
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Introduction:
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When we pause for a moment in our busy life – at lunch, during a holiday, on vacation – we can perceive the wonderful and sometimes cruel existence we live in – the universe, nature on this planet Earth, our surroundings, our body, our mind. In trying to understand this existence, we find that everything in our world is evolving – has always been evolving and will continue to do so. If we want to understand our existence, we should attempt to understand this evolution.
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Not too many years ago, one of the early NASA space projects provided the very first and rather beautiful pictures of Earth as seen from outer space. Astronomic telescopes had already provided excellent pictures of distant galaxies. Now we could visualize how our own “Milky Way” galaxy would look with the tiny spot of our Sun as one of a billion others somewhere in its outer reaches – and a still smaller, blue planet, "Earth”, whirling around that tiny sun – about four billion times already since its appearance. That small Earth is our only home, but our brains that evolved only a few ten thousand years ago allow our minds to span the universe in time and space. What were the starting conditions, principles, laws, and forces of nature that let this evolution occur?
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Recent progress in astronomy has taught us how our universe originated in one spot some 14 billion years ago and has been expanding in all directions ever since. What happened in time and space that, out of the original burst of energy at that time, finally we humans, with all our exceptional talents, came to exist and live on this tiny planet where we now are – and to develop the mental capabilities we now have?
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A few key aspects of Creation and evolution appear to be fundamental to the understanding of what occurred. They are especially surprising and impressive [1].
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Come along on a mental voyage – to explore the existence which we live in – from the vastness of the universe to submicroscopic molecular life, the virtual phenomena of the mind, and unfolding civilizations – from an origin in the distant past to an expected end in the distant future!
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1.1. Cosmogony, Cosmic Evolution
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1.1.1. Abstract Beginnings
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What can be seen as the essence of “existence” in space and time? According to one perspective, “difference” is the essence of space, and “change” is the essence of time. Without difference in at least one parameter in at least one dimension – whether density, color, or anything else – there would be no definable space. And without change, there would be no definable time.
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The scientific understanding of the ultimate origin of our universe is shrouded in abstract speculations, none verifiable by observation. The various scientific theories of origin mainly attempt to render unnecessary the religious or traditional “ex nihilo” (from or out of nothing) assumption of Creation and to present a precedent situation leading to the Big Bang in an understandable way, consistent with the observations and structure of the universe after the Big Bang.
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There are various problems with this approach. The (possibly assumed) precedent situation only leads to another question of its beginning, thereby merely shifting the original question of origin to an earlier time. Otherwise, a perpetual, cyclic or ongoing sequence or multiple creative starts in the form of other universes originating out of a super-universe have to be assumed, stretching indefinitely into the past – thereby assuming time without a beginning.
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This model still leaves us with the question of how the infinite cyclic or ongoing sequence of the super-universe – if it has not existed “forever” – was ever established. There are various theories of this genre. Earlier theories considered the effects of imaginary time or the spontaneous appearance of our universe through quantum mechanical effects [2]. Another theory [3] proposes a multitude of universes, as bubbles following each other, possibly several in parallel – like the “fractals” of chaos theory. A newer theory [4] is an outgrowth of “string” theory and posits the perpetual repetition of “branes” in multidimensional space touching each other as starting points of new universes every time one of them cools off in infinite dissipation.
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The most commonly accepted theory at this time, one also derived from string theory and the recognition of “inflation”, visualizes a super-universe with an almost limitless variety of possible individual universes, all possibly quite different from each other (dimensionally, and in character) [5], totally unrelated to ours – thereby allowing no connection or exploration [6]. This theory still leaves the question of the specific origin or all those universes and their specific structure unanswered. More or corrected theories may be presented from time to time [7].
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Most people, however, hold a basic transcendental belief [8] concerning the ultimate cause of creation of our universe, or of any other universe, or of a “multi-verse” – specifically in view of the finely tuned forces, natural laws, and basic constants that let our universe appear as a highly intellectual composition. This belief assumes a transcendental force, not simply a physical force, or a higher intelligence or a “spirit” as the ultimate base of existence. The assumption of a transcendental force or spirit is considered to be “religious”, while the other assumptions are considered “scientific” speculations of theoretical or mathematical physics.
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There is actually little mental difference between the views of “religiously believing” and “scientifically assuming”. Both are based on mental assumptions that are provable only by their perceived effect in the universe – but both look at the same universe. Such observations often are, but should not be, arbitrarily selective, especially the religious ones. They can lead to a variety of contradictory theories, depending on the selectivity of their observation. All such theories can serve as the foundation for mental systems of thoughts and interpretations of the universe – only that the “transcendental” view allows an originating cause to be more than just a “physical” phenomenon, even more than just an “intellectual essence”, one possibly including the dimensions of emotions (love?), ethics, values, aesthetics, and other dimensions that are fundamental to our minds and cultures and that usually are not the key concern of the sciences in cosmogony.
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It is a matter of the now very active discussion of “Science and Religion” to elucidate to what extent the factual observation of the universe justifies, or does not justify, a transcendental assumption concerning the origin of the universe [9].
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It is quite a different matter to then also assume, or prove, any further action of such spiritual force of origin in the subsequent evolution of the universe (see Chapters 3.1.2 and 3.3), the possible responsiveness to personal prayer, and the divine setting of moral standards – unless one sees those moral standards as anchored in human nature and, thereby, in evolution – and, therefore, in the foundation of Creation and, by this roundabout way, in its possible transcendental essence [10].
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Irrespective of all these considerations, the original energy bursting out of the Big Bang, still not structured into particles in its beginning, can be seen only as energy “fields” of very high power in a small space. Fields of energy are nothing material – yet, something real – existing in the emptiness of space – in the nothingness – in the vacuum. How can emptiness or nothingness – the vacuum of space – harbor fields? What are fields held by emptiness?
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One cannot leave the discussion of the origin of our universe without marveling at another aspect of this universe: The originating universe exhibited the phenomenon of constantly flowing time (not slowing down, not accelerating, but always flowing at a constant rate in the vastness of the universe over the past 14 billion years – at least as far as is inferred from observations [11]) and had three dimensions of space (not two, or four, or any other number [12]). The fact that time flows at a constant rate for any one observer, but appears to flow at different rates for observers moving relative to each other (and possibly stops in “Black Holes”), renders this phenomenon all the more mysterious [13]. Additionally, there is the quantum-mechanical surprise that there is no smaller time increment than so-called “Planck” time.
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The fact that our universe is governed and constrained by forces, laws, and principles of nature –and, therefore, functions in an order that can be described by mathematics or theoretical physics – is another mystery of origin. It is specifically this “intellectual” character of the universe that can be seen as pointing to a transcendental origin, foundation, or essence of the universe.
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Another “miracle” of Creation occurred within the first fraction of the first second of existence – a short inflationary period of the originating universe. At that early time, the energy ball that constituted the infant universe expanded from negligible size to approximately the size of a baseball. The expanding space itself mysteriously provided a very large amount of additional energy and the expansion speed was a multiple of the speed of light – while afterwards, the speed of light was found to be the highest speed that can possibly exist in nature.
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There are new theories that take this inflationary period into account. Some scientists are inclined to think that such theories, properly representing the occurrences in nature, are expressions of the originating force. One must be somewhat careful with such a posteriori statements. For example, one cannot say that, since the new theories allowed the inflationary period to happen, it must have happened. If the occurrences had been found to be different, science would have found a mathematical presentation or theory to represent the universe accordingly. In other words, not the theories drive the world but what the world is found to actually be leads to suitable theories – theories that often change quite dramatically as new insights are gained concerning the workings of the universe [14].
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1.1.2 First Surprises: Granulation: Strings, Subatomic Particles, Forces –
Diversification and Complexity arise. The miracle of existence
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As the Big Bang occurred, the original energy – as it expanded in space and time – quickly assumed some structure – by partially “condensing” into a variety of subatomic particles [15].
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There are several surprising, and very significant, aspects of this first phase of cosmic formation:
- The original energy of the Big Bang did not expand as one big wave – as, for example, the wave that forms and expands around a pebble that falls into a quiet pond. Instead, a large portion of the original energy broke down – granulated – into extremely small, discrete parts that filled the originating space.
- Not only one type, but a limited, diverse set of different strings or subatomic particles occurred – where “strings” can be visualized vaguely as short energy waves – like tiny multidimensional or circular energy waves concentrated in one point and oscillating at different frequencies.
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Modern science can prove the necessity for the formation of subatomic particles and could even predict which new ones are yet to be found. But one should be careful with this view. As is said above, it is not the theory that forces nature to exist in a certain form. When nature is understood, theories become formulated that best describe its appearance. As new knowledge is gained, theories are changed until they fit. The miracle still lies in nature, not in the theories – unless one considers the fact that nature can be understood and described by certain mathematically formulated theories as a miracle in itself, as well as an indication of its intellectual character, some would say, its “spiritual” essence.
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Scientific research has found three groups of subatomic particles, each with a certain variety of members:
- Quarks (or “hadrons”): Commonly, six different types are indicated. But it has been proposed that there are actually only four or five different types, all with unusual names (“up”, “down”, “strange”, “charm”, and “bottom”). Two of them make up most of the material universe. The other three have an unstable, short-lived existence.
- Leptons: Some members of this family are better known (“electrons”) than others (“muons” and “taus”), and all have associated “neutrino” particles.
- Bosons: These subunits of the universe serve to transmit forces. For example, the transmission of “W bosons” provides the action of the “electro-weak force”. The “gluons” function as the transmitters of the “strong force” that can bind quarks together.
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All together, there may be a couple of hundred different basic particles. More important is the fact that, for each type of particle, there exists a type of “anti-particle” with an equal amount but opposite kind of energy, such that a combination of the two would neutralize or annihilate both. The newly created universe appears to have produced an asymmetrical amount of those two types, allowing the existence of the world as we know it after most opposite particles annihilated themselves and only the not-matched ones were left over. The resulting “matter” makes up about 5% of our universe – half of this located in all the galaxies, the other half expected to be in some large intergalactic clouds of hot gas, as recently discovered. This figure may possibly have to be corrected upward by a large percentage (up to 18% has already been reported) if the mass and also the number of brown dwarfs and smaller stars, which already constitute possibly more than half of the mass in the galaxies, are both confirmed to be larger (possibly by a factor of two).
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Another large part (maybe 25%) of the original energy of the nascent universe condensed into “dark matter”, not visible and little understood so far, but possibly forming the bulk of all galaxies. Finally, there is the recently discovered “dark energy”, accounting for the remaining 70% of the universe, understood as part and expression of space in the universe and responsible for driving the galaxies apart at increasing speed. It is still a mystery how space can harbor forces and provide the gigantic energy for all the galaxies’ acceleration. The figures for the dark matter and dark energy would have to be corrected downward if the percentage of normal matter is corrected upward.
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A small remaining part of the original energy – the part that did not form discrete strings and particles or dark matter and dark energy – remained in the form of radiation – that ever since has moved around in the created space.
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It is a special mystery of the origin of existence that the particles resulting from the original energy – the strings or subatomic particles – exhibited various types of forces that emanated out into space – the electromagnetic forces, gravity, and certain atomic forces, each very different from the other. Those forces became responsible for giving structure to the existence we live in. The atomic forces structure all matter by keeping the subatomic particles together in the atoms while also keeping different atoms apart. The electromagnetic force structures the protective field around Earth and provides us now with electric energy, light, and communication, including the internet. The gravitational force, small as it may be between atoms, is the gigantic force in the universe that structures galaxies and solar systems. No particle is fully independent in the universe.
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All these forces emanated at a certain speed, the “speed of light”, through the empty space that separated those particles from each other. How can forces exist between particles that are themselves combinations of “strings”, of fields in space? Only a limited set of different forces occurred between particles. That specific set and no other forces determined the course of the world ever since.
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In other words, all of existence – all energy, specifically also all matter, all radiation, and all forces in the universe – in other words, all phenomena that we perceive as constituting the reality of the universe – are merely fields in the vacuum – absolutely abstract phenomena of empty space. When we touch things, we merely sense the repulsive forces between approaching “strings” that constitute what we call “particles.” When we see things, we perceive only the electromagnetic radiation that was emitted, modified, or deflected by combinations of “strings”. That is all there is in existence – fields!
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It is a mystery how empty space can host fields or forces, how these fields and forces can be propagated by the vacuum at a precisely given speed, and how they can form all there is in the universe – the celestial bodies, us, and our brains providing our minds.
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Furthermore, some of the subatomic particles – though composed only of energy strings in the vacuum – exhibited the effect of “mass”, requiring force for acceleration and showing “momentum” as they move along. Mass can be understood as a form of concentrated energy and can be transformed back into radiation – as in Einstein’s law, e = mc2, where the dissipated energy “e” is equal to the product of the mass being dissipated and the square of the speed of light – just as the dynamic energy of a moving object is the product of its mass and the square of its velocity – as when something hits you. It is a mystery how an accumulation of strings or subatomic particles – energy waves or field accumulations in the vacuum of space – can have “mass” with inertia.
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Was it inherent in the original energy of the Big Bang that this structure of particles and forces had to occur, or is there a two-aspect creativity – two different concepts of Creation – of energy and of structure – of power and of controlling laws – that resulted in the structure of the universe – miraculously understandable to us (in part) by the mathematics of theoretical physics?
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The fact that several different types of particles and forces appeared out of the original burst of energy is the first demonstration of nature’s principle of diversification – and increasing complexity – later to be found throughout ongoing evolution. It is bewildering how many types of subatomic particles appeared and how complex their interaction is. Some few particles may account for the majority of what we perceive as the material universe, but all types of particles are needed and all types play their role to form the universe we know.
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As if the above view of the originating universe – with all its field effects in the vacuum, its multitude of particles, and its various forces – were not mysterious enough, one must additionally consider the findings of quantum mechanics or quantum physics.
- Planck found in 1900 that not only all matter, but also all energy is “granulated” into discrete quantities of energy of multiples of a basic “action quant” – confirmed in 1905 by Einstein. Planck also found the duality of light as existing both as wave and as particle – later expanded to other subatomic particles by Schrödinger.
- Pauli, in 1924, discovered the “exclusion principle” – whereby no two sets of quantum numbers defining the energy state of the particles in an atom, molecule, or “fermion-accumulation” can be alike.
- Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit brought the discovery of “spin” in electrons in 1925.
- In 1927, Heisenberg presented his “uncertainty principle”, indicating the probabilistic nature of all particles in the dimensions of space and momentum. Ultimately, this led to the recognition that some particles and their anti-particles may appear spontaneously in space in a probabilistic distribution – and annihilate themselves again.
- Later, some scientists were led to the assumption that the origin of our universe could have been a quantum-mechanical event.
- Hawking arrived at the conclusion that “Black Holes”, the ultimate form of celestial bodies in the dying universe, can become dissipated over long periods of time – through asymmetric absorption of such spontaneously generated particle pairs on the black hole’s surfaces – leaving nothing but dispersing radiation in an ever-expanding space.
- This insight of uncertainty or indeterminism – together with chaos theory, whereby even the smallest variation may cause the greatest consequences – resulted in a breach of the Laplacian determinism as a basic understanding of the universe. (The deterministic character of the wave aspect of particles remains but within a probabilistic distribution for the particle represented by the wave).
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In sum, there were the following creative aspects of the origin of existence that one must see as having appeared together:
- The appearance of energy
- The spreading of the original energy in appearing space and time
- The granulation of energy into “strings” and subatomic particles
- The appearance of forces that provided for structures
- The appearance of natural laws (and principles and constants) that provided for the dynamic evolution of the universe in time
- The combinatorial principle allowing for the emergence of new and ever higher dimension of existence
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What a strange world this universe is that we now inhabit!
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1.1.3 The Next Surprise: The Combinatorial Principle, Evolution Begins:
The Origin of Atoms and Molecules
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As the originating universe cooled due to its expansion, the “subatomic particles” began to combine, thereby forming a variety of larger “atomic particles” – mainly neutrons (without an electric charge), protons (with a positive electric charge and consisting of three quarks), electrons (much smaller particles, with a negative electric charge, consisting of leptons), and the particles that form the little-understood, so-called “dark matter” of the universe.
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Some of these “atomic particles”, in turn, combined to form a variety of “atoms”, the building blocks of the many chemical elements, resulting in 105 types [16] or “elements” of increasing atomic size in total. These “elements” became the building blocks of the universe. Finally, some of the atoms combined to form the first miniature “molecules”. The accumulation of these molecules later formed the various materials in this world – from air, water, and minerals to all the organic substances.
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In each step, the forces between the smaller particles determined the structure of the newly emerging larger particles.
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These three steps – the appearance of the different types of atomic particles out of the combination of subatomic particles, then the emergence of atoms, and finally the emergence of molecules out of atoms – are the first demonstration of nature’s “combinatorial principle”. This principle indicates that nature allows for the combination of smaller building blocks into larger ones which then assume totally new characteristics – new dimensions of existence – that were not observable with the smaller building blocks [17].
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A pile of toy marbles remains just a pile of toy marbles. But if a pile of neutrons, protons, and electrons had always stayed a pile of neutrons, protons, and electrons and had not formed atoms – or a pile of atoms had always stayed just a pile of atoms and had not formed molecules – the world we know could not have developed.
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For example, the atoms constituting the elements hydrogen, calcium, and gold are something descriptively altogether different from neutrons, protons, and electrons of which all of them are combined – just in different configurations. The descriptive nature of molecular water (combined out of 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen), salt (combined out of 1 atom of hydrogen and 1 atom of chloride), and sugar (a combination of 6 atoms of carbon, 6 atoms of hydrogen, and 6 atoms of oxygen or a multiple thereof, depending on the type of sugar) are different in their principal characteristics from the elemental atoms of which they are composed.
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This becomes even more apparent when considering the very large and complex organic molecules that make up the living organisms composed mainly only of atoms of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur – plus some trace elements.
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This phenomenon of the combinatorial principle can be compared to the use of bricks to build a cathedral or electronic components to build a computer – the combination of letters to form words and of words to form sentences – or the combination of basic elements of knowledge and perception to arrive at new concepts or systems of thought.
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The three phenomena of Creation, the granulation of the original energy of Creation providing the first building blocks and the forces acting between them, plus the combinatorial principle that allows their ongoing combination to ever larger and different units of existence, are the foundation of the phenomenon of evolution that brought us the world we now inhabit.
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1.1.4 Order or Chaos – Deterministic or Open-Ended?
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It is important to note that the expanding universe – in its distribution of energy, radiation, and particles within the expanding space – showed, for reasons unknown, a large degree of randomness in density distribution. A three-dimensional model of the universe at our time would look like a sponge – with certain bubble-like spaces containing almost no stars, galaxies, or dust clouds – and other spaces containing “filaments” and knots of accumulations of matter in the form of stars, galaxies, or dust clouds – all in a random arrangement like a sponge.
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In other words, the essence of the expanding universe demonstrated a duality of strictly following the laws and principles of nature, while also containing large areas of randomness – a duality of order and freedom.
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This duality can be observed much closer to our sphere of life. The stars in the sky appear in a random distribution – though in their movements strictly following the order prevailing within the galaxies in the universe. The surface of an ocean, seen from a great altitude, appears smooth and following the round shape of the surface of Earth. From up close, the ocean is covered with a random distribution of waves. An approaching snow storm may appear as a cloud with a given shape, but within it, the distribution of snowflakes is totally random – each having a well-defined geometric shape as given by the laws of crystallography.
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Thus it appears as if spheres of strict order in accordance with the laws of nature are superimposed on, or alternating with spheres of randomness or freedom within the structure of the universe.
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This duality of order and randomness not only allowed the evolution of a large variety of structures, but also made future development of structures not-deterministic, unpredictable in detail, and, at best, probabilistic.
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Equally important for all later development is the duality between normal physics and quantum mechanics resulting in the duality between deterministic predictability of large-scale events and probabilistic, non-deterministic phenomena on the atomic level leading to unexpected developments. In other words, development does follow the laws and principles of nature – but also includes the indicated background randomness of the universe and the uncertainty of quantum mechanics. Chaos Theory shows how minute differences in detail can result in major changes of the overall system.
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1.1.5 The “Basic Principle of Evolution”
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The probabilistic variations and random events in the universe result in an evolutionary thrust in evolution [18]. Actually, there are the following elements to be found in an evolutionary step:
- The starting conditions define the character of a potential step in evolution
- The boundary conditions may limit the evolution; but, more important, they may indicate new options for viable evolution
- Probabilistic variations allow a gradually different relation to the boundary or environmental situation and, thereby – if viable – may offer a step in evolution
- Random events may allow for radically new approaches in evolution
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With probabilistic variations and random events occurring at all times, there is an ongoing thrust for further evolution – occurring as starting conditions and opportunities permit.
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This will be discussed in greater detail in the chapter on the natural evolution of life, where this “Basic Principle of Evolution” becomes most significant and best observable, as high propagation rates and limited resources or adversity augment the evolutionary pressure in the sphere of life.
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The sum of this principle and all observations indicates that:
- The universe is not developing in accordance with a plan and converging on a goal
- Instead, the universe evolves in steps as possible at any one time or place in accordance with the then and there given starting and boundary conditions – with evolution being driven by probabilistic or random variations, and finding viability in accordance with opportunity.
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Therefore, all evolution – in each of its steps – is not end-point conditioned or goal-attracted, but is starting-point conditioned (for each step) and forward-directed. Thereby, evolution remains open-ended within the limits of opportunity [19]. This will be discussed in more detail in connection with the progress of natural evolution.
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1.1.6 Collapsing Clouds: Quasars, Black Holes, Galaxies, Stars
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As the nascent universe formed enormous clouds of particles, some inherent instability became apparent. A diversity of phenomena resulted from that.
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The original atoms or molecules in the so-called gaseous “dust clouds” were attracted to each other by gravity, weak as those forces were for each atom alone over large distances. The high temperature of those clouds – indicating the high speed of the individual particles – did not allow the dust in those clouds to coalesce or “accrue”. But the gaseous dust clouds cooled by means of radiation (natural emanation of radiation), and, in the areas of highest concentration of those clouds, the probabilistic motion of the particles could lead to probabilistic accumulations. Such accumulations – after some cooling – had, finally, higher gravitational attraction than the heat-related dispersion.
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Once a nucleus of many particles had been formed, their accumulated gravitational force increased and ever larger amounts of particles were attracted. Thus, an avalanche of large accretions of matter could form, as permitted by cooling. Such gravitational collapse of gaseous dust clouds could take diverse courses. The most notable ones were the formation of quasars, Black Holes, and galaxies.
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Quasars:
Their characteristics are:
- Relatively small size of these celestial objects (only about one light-year in diameter, while galaxy diameters are in the hundreds of thousands of light-years)
- Enormous luminosity (about 1,000 times the luminosity of a large galaxy)
- Mostly formed in the first 2 billion years of the universe
- Explained as the formative processes of Black Holes
- Their radiation resulting from the gases falling as an avalanche at high speed into the respectively forming new black holes
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Black Holes:
The “stellar” black holes are understood as resulting from the avalanche-like collapse of dense clouds of dust in a single point (small area) whereby, when large enough, such enormous pressures are created at the center of the collapse that the phenomenon of “Black Holes” was created, a gravitational concentration of such size that not even light could escape such a hole any longer.
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To understand this phenomenon, one must consider that the nuclei of atoms have only one ten-thousandth the diameter of the whole atom – the diameter being defined by the sphere of electrons circling around the atom core and keeping other atoms at that distance. In other words, normal materials consist mostly of empty space separating the atomic nuclei from each other by means of their electron orbits. But when the external pressure exceeds a certain point, the electron spheres are crushed and the atomic nuclei are pushed directly together. This creates such an enormous material density with its associated gravity that no atomic particle can escape this core any longer. No longer can any quanta of light escape – resulting in the “black” appearance of these aggregations.
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“Galactic” or “quasar” black holes form at less pressure or density, but with the same effect.
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Galaxies:
A collapsing cloud of dust – at first a giant ball of dust with higher concentration at the center – ends up forming a disk. This results from any spurious rotational momentum in the part of the cloud that was collapsing. As when rotating ice skaters hold weights in outstretched hands and their rotation accelerates as they retract the hands with the weights, the collapsing clouds rotate faster as they collapse (in accordance with the natural law of “the conservation of angular momentum”). Actually, each attracted particle will rotate on a differently inclined plane around the center; but the intersecting planes will lead to realigning collisions until all parts find themselves in the plane of the original cloud rotation – in a disk.
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Further gravitational collapse of such a disk – after cooling due to the emission of radiation – can permit the formation of a small core – later to become a black hole when the pressure in the core and its mass is high enough. Some theories propose the opposite sequence, with the formation of a black hole first and subsequent attraction of masses of gas around it.
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For reasons that are not fully understood, the dust disk around many galaxies shows mostly two (estimated to be in more than 60% of galaxies), but sometimes three, spiral arms of accumulated star formation. In many large galaxies, the spiral arms bifurcate, resulting in 4 to 6 branches in the outer areas. This spiral pattern rotates around the galaxy’s core (at a different rotation rate from that of the stars). Occasionally, a large central ring and, more often, a central bar can be seen in the galaxies, sometimes rotating at a different speed, sometimes with arm protrusions from each of its ends (e.g., galaxy NGC 1087 in the constellation Cetus). One theory of galactic evolution assumes that avalanche effects in the collapsing proto-galactic dust discs form gigantic shock waves circulating around the center of the galaxy-to-be. Actually, the spiral arms of galaxies do not wrap up tightly – rather, they keep their pattern and look like rotating sprinklers, like effects emanating from the rotating center, possibly having something to do with the shock waves emanating from black holes at the centers of the galaxies [20]. The presently prevailing theory sees “resonances” in the stellar orbits as the cause for the spiral arm formation [21].
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Galaxies come in a large variety of shapes (round and elliptical, flat or with a central bulge) or sizes. The smallest discovered so far is Andromeda IX with only 3,000 light-years diameter, at a distance of 2 million light-years from our sun (see ). Other very small ones have already merged or are in the process of merging with our galaxy, the Milky Way [22].
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Stars:
Those shock waves in the galactic disks are thought to cause new accretions in the galactic dust clouds, but on a smaller scale. The resulting smaller dust disks also form concentrated centers. Those are the ones that become stars when their mass, inner pressure and temperature allow thermonuclear reactions to set in. Therefore, these newly formed centers that became stars light up, letting the luminous spiraling arms of the galaxies appear [23].
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There are by now approximately 100 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, with more still forming while there is interstellar dust left over [24].
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The largest stars are the brightest and have the shortest period of light emission – only in the 100-million-year range – and end in an explosion as supernovae. There are about 10,000 supernovae per million years in our galaxy. That translates into 500,000 supernova explosions per spiraling arm per revolution of that arm at the distance of Earth from the center of the galaxy. The supernova explosions past the edge of the star-forming spiral arms circulating the core of galaxies may contribute to the propagation of these as shock waves, like a cosmic ram-jet.
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The smaller stars, like our Sun [25] – with a light-emitting life of about 10 billion years – leave the shock waves or arms of the galaxies, thereby also leaving the area of the most intense and destructive radiation resulting from the supernova explosions. This fact is important in the evolution of life on planets of such stars. Our Sun with its planets is assumed to rotate once every 220 million years around the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.
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On a clear night, one can see a multitude of stars and galaxies. A good telescope allows seeing a still greater quantity. Actually, however, the universe is mostly empty space. If one were to build a model of the universe in which the Sun had a diameter of only 2 inches (5 cm), Earth would be about 15 feet (5 meters) distant from it and would have a diameter of less than 1/64th of an inch (0.5 mm). Correspondingly small and widely distributed would be the other planets in empty space. The next solar system to ours would be at a distance of more than 500 miles (750 km). In between, there would be nothing but empty space, even where we are, right within the disk of a galaxy, in our Milky Way.
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Between the distributed galaxies there is, again, nothing but expansive empty space. The galaxies are distributed in the universe much like the material in a sponge. There are accumulations of galaxies in some clusters, as well as a multitude of ribbons of galaxies on the periphery of gigantic bubbles of almost empty space.
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This exotic structure is in slow motion in consequence of the ongoing expansion of the universe, gravitational forces, and other causes for the motion of galaxies, occasionally leading to their collision. Our Milky Way is expected to collide with the galaxy called the Andromeda Nebula in some billions of years [26] as it may have collided already with some smaller galaxies in the past (that may have provided the star belt around the Milky Way).
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1.1.7 Formation of the Heavy Elements
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After the Big Bang, the majority of the atoms formed in consequence of the above-explained “combinatorial principle”. They were of the smallest kind, mostly just hydrogen and some helium, composed of one or two neutrons, one or two protons and one or two electrons.
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When sub-segments of galactic dust disks – the forerunners of galaxies or their later companion gas cloud – collapsed, as indicated above, they formed small cores, the future stars. These cores came in different sizes as they formed the stars-to-be. Consequently, the compression and heat in the centers of these developing stars varied according to their size. Within the medium-size stars, the pressure and heat were enough (at about 10 million degrees Kelvin or C) to weld several hydrogen atoms into larger helium atoms – the same transformation that occurs in atomic hydrogen bombs. The excess energy appeared as the bright radiation of such stars. This occurred to our Sun.
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As this atomic transformation within our Sun continues, it becomes more intense. In another 2 to 3 billion years, shortly before all hydrogen is used up to form helium, the Sun will further heat up, as it has done in a minor way during all of its life – then rendering all life on Earth impossible. At the very end of the cycle, in 4 to 5 billion years, the Sun will have enlarged enormously, its gaseous edge reaching the path of Earth, while its glow will be reduced to a dark red. Then, as the heat is dissipated and no new heat is generated due to lack of hydrogen to be transformed into helium, this “Red Giant” begins to slowly contract.
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This contraction will produce such pressure at the center of the then much smaller Sun that – combined with the heat from the contraction – a new atomic reaction will set in – forming mainly the elements of carbon and oxygen out of helium. What is left of such a sun is then a small star called a “White Dwarf” containing much carbon and oxygen – the destiny of possibly 95% of all stars.
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The atomic burning (or construction) process of larger atoms, beyond carbon, works much faster in very large stars than in medium-size stars like our Sun, completing the life of such giant stars in only about 100 million years. In a sequence of steps, finally the relatively heavy element iron is formed, consuming almost all their atomic particles. When those larger stars collapse for the last time as supernovae at the end of the atomic process that burned all hydrogen and helium and finally formed iron, such enormous pressure and temperature occur at their center that free neutrons are formed, allowing the formation of all the remaining heavy atoms (or chemical elements) beyond iron – up to uranium, plutonium, and beyond. There is a limit, however. Larger atoms are not stable and fall apart as quickly as they are being built. This is the end of atomic evolution in astronomic or astrophysical terms. Later, in planetary development, nature forms molecules – accumulations of atoms that far exceed the size of the heaviest elements and open new approaches to evolutionary development.
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8. Supernovae, Heavy Dust, Pre-Organic Molecules: Foundation for the Next Step
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When the process of forming heavy atoms in the largest stars is completed and no further heat is generated from atomic processes, gravity prevails over the dissipating force of heat. At that point, the very large stars collapse in such a fury that their implosion/explosion drives off most of the material around their core into outer space – distributing atoms of a large variety and in great quantities of heavy elements all over cosmic space. Such a supernova explosion takes place about once every hundred years in a galaxy like ours – that means 10,000 times in a million years.
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Another aspect of such implosions/explosions of supernovae is the distribution of strong radiation into space. This radiation can lead to the formation of methane (a carbon atom linked to 4 hydrogen atoms) and many other types of proto-organic molecules out of the hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and other elements contained in the great dust clouds in space.
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Many of the heavy atoms being distributed by exploding supernovae are a bit overloaded with atomic particles, providing some instability and the need for minor corrections in atomic content. This appears as radioactivity when these atoms shed the extra particles or fall apart into two more stable parts. Such radioactivity provides additional radiation that further contributes to the formation of proto-organic molecules in space.
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As will be shown, new gravitational collapses – in other areas of the galaxy, forming new stars and their planets at a later time – utilize these heavy materials resulting from supernovae in their dust disks to form heavy planets such as our Earth and possibly use the proto-organic molecules for the formation of life.
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1.1.9 The “Principle of Limits in Development and Branching Progress”:
The Origin of Planetary Systems, Our Own Solar System
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The formation of the heaviest possible (and still stable) elements in supernova-yielding stars of large mass may have appeared as the end of cosmic evolution. It seems to be a principle of evolution in the universe that all developments ultimately reach a limit when they lead to a size or complexity that results in instability – later also observable in natural, technical, or political evolution. But the surprising phenomenon of evolution in the universe consists of the fact that evolution then continues in a different dimension, on a different level, as on a new branch. At the point of development of the universe when supernovae reached the limit in producing heavy elements, this evolutionary branching occurred through the development of complexity in or on planetary systems – ultimately leading to life and the appearance of humans.
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As already described, collapsing segments of the dust disk of a galaxy formed smaller discs with stars as their massive centers. The prevalent turbulence or rotation within the galactic disk– that may have caused the galactic collapse in the first place – led to a rotation of the small dust discs forming the stars. As long as such a disk had low density and high temperature, further accretion of matter was delayed. But as such a disk cooled through dissipation of radiation and increased in density, a surprising phenomenon occurred. Different from the very large galactic discs that developed rotating “arms” or shock waves full of nascent stars, the much smaller discs around stars formed discrete bands. Those bands “accreted” (consolidated) over time, giving birth to planets.
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There seems to be a specific regularity of such formation of bands and of planets out of each band – most likely dependent upon the density of the disk material and the temperature (compare the formation of snowflakes out of humid air as it cools – of rather uniform size at originally similar distances – depending on temperature and humidity). There is a balance of forces in a dust disk around a nascent star. The heat of the dust and the radiation pressure from the new star drive the gas and dust outward; gravity pulls it inward. In consequence, the heavy elements in the dust disc settle closer to the nascent star in the center, and the light elements remain farther out. But the many perturbations and collisions of the coalescing masses allow some of the lighter elements and water molecules to arrive at or remain in the inner bands, including that of our Earth.
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The developing bands in the dust disk around a nascent sun split into narrower bands closer to the star and much wider bands farther out.
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Ultimately, a planet develops in each band, accumulating much of the material within that band. This may be facilitated by the fact that all those particles within a band do not circulate in parallel but most often on elliptical paths around the star with innumerable intersections of their paths and consequent collisions. Their motion is further complicated by the fact that each collision that varies their forward motion also results in a change of their rate of rotation around their sun and, consequently, their distance from the sun. Faster-circulating particles will move farther out and rotate slower on those wider paths, while slower particles will drop closer in on the central star and begin to rotate faster on those narrower paths. This creates additional turbulence in each band, first facilitating the narrowing of the band and then accretion in the form of a planet [27].
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Some recent discoveries indicate that planets formed around some new stars in the “short” time of only a few million years after the origin of their respective sun.
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Our own solar system formed in the large area of the Milky Way galaxy where earlier supernova explosions had left enough dust containing heavy elements. As this dust disk of our nascent solar system cooled enough to accrete into bands and those into planets, the heavy dust had already had time to gravitationally sink down closer to the center of the whirl around our Sun. Furthermore, the temperature of the dust disk is greater in the vicinity of the central Sun due to its radiation and the greater friction at the higher speed of rotation of the closer particles. This allows only heavier materials to accrete, driving the lighter materials toward accretion farther out in the solar dust disk. Thereby, several planets consisting of heavy material were formed closer to the Sun, while the gaseous planets – usually accreting into larger bodies – were formed farther out in the disk.
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The formation of bands, their distance from the Sun and their width, and the distance of the subsequent planets from the center of our solar system followed closely a mathematical sequence (the Titius-Bode sequence). One will have to discover more solar systems with planets like ours in outer space to fully understand the astrophysical background of this sequence – and the probability for the formation of other Earth-like planets in the universe, possibly in large numbers.
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The accretion of planets out of bands in the dust disk around a central sun is a rather messy affair. From the time of the original formation of the dust disc, and due to its mode of formation, the dust particles rotate around the central sun on various planes that are just slightly inclined to each other. They also move not in perfect circles, but rather on slightly elliptic courses. This leads to collisions of dust particles and, first, accretions into small clumps. At the same time, some particles, in transferring their kinetic energy to another particle or clump without sticking, will lose their rotational movement around the sun and the consequent centrifugal force. They will fall in large numbers into the central sun. Other dust particles may be excessively accelerated by impact and may fly off, out of the still accreting band at any possible angle, contributing to space dust that will possibly impact any of the forming planets of the solar system at a later time until it is wiped out of the solar system by the “stellar wind” emanating from the turbulence of the central sun.
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As such initial clumps of accretion get larger, they begin to exert an increasing gravitational force on their environment, attracting more dust to accrete around them. Larger accretions of material are called planetesimals. They, too, can collide with each other due to their different speeds and paths, possibly leading to further accretion into ever larger bodies, finally forming a planet. But some such collisions of planetesimals can be destructive, with some particles losing kinetic energy and falling into the central sun, others possibly being thrown out of the accretion band and becoming comets. In sum, only a limited part of the original dust bands ends up in the formation of planets, with much of the material having fallen into the Sun or having been thrown off course [28]. The final rate of rotation and ecliptic inclination of the planet’s rotation relative to its path around the Sun are also influenced by those accretionary collisions and later comet or asteroid encounters. Until more Earth-like planets are discovered in outer space and their rotation evaluated, we do not know how unusual or typical Earth’s rotation is – and, consequently, the foundation of its climate, as discussed below.
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A special case is the beginning accretion of a planet out of a band of dust between Mars and Jupiter. This band rotates around the Sun at a slightly different rate from Jupiter due to the difference in distance from the sun. Consequently, Jupiter perpetually keeps sweeping over this band. Accretion clumps or planetesimals in this band are disturbed by the passing gravitational force of Jupiter. This leads to the break-up of the planetesimals before they become too large, leaving only a band of various chunks of material, called the Asteroid Belt. It also leads to additional collisions within the band with resulting ejections that become comets. Many of the comets reaching Earth in our days result from this Asteroid Belt and many more must be expected in the future [29].
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Comets of planetesimal origin have played an important role in our solar system. In the very early solar system, some very large ones existed (the number is believed to have been more than 10), possibly as large as the planet Mercury or Mars now is. One of those, possibly out of the same band as Earth, is supposed to have hit Earth more than 4 billion years ago, leading to the formation of our Moon, as described in a later chapter. Others have hit Earth from time to time, leading to great devastation, as also described later on.
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The band out of which Earth developed contained heavy elements, but very little carbon or water. Outer planets (Jupiter and beyond) evolved out of planetesimals containing these materials in great quantities. It is assumed that icy comets that originated in the accretion of those outer planets – or, in later time, were part of the Kuiper or Oort Belt (see prior footnote) – contributed the large amounts of water and carbon that was subsequently found on Earth.
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Some icy comets, possibly from the formation of the outer planets, collected space dust on their surfaces through the long time of their existence in outer space. Some of that dust on their surfaces contained proto-organic molecules. These surfaces allowed further chemical changes of the proto-organic substances under the influence of radiation from the Sun and radioactive materials in space, leading to proto-organic materials of higher complexity and precursor materials of life, as also described later, possibly triggering life as they struck the Earth some 3.8 billion years ago [30].
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An preceding chapter of this essay called attention to the fact that the universe contains spheres of clear order in strict adherence to the laws of nature (see, for example, the perfect rings around Saturn) superimposed to or combined with spheres of chaotic, random, or probabilistic disorder (note the random appearance of comets) leading to an unpredictable evolution of existence. The above described origin of planets, planetesimals, and comets – and their interaction – is another such example, in this case leading to the evolution of Earth and our evolution on it – possibly to other similar or different evolutions in outer space.
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The observation of the first extra-solar planets around other stars in our galaxy in recent time, by means of the newest and most advanced telescopes, has shown a number of very large planets of those stars on mostly very elliptical orbits. They were found in connection with about 8% of all Sun-like stars that could be observed.
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Some comments: Only very large planets can be detected with the present means of astronomy, and only those that travel in the plane of observation (not perpendicular to it). The elliptical orbit allows those planets to sweep a large area of their respective dust disk, consequently allowing them to become quite large. What causes this ellipticity is not clear at this time – but, possibly, it is the passing of celestial objects. It is not clear whether most areas around stars are thus disturbed, leading to such large planets on elliptical orbits – and whether our solar system, with its quiet formation of near-circular bands and of consequently smaller planets, is the exception – or, vice versa, the rule.
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Furthermore, some of the detected planets are very close to their stars. One theory suspects a migration of such planets toward the center, closer to their stars. But one could also discuss the rate of rotation of the forming dust disk. If that was very low, planets should be found close to their star – and vice versa. The question arises, again, whether our planetary system was caused by fortuitous circumstances, in this case, with a favorable rate of rotation of the originating dust disk, or what the distribution of those rates of rotation in the universe are with what consequences for star formation. NASA’s “Kepler” telescope mission (a successor to Hubble) should bring further information sometime after 2007.
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1.1.10 Some Remaining Mysteries of the Originating Universe
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The expansion of the universe caused by the explosive Big Bang had been expected to slow down on account of the gravitational forces between all the components of the universe – the dust clouds, the black holes, and the galaxies. Much to the surprise of all scientists, it was found just recently that the universe expands at an accelerating rate. The common explanation is found in a repulsive energy emanating from space (“dark energy”), as during the inflationary period shortly after the Big Bang.
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At this time, it is open to question whether such acceleration will permanently keep augmenting with the increase of space in the universe or whether there could be a reduction in repulsive energy and, ultimately, a reversal, leading to a new collapse of the universe.
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The other remaining mystery of the universe is given by the fact that only a small amount of all the mass or matter constituting the universe is visible or detectable. The vast balance of all matter is called “dark matter” but has not yet been identified or fully located.
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In sum, the content of the universe is now seen by some scientists as being only 5% in conventional matter (atoms, molecules), 25% (or more) in “dark matter, and possibly 70% in the still mysterious “dark energy” – unless substantial corrections come from the recently discovered larger weight of the numerous “brown dwarfs” and smaller stars. This indicates the magnitude of the challenge for science in trying to fully understand the universe – in addition to the question of unifying relativity theory based on gravity with quantum mechanics concerning the world of subatomic particles, electrons, and atoms.
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1.2: The Origin and Evolution of Earth
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1.2.1 The origin of our “Earth”
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The band where our Earth was formed around the Sun contained much iron and other heavy materials as well. Most importantly, this band also contained enough carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, silicon, and water that were so very important for its future development. This mix should not be considered overly exotic. The universe is old enough for many super-star collapses and supernovae to have occurred in our and many other galaxies, thereby seeding the space within the “arms” of their respective galaxies and in between the arms with all those heavy elements, as indicated earlier.
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The specific composition and rate of rotation of the cloud of dust where our solar system was formed was favorable for the later development of life. Our resulting Sun had a size to allow a long period of sufficient energy production. A smaller size would have provided less energy, a larger size a shorter solar life. The rate of rotation allowed heavy planet formation at a suitable distance from the Sun, with a higher rate of rotation of the disk having resulted in planets at a greater distance with less solar energy availability and a slower rate of rotation having formed no heavy planets or only closer to the Sun with excessive solar radiation.
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The accreting and initially very hot Earth allowed the heaviest materials (iron, nickel, and others) to sink into its center. Some of the captured material was slightly radioactive, for the reasons indicated above, with very long decay times. This caused the inner areas of Earth to continually be heated up, resulting in some inner convulsion, which led to a protective magnet field and, equally important, to plate tectonics, as described later. A balance between this core heating effect and the dissipation of the heat through the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere corresponds to the size of the Earth and its age – and could be typical of such planets in other parts of the universe.
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Earth’s outermost layer was formed by the lightest among the heavy materials. It still contains large amounts of trapped, very light elements that can develop into gasses and escape into the atmosphere when driven out of their rocky enclosure, as through fractioning and heat or volcanic eruptions. The rocky outer layer of Earth has the characteristic of very poor heat conductivity, thereby keeping the inner mantle and core temperature under its cover more elevated.
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1.2.2 The Moon
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There are various theories explaining how the moon was formed to circle around Earth.
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The least likely theory indicates the capture of another celestial body by Earth. But the almost perfectly circular orbit and the similarity of material and age (about 4 billion years) indicate that the Moon either came out of Earth or out of the same band that formed Earth.
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Since Earth rotates faster than the Moon spins around Earth, the tidal wave created by the Moon on Earth is always being pulled ahead of it, thereby accelerating the movement of the Moon. Consequently, the Moon assumes a path with a wider orbit around Earth and Earth is slowed down in its rotation. The Moon actually gains about 4 cm in altitude per year at this time. It would have gained more per year while it was closer to Earth where the tidal pull was stronger. Fossil records in ancient coral indicate that, 350 million years ago, the Earth rotated 400 times per year, compared to only 365 times now; 450 million years ago, it rotated even faster – 450 times per year – resulting in the length of a day being only 20 hours. Following this reasoning back in time, calculation would indicate that the moon “separated” from Earth only 2 billion years ago – if the oceans and their tidal waves were always similar to the present ones (but, actually, the oceans had different shapes at different locations on Earth in the past) and if the Moon actually ever did separate as one body and was not formed in a different way.
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The rock of the moon indicates that it began to form about 4 billion years ago and had attained very high temperature when it was formed, possibly higher than the rock on Earth – as indicated by the loss of all material from the Moon that becomes volatile at or below such a certain elevated temperature (anything more volatile than potassium is missing from the Moon’s material).
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The difference of time between the age of the rock (4 billion years) and the calculated beginning of Moon-lifting (2 billion years ago) has not been well explained so far! The proposed formation of the Moon through accretion out of a ring of debris should not have required 2 billion years. Furthermore, if the Moon had been lifted out of a low orbit of accretion at an early time, not only the tides, but also the tidal deformations of Earth’s crust would have been enormous, leading to significant heating. On the other hand, flowing water can be shown to have already existed on Earth 3.8 billion years ago – but possibly derived from the impact of an icy comet at that time.
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The Moon does not revolve around Earth on the equatorial plane! The Moon’s plane of revolution is tilted relative to Earth’s rotation. This required some external influence or impact – unless one can assume that at first a debris ring formed around Earth, that the rotation axis of Earth then changed its direction (under the gravitational influence of the Sun) and was stabilized only as the solid Moon had accreted at a later time, that was then found to rotate around Earth at a somewhat inclined plane.
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The most likely theory indicates that the Moon accreted (possibly less than 4 billion years ago) from a ring of debris (itself possibly 4 billion years old) circulating around Earth. But how did this debris originate, being basically of the same material as Earth? After all, two other planets also have rings of dust or debris and their origin is not very clear either – but their rings are in their equatorial plane – and our Moon revolves around Earth in a plane that is at an angle to Earth’s equator. Six of the nine solar planets have one or several moons – a total of 33.
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Presently, there are various alternative theories to explain the origin of the original ring of debris around Earth that is thought to have accreted to form the Moon, none of them quite satisfactory:
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Fission theory:
One theory indicates that the Moon split off from an irregularity of Earth. That would have required a certain “resonance” of Earth that could be expected if Earth rotates once every 2 hours. But the above calculation of “Moon-lifting” indicates that the highest rate of rotation of Earth would have been once every 5 or 6 hours at a time when the Moon was almost touching Earth, as calculated from the combined angular momentum of Earth and Moon [31]. At that slower rate of rotation, Earth would have had to be much bigger to reach resonance – and what mass remains between Earth and Moon is not enough for that – unless a large amount of material was thrown off at that time through vaporization (as indicated above) and subsequently disappeared. That would have been a very hot event – going somewhat with the very hot origin of the Moon’s rock. But the band where planet Earth formed around the Sun did not yield that much gaseous material for accretion. Also in this theory, the separated part of Earth would have broken up into small pieces, first forming a ring of debris, with subsequent, slow accretion.
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The fission theory specifically is questioned by the fact that the Moon’s orbit around Earth is not on the equatorial plane – where it would have to be in case of having centrifugally moved out of Earth – unless one can assume, as already indicated above, that at first a debris ring formed around Earth, that the rotation axis of Earth then changed its direction (under the gravitational influence of the Sun) and was stabilized only as the solid Moon had accreted at a later time, that was then found to rotate around Earth at a somewhat inclined plane.
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Another theory assumes the remote possibility that a close pass of another celestial body could have drawn the mass for the originating Moon out of Earth – then forming a ring of debris at an angle to Earth’s equator.
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The parallel accretion theory: In a simple model, the ring of debris would have formed at the same time as Earth accreted. Subsequently, this ring around Earth would have accreted to form the Moon. The Moon’s rock indicates that it solidified about 4 billion years ago, indicating a formation of the ring of debris at that time. But why should such an original ring have formed at an angle to the band out of which Earth was formed – the ring that provided Earth’s revolution around the Sun – and also at an angle to Earth’s equator?
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Impact theory (presently preferred by the sciences): Often cited is the theory indicating that Earth was impacted at an early time by a very large object that pushed or tore enough material out of Earth to form that ring of debris that resulted in the Moon. This theory is based on the assumption that several (up to 10) very large, possibly Mars-size, bodies with odd trajectories were contained in the early solar system. One of them could have caused the impact on Earth that formed the Moon.
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An impact of that strength would have influenced Earth’s rotation. The angle of rotation of Earth is only slightly inclined in relation to its rotation around the Sun – resulting in the seasons. The speed of rotation – 24 hours per rotation now, faster in the past – prevents excessive heating during the day or cooling during the night. The impact theory could explain the rather high rate of rotation of Earth. It could also explain the angle of the Moon’s orbit to the Earth’s equator. If the impacting body was part of the solar system, the Earth’s path around the sun could have stayed well aligned with the other planets. Upon the assumed impact, the separated part of Earth would have broken up into small pieces, forming a ring of debris, subsequently to accrete to form the Moon.
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One cannot leave the discussion of the Moon without mentioning its stabilizing effect on the direction of the axis of Earth. Without a body of that size at that distance, Earth’s axis could change direction as any free-spinning top or wheel would under external influences – in the case of Earth, the influence of the Sun’s (and Jupiter’s) gravitation. A different angle or continuous changes of the angle of the axis of Earth’s rotation relative to its path around the Sun could possibly have had the gravest consequences for the climate on Earth – if by a large degree or if fast in terms of biological evolution – and, consequently, for the appearance and development of life, as discussed in a later chapter. On the other hand, the alternative – Earth rotating without a moon or with a different moon – has not been thoroughly investigated. Only the example of the planet Venus is used for comparison, with its very low angle of inclination of its axis of rotation. But that may have been the consequence of a very unfavorably aimed impact, not necessarily solely the consequence of lacking a moon.
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In sum:
In any event, Earth ended up having less crust material than it would have had if the material that formed the Moon had remained part of Earth or had been accumulated together with Earth right at the beginning of its formation. Equally important, Earth was allowed to have a reasonably constant and benign climate for the development and evolution of advanced forms of life. Both of these fortuitous facts resulted from the same impact of a celestial body on Earth. This well-aimed impact of a body of specific size on Earth at the most propitious time can be seen as a most mysterious aspect of Earth’s evolution.
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1.2.3 The History of Earth
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Whatever the cause of the forming of the Moon, this event deprived Earth of a large amount of surface material. The reduced surface material on Earth was no longer enough to cover the entire surface of Earth – as it does on other planets.
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Since some of Earth’s material in the mantle and outer core is like a very thick liquid with high viscosity at that temperature, it forms internal convection turbulence like a boiling soup, though at a very low speed. It now occurred that the specific areas of the mantle that happened to be under the patch of remaining and shielding surface crust material were unable to shed heat and, consequently, arrived at a higher temperature. This always leads to a degree of expansion that makes the hotter material in the mantle and outer core lighter and less viscous – thus permitting it to rise. The area not covered, however, cools more easily and becomes heavier, thereby sinking back toward the core of Earth.
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The consequence is that the patch of surface material on Earth over the hot area will be torn apart by the uprising turbulence underneath, moving apart in pieces toward the cooler area where the converging turbulence lets the surface currents flow together to sink and collect the pieces of crust over the sinking core material, to form another coherent patch of surface material in such an area in the course of time. [32]
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This movement of parts of the Earth’s surface material became known as continental drift, or plate tectonics, and has already led to the formation of at least three super-continents and their subsequent fractioned redistribution in the course of Earth’s history so far. The last of those was “Pangea” that existed approximately 200 to 300 million years ago (possibly formed in the southern hemisphere out of a combination of the southern super-continent Gondwana and the northern Laurasia). When it broke up 200 million years ago at the rate of approximately 1.5 inches per year (4 centimeters per year), the Atlantic Ocean opened up. At the same time, the ocean to the East, called “Tethys Sea”, became enclosed and compressed, leaving only some disconnected pieces – the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and Lake Aral.
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Prior to Pangea/Gondwana/Laurasia, the super-continent “Rodinia” had formed and broken up about 800 million years ago, and, going back in time, an earlier one did so about 1.5 billion years ago.
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The convulsions of the crust of the Earth, the crunching together in some areas and tearing apart in others, led to the formation of mountains, zones of upwelling, depressions, and subduction zones. It also changed the course and intensity of ocean currents. For example, the Gulf Stream – now providing for the temperate climate in Europe – originated only as some large Caribbean islands drifted west and blocked the gap between North and South America, forming Central America.
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The plate tectonic movements through the billions of years – specifically through the last 500 million years – had another important effect: They facilitated and accelerated natural evolution – as will be shown in a later chapter. The broken-up continents created numerous different and isolated niches and, consequently, favored the diversifying evolution. The multitude of climate changes, some on account of changes in carbon-dioxide content in the atmosphere – subsequent to plate tectonic events, as volcanism and subsequent greenhouse effects – created additional stimulation for evolution, as at the time of elimination of the dinosaurs. Climate changes also brought substantial changes in ocean water elevations – varying by hundreds of meters over time – in consequence of glaciations or warming that also added to evolutionary stimulation.
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Another consequence of the internal convulsion in Earth’s mantle and core is the formation of a magnetic field, surrounding Earth and deflecting some dangerous radiation. On the other hand, the cyclic changes of the magnetic field are not fully understood, are poorly explained by some thermodynamics and turbulence changes in the core and mantle, and are possibly augmented by self-induction effects, as in some electric machinery in correlation with Earth’s rotation (after all, the ocean currents all run east-to-west along the equator, but west-to-east in northern areas). In any event, the magnetic field changes must be explained differently from the turbulence changes causing plate tectonics.
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1.2.4 The Early Oceans, the Early Atmosphere, and Climate
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The origin and evolution of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate must be considered together. The oceans and the atmosphere have similar origins; together with climate, all three influence each other in their evolution.
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Water molecules and the molecules or atoms that later formed our atmosphere (mainly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen, and spurious others) were part of the band around the Sun out of which our Earth was formed – though a small part only. All these molecules or atoms accreted within Earth and took part in the separation process that let the heavy particles (e.g., iron and nickel) sink toward the center and the lighter ones form the mantle and crust. Most of the lightest particles were driven to the surface and may have disappeared in outer space. But some quantities of these particles remained trapped in the mantle and crust and were only driven out to the surface in the course of time through convulsions and volcanism. Every upwelling, as in the Daccan Traps and others, or in present-day volcanism, still brings more water (in the form of vapor) or gases to the surface. The original oceans and atmosphere, most likely formed by material contributed by comets, were augmented by these processes.
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The other heavy planets in the solar system (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) lack plate movements and show limited volcanism, which deprives them of any out-gassing phenomena – or they once had momentary and catastrophic out-gassing phenomena, as possibly once on Venus, with catastrophic climatic consequences and the loss of most of the lighter gases of its atmosphere to outer space – possibly the result of the unfavorable impact of another celestial body.
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The water on Earth may be merely a product of the formation of Earth. But it is more likely that an encounter or collision with a celestial body, as the one assumed to have formed the Moon – or, most likely, one or a number of comets consisting of ice, as so many others that are flying around – would have left the large amount of water on Earth. Probabilistically, as those comet encounters occurred, this could have been too little water for the subsequent evolution of a favorable climate for life on Earth – or it could have been too much water [33], covering all continents and most of their mountain ranges – leaving little room for the diversified life on dry land to evolve. Could intelligent life ever have originated underwater? (Could extraterrestrial intelligent underwater life be expected, and could it then communicate with us?)
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As indicated above, geological convulsion, some volcanoes, and weathering of igneous rock can bring out-gassing of gaseous remnants from the rocky crust of Earth. The enormous eruptions of the Deccan Traps in India and similar large-scale eruptions at other times (for example, in Siberia; see the discussion of geologic catastrophes below) may have been special contributors. The fossil and geological record of Earth indicates enormous climate changes over millions of years, including ocean-level changes of several hundred feet. Such climate changes must be seen in connection with atmospheric changes, whether as cause or result.
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The climate effect of high carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, resulting in a greenhouse effect, was especially important during the early part of the history of Earth. Three billion years ago, when early life began to appear, the Sun had a lower luminosity than today – only 70 percent of its present value. With the present atmosphere, all water in all oceans would have been frozen over at that time and would not have thawed by the slowly warming Sun until about 1.2 billion years ago. But already 3.8 billion years ago, running water was present. By the time the atmosphere had lost much of its carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect was reduced, the Sun had reached enough luminosity to keep the oceans warm. One can see this as one more of the very surprising aspects of evolution leading up to our environment on Earth.
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The climate on Earth was in danger of ending up in either of two catastrophic extremes. If too much vapor had developed early in Earth’s history, the greenhouse effect of this vapor could have further heated the surface of Earth, leading to ever more evaporation. When the atmospheric temperature becomes elevated, more vapor reaches stratospheric height where ultraviolet light can decompose the water molecules into their components of hydrogen and oxygen. The light hydrogen can escape to outer space, thus depriving Earth of ever having any meaningful quantities of water again. This is thought to have happened to Venus [34].
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Inversely, if the temperature on Earth had ever been low enough to let large parts of the oceans freeze, the reflectivity of such “white” surfaces would have prevented absorption of solar power, leading to further freezing. Earth could never have recuperated from such a permanent frost – unless it was reduced by volcanic ashes and gasses that, after the settling of the ashes, also led to a greenhouse effect and, combined with the warming of the Sun, climatic recovery – as possibly happened after some catastrophic basalt eruptions as at the Deccan and Siberian traps.
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In this context, one should mention the great importance of the anomaly of water. While all other materials are less dense and, consequently, lighter after melting, when in their liquid state – or, inversely, heavier in their solid state – water is different. Solid ice floats on water, being lighter than liquid water. If ice being formed at the surface of bodies of water were heavier, it would sink to the bottom and would soon fill all lakes and most oceans, since warming from the sun would not reach it any longer (only the warming from the inner radioactivity of Earth could). This could quickly lead to a total freeze-over of all of Earth. This is prevented by that strange or most fortuitous anomaly of water that lets ice float!
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In our intermediate status of surface temperatures on Earth between the freezing and the boiling of water, carbon dioxide plays an important regulatory role. Carbon dioxide is slightly acidic and, thereby, transforms and dissolves earlier limestone deposits (forming the famous caves and carrying along all the calcium that we also find in drinking water), carrying calcium into the oceans. Carbon dioxide also is a greenhouse-effect-producing gas (letting the warming solar light reach the surface of Earth but not the subsequent infrared heat radiation escape). Algae and plankton in the oceans need calcium and carbon dioxide to form their shells which then are deposited as limestone on the ocean floor. Geophysical subduction and subsequent volcanism can decompose limestone and eject carbon dioxide as a gas back into the atmosphere. The regulatory effect comes from higher temperature leading to increased sediment dissolution and increased algae and plankton life that deplete the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and lead to cooling. Lower temperature leads to a decrease in those factors and an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with consequent warming.
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The greenhouse effect presently feared on Earth is dangerous on account of its resulting in a dislocation of large parts of the by now stationary population of an overpopulated world – by driving people out of desertifying agricultural areas. Historically, Earth had periods of much higher surface temperatures than the present one, and recovered from them – at whatever very high cost of dislocation or extinction of plant and animal life during those transition periods.
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Short-term climate effects are related to sun-spot activity, which are caused by major hot eruptions on the surface of the sun. Earth’s climate is warmer during intense sun-spot periods (augmenting since the 20th century) and colder during quiet periods (for example, Europe’s “little ice age” from 1550 to 1850, only briefly interrupted from 1630 to 1680).
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There are some long-term climate effects unrelated to the oceans or the atmosphere. They result from the slow wobbling of Earth (as a spinning top with a 40,000-year cycle) due to its slight bulge and also on account of the deformation of Earth’s path around the Sun (with a 100,000-year cycle) due to the passing Jupiter, that enormous planet just a bit farther out in the solar system. These effects can change the solar exposure for the different parts of the surface of Earth during winter and summer, bringing much colder winters that are not sufficiently reverted in summers, or the opposite.
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The famous glacial periods in more recent times are the consequences of these short-term and long-term variations of Earth’s movements. Seen over longer periods of time, they are especially strong in connection with the forming and dissolution of the super-continents when the large land masses show “continental climate” cooling, when reduced seafloor spreading does not produce any carbon dioxide for greenhouse effects, and when ocean currents are redirected. Six major continental glaciation periods have been determined so far, all indicated in millions of years ago:
- at 2.800
- from 2.400 to 2.300
- from 900 to 600
- at 450
- from 350 to 250
- from 15 to the present (the last episode ended only 10,000 years ago and was possibly mitigated (and a repetitive outbreak prevented) by the effects of the onset of agriculture with its production of “greenhouse” gasses).
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Each major glaciation period is possibly combined out of numerous individual episodes. The results of the glaciations are, among other effects, large variations in sea level relative to the land masses due to the binding of water in the ice sheets and augmented by the change of buoyancy of the large land masses with or without ice sheets of the super-continents.
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The original ocean or oceans on Earth contained large amounts of dissolved iron, augmented mainly by submarine volcanic activity and the influx of sediments. The dissolved oxygen from the original atmosphere and any other oxygen later formed by algae photosynthesis were absorbed and depleted in forming insoluble iron oxides that resulted in deposits of banded iron formations at the bottom of the oceans. Only after all iron had been deposited out of the oceans could oxygen accumulate in any quantity in the atmosphere – beginning about 2.5 billion years ago and steeply increasing since that time as a product of biological activity.
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The original oceans and atmosphere of Earth contained large amounts of carbon dioxide. As experienced from later volcanic eruptions, one must assume that the atmosphere during the early convulsive period of Earth also contained much sulfur. The naked surface of Earth did not give cause for a change in atmospheric content, but the algae-containing oceans did.
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Early forms of life in the oceans began to combine dissolved calcium with carbon dioxide to form limestone that was deposited in great quantities on the ocean floor. It took a couple of billion years of mono-cellular algae action in the oceans to slowly absorb most of the carbon dioxide and emit oxygen before the atmosphere had changed to approximately what it is in our time and to leave just enough carbon dioxide for the climate-regulating effect mentioned above.
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The change to higher oxygen production and absorption of carbon dioxide accelerated when multi-cellular organisms appeared and the photosynthesis-producing plants came out of the oceans to colonize all the large dry surface of the Earth, all the continents and islands, beginning about 550 million years ago. The size of the plants began to increase rapidly, as this was a specific benefit on dry land (underwater, the Sun’s radiation does not penetrate very deep and an advantage is only in spreading horizontally, but not vertically).
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As plant-eating animals appeared, an additional advantage in plant size became apparent (cows don’t eat trees and even giraffes reach only the lowest branches). Plant size increased the absorption of carbon dioxide and production of oxygen.
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Our modern time of human civilizations indicates a trend toward much higher carbon dioxide production by means of fuel-burning in power plants and automobiles (combined with the production of other even more dangerous gases leading to ozone depletion, acid rain, and still stronger greenhouse effects). This raises the important question whether the oceans will be able to play their role of absorbing these large amounts of carbon dioxide or whether a substantial greenhouse type of warming will set in.
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One cannot leave this section of the essay concerning the formation and evolution of Earth without recognizing how absolutely standard or normal the planetary development of Earth was in the universe, while at the same time marveling at some of the unique effects and coincidences that made our planet’s climate as comfortably livable as it is. We should expect to find planets like ours (and Venus) all over our galaxy and all over the other galaxies of the universe – around mid-size stars, in areas of their galaxies that were seeded with heavy materials from the many prior supernova explosions and safely outside the central areas of galaxies with their very high radiation from ongoing supernova explosions.
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But how often can it happen that a moon formation or other effect left such planets with a partial crust to produce ample plate tectonics, out-gassing of water vapor and carbon-dioxide, and variable niche formation for accelerated natural evolution? [35] How often is the balance found between the retention of enough water for ocean formation, catastrophic vaporization, and eternal overheating as on Venus on one side, or cooling to a point of ocean freezing and eternal winter, on the other? How often is the climate balance by means of carbon dioxide action possible?
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Our planet Earth may be a special wonder of nature – for us to care for.
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1.2.5. Resilience in Great Catastrophes
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Fossil records indicate that five major “extinctions” of up to 99% of all living species have occurred during the last 600 million years – and one must assume some more before that time. Enormous events must have taken place to cause these extinctions. By now, only two causes have been identified: occasional impacts of very large meteorites and repetitive, very large volcanic eruptions, possibly a combination of both in interlinked events (see the discussion below).
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The most recent among the very large extinctions, 65 million years ago, wiped out the dinosaurs and with them about 80% of all species. The evolution of mammals followed this extinction that, therefore, became the most studied of all of them. It turned out that this extinction, and another one about 200 to 250 million years ago, can be seen in connection with meteorite impacts as they occur randomly. However, both of those extinctions, as well as all others, were connected to – and, most likely, were caused by – the surfacing of enormous bubbles of highly liquefied basaltic magma that were rising up at random intervals from the D” or other layers deep within Earth [36]. As these upsurges perforated the surface of the Earth, they caused enormous explosions and the delivery of very large quantities of poisonous gases (sulfur and carbon dioxide), some reaching high up into the stratosphere of the Earth, destroying the entire ozone layer and causing copious acid rain. Then followed the formation of large cracks on the surface of the Earth, many hundreds of miles long, some perpendicular to each other, leading to the fast distribution of the highly liquid basalts over very large areas and the delivery of more gases. This occurred in dozens of individual ejections over some time – each one possibly occurring within days and quickly running up to hundreds of miles in distance. Due to related geological events, the surface of the oceans dropped by up to 800 feet, destroying the most abundant, remaining aquatic life in the shallow waters that was not destroyed by the poisonous gases and consequent acid rains.
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The most famous basaltic deposits resulting from those events are the Deccan Traps in India, about the size of France and more than 5,000 feet thick in some places, connected with the dinosaur extinction. Equally important were the very large Siberian Traps, connected with the earlier extinction of life of the Trilobite era. Areas in Ethiopia, sea beds in the Pacific, the Palisades along the Hudson River near New York City, and an area along the Columbia River are minor basaltic deposits. It appears certain that more catastrophes of this sort will occur at random time intervals in the future.
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In view of these enormous catastrophes, the resilience of Earth’s atmosphere and climate is specifically noteworthy – always recovering the original and life-favorable consistency – thereby allowing life to recover, though in varied form.
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1.3. Singularities in Earth’s Evolution
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What are “singularities”?
- Extremely unlikely events (very low probability) that made the appearance of human existence possible
- Events that did occur, but only once, and never occurred again
- Also the non-occurrence of expected events?
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List of “singularities” concerning the evolution on Earth:
- At the beginning, a suitable dust disk around the Sun; proper composition, unperturbed, properly rotating
- The appearance of the Moon where, when, and as is
- The reaching and maintaining of climatic balance through all catastrophes
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There are a number of other important factors in the evolution of life on Earth, but they may not be “singularities”, which are described here as valid only for Earth, for example, the magnetic field protecting Earth against some radiation.
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1.3.1. At the Beginning, a Suitable Dust Disk:
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To be suitable for the formation of our life-harboring Earth or a similar one in the universe, the original dust disk around the Sun or another sun in the universe had to contain the distributions of heavy elements that we find on Earth. These, however, result largely from supernovae and can be expected in this concentration in a large area of most galaxies.
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The dust disk must be allowed to accrete in a largely unperturbed way, resulting in a number of almost circular bands. A large disturbance could lead to highly elliptical bands and only a few, very large planets.
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The rate of rotation must be suitable. If the rotation is extremely low, the dust disk could either fall into the central sun or form planets too close to the respective sun, with consequent very high surface temperatures. If the rate or rotation is high, the planets, if forming at all, would be too far from their sun and, consequently, too cold. The rate of rotation is basically derived from the same cause that brought the rotation of the galactic disk. There may be only a certain range of acceptable rotation rates for disks to form galaxies, with very slow rates leading to a collapse in a black hole in the center of the galaxy, large rotation rates not allowing galaxy formation. Consequently, the rotation rates of solar dust disks within a galaxy may be in a similarly suitable range.
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The above indicates that suitable dust disks around young stars for Earth-like planet formation may not be all that rare in the universe.
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1.3.2. The Appearance of the Moon
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If the impact theory for the origin of the Moon proves to be correct, then it is the question of the probability of such an impact – to occur at the right time, of the right size, in the right place.
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Indications are that about ten very large objects were flying around in the nascent planetary system, all large enough that their impact on Earth could have caused the Moon. Consequently, the impact on Earth had to occur as early as it did. Venus may have been hit by another one, but at an unsuitable spot, causing the low axis tilt and very low rotation of Venus, with the consequent loss of its water and resulting high surface temperature. Any such flying object reaching beyond Mars could have been swallowed up by Jupiter – or could have been decomposed by Jupiter’s gravitational pull and may have formed the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Not enough is known about Mercury to formulate any conjecture regarding early large impacts.
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The point of impact, in order to be suitable, had to be such that the resulting axis inclination of Earth and rate of rotation resulted in a life-suitable climate. If Earth is seen as a target with a circular cross-section, about 10% of this target section could be considered suitable – and an equal amount unsuitable, with the balance of intermediate or neutral effect, but not leading to a suitable moon. Venus may have been hit in an unsuitable area, Earth in a suitable one. Either way, seen from the point of this consideration, the origin of a suitable moon was not as unlikely as is often presented in the literature.
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1.3.3. The Climatic Balance Throughout All Catastrophes:
As indicated in an earlier chapter, a planet like ours is in a delicate climatic balance between overheating with desertification or under-cooling, with total and permanent ice coverage.
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The limited observation of our own solar system indicates that Earth-like planetary bodies tend to overheat rather than undercool. It is possible that undercooling can be repaired by large volcanism, as in the case of the recurring trap eruptions (Dacca, Siberia, and others). Overheating would not be repaired once all water is lost – unless a large ice-meteor should impact – apparently a highly unlikely event in the later course of planetary existence. Earth may have had this good fortune of receiving water and vapor during its early formation, when such objects were possibly more numerous in our solar system.
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Once life is established and a starting climatic balance given, that balance can be maintained by means of carbon-dioxide regulation, as described in an earlier chapter.
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The fact that Earth recovered from the major catastrophes – whether meteor impacts or very large basaltic eruptions (Dacca, Siberia, and others) – indicates a great climatic resilience, capability for climatic recovery, or climatic stability of our planet’s atmosphere. There is no reason to assume that this is extraordinary in the universe.
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In sum, the arrival at, and maintenance of, a suitable climate like ours is a probabilistic event, but not one of extreme lack of probability – possibly even of a probability in the single- or double-digit range – that would be a high probability, considering the astronomic number of planetary systems in the universe.
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Part 2: The Origin of Life, Natural Evolution, Human Evolution
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2.1. The Origin of Life and Natural Evolution
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2.1.1. Habitable Zones
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Only certain zones in the universe – within a galaxy and within a solar system – are suitable for the formation of higher forms of life as we know it. They are called “habitable zones” by the sciences. Primarily, they require the presence of suitable materials – a suitable mix of the light and heavy elements – a sun as a suitable energy supply, and the absence of or shielding against destructive radiation. [37] Additionally, due to the long time required for the development of higher forms of life, those areas must have a low density of collision-threatening comets or large meteorites – or must be shielded against them.
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This indicates that such habitable zones can be found only within galaxies, since gas clouds outside galaxies are too cold and lack energy sources. Within galaxies, their central areas, with their higher density, are thought to have too much radiation, possibly in connection with central black holes, as well as too many supernovae resulting in the projection of too much radiation. Too far out in a galaxy, the opposite may be the case, resulting in too little quantities of heavy materials from past supernovae. This leaves a certain band of certain galaxies as a habitable zone where solar systems could harbor life.
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Within individual solar systems, great proximity of planets to their central sun would result in excessive surface heating – with life basically restricted to the very narrow band between 0 and 50oC surface temperature on planets – for the availability of liquid water and a heat level below destructiveness for large organic molecules (except for extremophile bacteria). A large distance of planets from the central sun would not provide enough heat from this energy source. Depending on the size and age of a star – and its consequent heat-radiating intensity – the habitable zone for its planets would be closer to or farther away from the central star, possibly shifting with the age and radiation of the star. The early Earth demonstrates that atmospheric greenhouse effects allow for the extension of the habitable zone to an area of lower heat reception. This allowed Earth to become habitable at an early time when the Sun had only 70% of its present luminosity. The habitable zone of our solar system, including atmospheric influences, begins beyond Mercury and includes the region from Venus by way of Earth to Mars. Beyond that area, there are not enough heavy elements and an excess of water content (beyond the Asteroid Belt). The outer planets are too cold (distance from Sun), largely gaseous, and, therefore, not considered habitable for life as we know it – except possibly some of their moons that may be kept warm through extreme tidal deformation. In sum, our Earth is in a very habitable zone of the universe, being about 60% of our galaxy’s radius away from its center and, within our solar system, about one hundred times the diameter of our specific sun away from it.
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The assessment whether “habitable zones” are fairly plentiful in the universe and, consequently, whether we humans are a highly unusual phenomenon in the universe, or whether much other intelligent life can be expected in the universe, is a subjective one. Depending upon the individual scientist and the general trend in the sciences at any one time, the glass is either half full or half empty. In times past, plenty of other intelligent life had been expected in the universe. The SETI project [38] was started to discover and communicate with that supposed life. Then, a more critical view arrived and publications [39] pointed out how unlikely any other higher forms of life – specifically, intelligent life – in the universe would be (but not denying the possibility for extensive bacterial life). Lately, the discovery of “extremophile” bacteria deep under ice, at very hot deep-sea vents, or deep within rocks, has opened a view allowing for larger “habitable zones” and, therefore, greater probabilities. But the expected, randomly repetitive large catastrophes remained as the limiting factor, possibly not allowing enough time for the slow development of higher forms of life. But do we really know whether higher evolution must always be slow?
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On the other hand, the recognition of the great resilience of Earth’s atmosphere and the resurgence of ever higher forms of life after each of the past catastrophes should allow for the acceptance of higher comet or meteor risks in the environment and, consequently, larger habitable zones or higher probabilities for advanced forms of life in the universe to develop in the available time. The fact that life on Earth easily survived many passages through the galaxy’s spiral arms and the many reversals in the magnetic field, with consequent higher radiation levels during transition times, should allow for more radiation risks.
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The assumption that higher forms of life have required billions of years to develop on Earth should be put in perspective with the arrival of large quantities of oxygen only some 600 million years ago. This oxygen, consequently, led to the oxidizing of biomaterials as a source of energy and, therefore, required mobility, then leading to nerves and, finally, the brain as the main characteristic of what we call “higher” form of life.
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Life’s development in the last 600 million years was quite rapid, especially during the last 65 million years, after the demise of the dinosaurs. Why could another Earth-like planet in the universe not have shown even faster mammal development? It could have occurred, for example, in lieu of dinosaur development after an earlier catastrophe, hundreds of millions of years earlier in evolution than on Earth.
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In sum, this author assumes a somewhat more temperate position, seeing the very special character of Earth as a harbinger of life in the vastness of the universe, but also seeing the probability for other Earth-like planets in other solar systems and in other galaxies to harbor higher forms of life – with enough shielding against radiation and impacts and with atmospheres with enough resilience, like our own, to overcome catastrophes. This would allow for considerably more intelligent life in the universe than has recently been assumed – specifically in consideration of the very large number of existing galaxies (several billions) and the very large number of solar systems within them (several billions in each of them).
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After all, the product of an exceptionally large number and a small probability still allows for the result to be anything, but possibly also a large number.
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2.1.2. The Origin of Life
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Living beings are composed of molecules. Certain molecules are called “organic” by scientists, because they were found to appear mainly in combination with, or as products of, processes of living organisms. Later, it was found that some of these organic molecules – they should be called “proto-organic” – existed before life arose on Earth and were the precursors of life. The designation “organic” is misleading. Those molecules – mainly complex compositions of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen – often containing the famous Kekule-discovered “benzene” hexagonal ring of six carbon atoms – did not originate in the universe in connection with any organic life. Later, however, as life arose, these molecules actually did occur in life processes and became the dominant form of molecules in living beings – hence their group designation as “organic” molecules.
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The question arises why carbon became the key atom in all organic molecules and, consequently, all living organisms – though combined with hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and many spurious materials. Atoms consist of a nucleus composed of positively charged protons and neutrons. They attract negatively charged electrons in a number equal to the protons. The electrons can be visualized as circling the atomic nucleus on a sphere or “shell”. But when more than two electrons are needed for the nucleus, the first shell is full and the extra electrons circle on an additional shell. More electrons are added for heavier nuclei, until, at eight electrons, that second shell is full and another one has to be started – and so on. Electrons can be shared with other atoms, thereby establishing bonds with those other atoms. Two hydrogen atoms, with only one electron each, can establish bonds with an oxygen nucleus requiring two electrons to complete its second shell – thereby forming H2O, water. Carbon has four electrons in its second shell that could hold eight and, thereby, can establish four bonds in all directions with all kinds of other atoms (nitrogen, the next most important atom in organic chemistry, can have only three bonds and oxygen only two). Those electrons, being of an inner shell, are very stable. This makes carbon a versatile and strong building block for complex structures or chains. In other words, it is the regularity of the electron shell structure of atoms that led to the combinatorial bonding of atoms and that let carbon become the key element of organic composition and consequent natural evolution.
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As described above, simple “organic” but not “living” molecules – such as methane and some amino acids [40] – had already been constructed in cosmic space from the ejecta of collapsed stars by means of ultraviolet light and radioactivity in the universe and were floating around in space before Earth was formed. Consequently, when the origin of Earth took place as it “accreted” (coagulated) in its band of gas and dust around the Sun, such proto-organic molecules became part of Earth and may have survived this forming process, at least at high altitudes of the atmosphere and, less likely so, in some niches of the surface crust, possibly at some depth. On the other hand, Earth reached extremely high temperatures upon accretion, early formation, and under early comet impact and may have become sterilized thereby.
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A different theory concerning the origin of life on Earth appears more promising. During the violent time of Earth’s formation and thereafter, asteroids and comets consisting of ice impacted Earth [41]. Four significant factors came together in these comets: dust particles, an icy surface on those particles (or dust on icy surfaces), inclusions of proto-organic molecules in those icy surfaces as available in space, and ultraviolet light. The dust particles that accreted to form the comets consisted of mineral or metallic material. “Cosmic” ice [42] had formed in outer space on these dust particles (or dust particles had accumulated on the ice) and contained already complex organic molecules as available in space – as one knows from the recent investigation of comets. The combination of a catalytic effect of the mineral or metallic surfaces of the dust particles – with the energy provided by ultraviolet radiation as available in space and the effect of the ice to hold the proto-organic material, to give it yet some limited mobility – facilitated the formation of more complex molecules, especially since cosmic ice goes through transformations into different states (amorphous, cubic, hexagonal, and liquid).
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Four resulting organic formations of dust in or on cosmic ice were detected and are of special significance: nitrile, chinon (so named in the related paper, commonly called quinone), adenine, and formaldehyde.
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- Nitriles (for example, Propionitrile CH3CH2CN) consists of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen atoms. When immersed in water, as when cosmic ice temporarily melts under the influence of radiation or when it hits an ocean on Earth, it is transformed into a lipid acid. Certain lipids (for example, phospholipids and other amphipathetic lipids) can spontaneously form “micelles”. Micelles are hollow spheres or bubbles organized in a double layer of fatty acids, like cell membranes. They permit “protected” chemical evolution in their inner space.
- Quinone can be formed in comets or cosmic ice from the already existent methane, ammoniac, and carbon dioxide. Quinone has certain chemical similarities to chlorophyll [43]. On the one hand, it can transform absorbed radiation into chemically stored energy. On the other hand, it protects other proto-organic molecules from the destructive radiation that exists in space and existed on early Earth even before Earth’s final atmosphere was formed.
- Adenine is formed from carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen atoms. Not only is it one of the nucleo-bases that are the key elements of RNA and DNA as carriers of genetic information, it is also a precursor of adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) which plays a key role as energy carrier in cellular dynamics.
- Formaldehyde (H2CO) is the forerunner of ribose or desoxyribose, the sugar backbone of RNA and DNA, both formed out of a polymerization of 5 formaldehyde molecules.
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Some icy comets, as also some rocky comets, do not fully vaporize upon entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Icy comets that do not fully vaporize have the additional advantage of keeping their inner temperatures moderate, thereby allowing the complex proto-organic substances to survive.
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It is known that some of the cosmic proto-organic molecules lead immediately to more complex molecules as they enter the water of Earth’s oceans.
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Calculations indicate that any comet that hit Earth may have deposited 1024 dust particles into the early oceans!
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A more detailed discussion would indicate the specific significance of ultraviolet radiation for the promotion of chemical reactions leading to more complex molecules (or the maintaining of a balance between “right-handed” and “left-handed sugars” in the evolution-feeding original organic soup on Earth – or the contribution of ultraviolet radiation to RNA formation).
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In sum, the icy comets may have been the source not only of water for Earth but also of the organic evolution on Earth and the origin of life. This may explain why life originated so quickly, within only 50 million years after Earth had cooled and stabilized.
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Organic molecules found a favorable environment in the early atmosphere and oceans, as well as deep underground, shielded from the effects of the numerous meteor impacts, radiation, and the intense volcanism of the early Earth.
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A famous experiment by scientists shows that additional quantities and types of “organic” material could appear naturally in this environment when lightning hit waters rich in basic proto-organic molecules. More likely, such formations occurred when early organic molecules accumulated on clay or pyrite surfaces or at underwater volcanic vents (“hot-spots”) rich in iron and sulfur efflux [44]. Clay and pyrite surfaces are electrostatically attractive to such proto-organic molecules. In environments rich in such molecules, these can form a dense layer on the surfaces of those clays in shallow ponds or pyrites at deep-sea volcanic wells, keeping the individual basic molecules somewhat immobile in close proximity to each other.
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This immobility, however, is not total stillness, since elevated temperature indicates a corresponding amount of “Brownian” movement appearing as a constant “wiggle” of all atoms or molecules within whatever space is available – resulting in corresponding collisions between adjacent molecules. Furthermore, radiation will cause further collisions and will partially impact the electron layers of the molecules – possibly damaging some electron “shells” and dissolving some bonds, but also possibly rendering them receptive to linkage with neighboring other molecules. Actual linkage, then, is a matter of probability and the right temperature, one high enough to permit forceful Brownian and electron-based interaction between molecules, but not too high to immediately destroy newly formed molecules again.
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Considering the “astronomical” number of interacting molecules on all the potentially suitable clay or pyrite surfaces of Earth and the millions of years until DNA appeared on Earth as it cooled down, it is not surprising that critical conditions were reached at one point where RNA or DNA fortuitously formed and remained stable on a clay surface. In a shallow pond – or, more likely, at an underwater hot-spot or “vent” – RNA could have formed first, subsequently forming DNA.
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Anthony Mellersh – in his Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere (23, 261-274), 1993, indicates that an RNA strand adheres to a solid surface in an undulated way. Each of the folds of this undulation happens to be just three RNA bases long, permitting the fitting of certain amino acids into those folds. Could this have been the original process of one being formed from the other, amino acids from RNA or RNA from amino acids – with the rule that three RNA bases are needed for the definition of each amino acid upon translation – thereby being established? Inversely, could the aboriginal amino acids have formed minute bits of RNA on their surface that, when attached next to each other on a clay surface, formed these longer undulating chains and, hence, RNA? Then, only 100 genes on DNA/RNA were necessary to form primitive living organisms [45].
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Luke Lehman (at Scripps, in La Jolla, 2004) demonstrated that extraterrestrial amino acids reaching volcanic underwater vents could combine with carbonylsulfide gases to form peptide chains, the beginning of proteins.
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Günter Wächtershauser of Munich University suggests that it was an iron/nickel/sulphur surface as found at hydrothermal vents that produced amino-acids and proteins. Trevor Dale of Cardiff University expanded this theory indicating that proteins could crystallize in the form of long fibers (amyloid) acting as a catalytic surface for the origin of RNA. Charles Cockell of Open University, U.K., indicated that the numerous impact craters occurring during the violent early phase of Earth often generated hydrothermal springs leading to some of the above processes. Upon cooling, further evolution of organic molecules could occur.
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The present status of science indicates that RNA was the first molecule that was self-replicating, utilized resources from its environment and was leading to evolution, therefore called a “living” molecule. But, while all precursor organic molecules could be synthetically produced by now, it was not yet possible to simulate the natural starting conditions sufficiently to produce RNA synthetically and prove any of the theories of its origin.
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RNA is a very complex molecule – with a complex composition and structure, not flat as shown in chemical formulas on paper, but with a complex, three-dimensional shape. RNA is used by nature to produce amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Amino acids did occur in outer space and, as indicated, were present on the early Earth or were transported there at a later time. Most, if not all, chemical processes can work in both directions. Consequently, could natural, aboriginal amino acids, some early nucleo-base, and cosmic formaldehyde have led to the formation of the first pieces of RNA? As pointed out in a later chapter, the translation of RNA into amino acids is not simple and commonly utilizes some facilitating proteins. Did some primitive proteins and nucleotides facilitate the back-translation of amino acids into RNA pieces? This may be the bottleneck for synthetic replication of RNA generation and may be providing for the uniqueness of its appearance in the first place.
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One must assume that synthetic production of RNA should be possible in the future through ingenuity or fortuitous circumstances. This leads to the thought of “creating” a new, man-made start of natural evolution based on a variant of RNA. Such evolution could be controlled, in laboratories. But what if some of that new RNA escapes or is exposed to a natural environment somewhere on Earth? What would or could evolve from it over time? Possibly less than science fiction expects – since most niches for survival are filled. But the phenomenon of invasive species taking over new territories tells another story – and so does the precaution of NASA not to expose other celestial bodies with our organisms or Earth to possible organisms from other celestial bodies.
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In any event, it appears as a miracle and singularity of Creation that only RNA appeared, only once, about 3.9 billion years ago as a self-replicating molecule leading to evolution – and, consequently, as the source of life. There is evidence that RNA is self-replicating and can also synthesize DNA (see, for example, the work done by Walter Gilbert, Sidney Altman). DNA is a much more stable molecule, capable of forming long and stable chains by linking multiple molecules like segments of a string together (by means of phosphorus linkage atoms). DNA can reproduce new RNA.
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For these reasons, DNA may have prevailed at that early time over any other possible self-replicating molecules – possibly in the competition for scarce resources – for example, phosphorus – or in competing for favorable territories – for example, the areas with just the right temperature and availability of chemical compounds, as well as sufficiently undisturbed to allow nature to experiment with the formation of those molecules over some period of time. Some scientists believe that it may have taken 10 million years to produce DNA. But, as said, it has not been possible so far to synthetically reproduce any such “living” molecules.
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It is equally difficult to understand why no other self-replicating and evolving molecule, different from RNA or DNA and their derivatives, has ever appeared subsequently in the course of the last 3.9 billion years. Theoretically, other forms of life along the lines of DNA should have become viable, even though propagating less efficiently than the one that prevailed. So many later microbes, plants, and animals have found niches to avoid predators and evolve – but no other “living” molecule ever found a niche in which to appear and start a different, surviving strain of life from that which we know and are made of. This must be counted among the mysterious singularities in evolution, as will be pointed out in a later chapter of this essay [46].
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A much discussed scientific theory indicates that RNA or DNA may have arrived within a meteorite, possibly from Mars, from where many large meteors arrive all the time and many more arrived during the early phase of our solar system [47]. This would not solve the problem of the origin of life – it would just antedate and relocate the problem. The same can be said about the “Panspermia” theory, indicating that RNA or DNA may have arrived from outer space beyond our solar system and may be found in many areas of outer space [48].
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There is a new conjecture indicating that the formation and multiplication of DNA were specifically favored on the early Earth by the existence of the Moon [49]. At that early time, the Moon was much closer to Earth, as described earlier. Consequently, the tidal waves were enormously larger, washing over wider areas and then leaving them to dry out again. This left more salt in the tidal areas. It is known that the double-stranded DNA helix tends to break up in one condition, only to form a new double helix in the other condition thereafter. Consequently, under the most favorable circumstances, there could have been a doubling of DNA with each tidal cycle, quickly leading to dominance. The problem consists in the fact that this assumes the existence of the Moon close to Earth at the time of the origin of DNA, some almost 4 billion years ago. As indicated above, in the chapter on the origin of the Moon, there are some serious problems with this assumption.
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After all, it appears as if the availability of precursor organic compounds for life’s formation as evolved in cosmic space and deposited on icy comets, then their swift variation or expansion in the early oceans, as described above, may have been the prime candidate for the explanation of the RNA-based origin of life on Earth – and, possibly, in a similar way on other celestial bodies.
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What we describe as life is a self-organizing system of complex molecules – taking on a life and evolution of its own in accordance to its own rules. This is another example of the “Combinatorial Principle,” but also of the “Basic Principle of Evolution”, as explained in Chapter 1.1.5, indicating that the universe evolves as possible at any one time or place in accordance with the then and there given starting and boundary conditions – with evolution being driven by probabilistic or random variations, and finding viability in accordance with opportunity.
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If the origin of a “living” molecule, RNA, was a highly unusual event and occurred only once on Earth, can one say that all natural life on Earth descended from that one single molecule?
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2.1.3 DNA, RNA, Ribosomes, Enzymes, Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, ATP
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In considering the further evolution of life from its mysterious beginning about 4 billion years ago [50], one has to look at the most important organic compounds allowing cells or organisms to live and evolve, described by their scientific designations as nucleic acids, nucleotides, codons, ribosomes, enzymes, amino acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and adenosine triphosphate, or “ATP”, for short.
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Both RNA and DNA are called “nucleic acids” (DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA = ribonucleic acid). A preceding chapter presented a discussion on why RNA is assumed to be the source of life on Earth. But RNA itself is not very stable, and any strands of it easily break up into smaller pieces. RNA, however, is thought to have been capable of forming DNA – a much more stable molecule, allowing the formation of very long strands with superb multiplication capability. Thus, DNA is the molecule that became the repository, or archive, of our genetic foundation. RNA remained as the linkage between DNA and amino acids – by creating the amino acid strings that form proteins.
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DNA is formed by two almost identical, twisted strings constituting the famous “double helix”. The individual segments of the DNA strands, the so-called nucleotides described below, consist of sugar molecules with attached “nitrogenous bases”. Each nucleotide along the nucleic acid string is linked to the next one by a “phosphate group”, a single oxidized phosphorus atom. The phosphorus links may allow – with all the necessary stability of those DNA molecules – the introduction of minor variations in the DNA strands under special external influences (chemical- or radiation-related). Such variations can lead to the mutations necessary for evolution, which in turn lead to different or higher forms of life at an acceptable rate. The variations must be slow enough to allow for the development of large colonies of viable living beings. On the other hand, the variations must be fast enough to allow for evolution to use opportunities and avoid risks connected with climatic changes, ecological changes, and the limited lifetime of our Sun and Earth – ultimately to reach the development of higher civilizations in the time between major catastrophes, as described in a later chapter.
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The length of DNA may be only a few hundreds or thousands of nucleotides in simple organisms, but it reaches almost 3 billion of such nucleotide segments in humans. Such a long strand (about 2 meters long, if fully extended) is not left loose in the cell. It is set in a very tight spiral, then, in eukaryotic cells, wound around very small cores (nucleosome particles consisting of four histone proteins) produced in the cell, with just 1.8 windings or 140 base pairs of DNA per core (this DNA section then being called a nucleosome). The nucleosomes are separated by 20 to 100 base pairs of DNA and the whole spiral is then once more formed into a super-spiral. It is intriguing to notice that the spiraling is done in such a fashion as to leave important “addresses” (regulatory elements of the genetic helix) for later transcription accessible on the outside. The still very long spiral of a spiral can then be coiled and formed, upon fertilization or cell division, into some larger species-specific patterns, the so-called chromosomes, including the famous X-shaped and Y-shaped chromosomes of humans.
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Along either of the two helix-intertwined DNA strands, the sugar molecule of each nucleotide is provided with a small protrusion – a “nitrogenous base” in chemical language – consisting of one or two hexagonal or pentagonal rings of carbon and nitrogen atoms with outward-reaching, additionally attached nitrogen or hydrogen atoms. These protruding molecules are connected to the corresponding (and protruding) molecules on the other one of the two twisted DNA strands. The connection is made by two or three hydrogen atoms as bonds at the end of those connecting protrusions, depending on how they are formed (their chemical nature).
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An individual subunit of DNA, the combination of a sugar molecule with its nitrogenous base, is called a “nucleotide”. There are only four different kinds of nucleotides, according to the only four types of attached nitrogenous bases they may possess (called A, C, G, and T or, within RNA, U). When linking one strand with the other along DNA, only certain linkages of bases (or letters, as indicated) from one strand to the other are possible due to the very different configurations of the ends of those bases that have to meet and link between the two strands of DNA – and also to complement each other in their different sizes, thereby keeping the double DNA helix at relatively constant width.
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Subgroups of three adjacent nucleotides along a DNA string are called a “codon”, because it always takes one such codon group of three nucleotides to let the subsequent messenger-RNA produce one specific amino acid as a building block of proteins. The type of amino acid that results is determined by the types and sequence of bases in the codon being expressed. The sequence of codons on DNA results in a corresponding sequence on the messenger RNA and, consequently, in a specific sequence of amino acids in the outgoing string of those amino acids, which is then called a protein.
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A significant string of many codons, resulting in the expression of a protein, is called a “gene”. So far, about 20,000 human genes have been identified and 5,000 more are expected to be identified in the future, for a total of possibly even less than 25,000 human genes. This is just about the number of genes some fishes have and just 25% more than the number of genes for some worms. The difference comes from the capability of the human genome for gene splicing and control. Thereby, the same number of genes can express a vastly larger number of proteins, theoretically in the trillions [51], which is a much larger number than that of some plants and other organisms with larger number of genes but which are not capable of splicing. Additional differences may come from variations in gene coiling (or condensations, compressions) in the chromosomes, providing or inhibiting gene expression (see the new field of epigenetics discussed below).
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RNA is similar to DNA, but consists of only one strand of somewhat different nucleotides. The nucleotide designated by the letter “T” in DNA is replaced by the nucleotide designated by the letter “U” in RNA. Three types of RNA are produced through transcription of DNA. Messenger RNA, the mRNA, is the agent in the creation of amino acids and their chain-like assembly into protein molecules, the main actors of life in the cells. Some amino acids do appear naturally in cosmic space out of the material available from earlier star explosions, transformed by the radiation permeating space. But most of the specific amino acids needed in organisms must be produced by those organisms themselves, beginning with the material that is available in their seed or egg cell. This is accomplished by mRNA based on the code found on DNA.
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Another kind of RNA transcribed from DNA is called “rRNA”. Its transcription from DNA is facilitated by specific molecules called RNA-polymerases. The “rRNA” strings form “ribosomes”. They consist of a combination of several “rRNA” molecules and an additional accumulation of specific protein molecules. Ribosomes are large molecules that facilitate the transcription of mRNA into amino acid sequences, the new proteins.
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Additionally, there is “tRNA”, the “transport RNA”. Its function in transcription is explained later.
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Enzymes: “Enzymes” is the name of the group of proteins that act as catalysts – for example, the above-mentioned RNA polymerase (there are three types of those), facilitating transcription of DNA into RNA.
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Amino acids: The core cluster of an amino acid consists of a nitrogen atom with two or three attached hydrogen atoms (an “amino group”) that is connected to a carbon atom with two attached oxygen atoms (a “carboxyl group”) by way of an intermediate carbon atom. Attached to this core cluster is one of 20 possible chains that define the specific type of the 20 naturally existing amino acids, all designated by a letter (in four groups, containing either D, E, K, R, H, or S, T, Q, N, Y, or A, V, L, I, M, F, W, or G, C, P) [52]. These chains consist of as few as one hydrogen atom (in Glycine, designated by the letter “G”) to a chain of six links (in Arginine, designated by the letter “R”), or a combination of a pentagonal plus a hexagonal arrangement of carbon and hydrogen atoms (in Tryptophan, designated by the letter W), and more [53].
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Proteins, also called polypeptides: Proteins consist of chains of amino acids – with the core groups of the different amino acids being linked and their side chains remaining outside. The specific sequence of amino acid types being produced by mRNA transcription is indicated by the sequence of codons on the genome of the DNA that is being transcribed via that mRNA, as described before. The proteins do all the work in any living unit [54] – from the smallest proteins forming “picornaviruses” to the largest knots of proteins in the cells of the human body.
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Protein strings can be up to many hundreds or even thousands of amino acids long.
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Most proteins, specifically the larger ones, do not stay in an extended state but, after being formed, quickly fold into complex shapes. Each type of protein assumes a specific shape. These shapes are composed of spirals (α-helices), bands (β-sheets) and some loose ends, all lumped together in a specific way. The total form may be quite compact, but may also include certain niches where actually most of the protein’s action on, or sensitivity to, its environment takes place.
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There may be 10,000 different types of proteins in a human cell at any one time (up to 50% of its mass) and possibly many hundreds of thousand different types in the human body at different times.
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Lipids are a diverse group of molecules including fats used by the body for energy storage and lipid bilayers used in the cell as membranes. Lipid bilayers can naturally form spherical arrangements (bubbles) – so-called “liposomes” – providing excellent protection for the inside space within those bubbles.
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The first lipid bubbles may have become available from the nitriles arriving on Earth with icy comets. But, once DNA and the secondary proteins were able to form lipids, it was only a matter of time until this capability led to ongoing production of protective bubbles around the DNA and its associated protein factory – an arrangement we now call “cells”.
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Lipid acids, more commonly now called fatty acids, are chains of, typically, 14 to 20 carbon atoms, each with two attached hydrogen atoms. Their high carbon content explains their energy content when used in the form of fats as nourishment. Fats are three lipid acid chains connected at their end by a combination of a few carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Lipid bilayers are double sheets of small interconnected molecules, each having two lipid acid chains attached, but all directed toward the intermediate space between two sheets forming the bilayer.
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Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates include the various forms of sugars and larger molecules composed of sugars. The simple sugars (fructose and glucose) contain short chains of carbon atoms, with attached hydrogen atoms to one side and oxygen-hydrogen atom combinations, on the other, as well as more complex configurations of atoms at the end of the chain. These end-configurations determine the difference between the various sugars. Some sugars can form three-dimensional hexagonal rings out of their chains. Carbohydrates provide an easily accessible energy supply to the body – by way of oxidation in the mitochondria – providing heat and forming ATP – the latter transferring energy to wherever it attaches itself to.
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Glucose, the main energy source for the body, is formed in the liver from various food materials absorbed by the intestines and can be stored in modest amounts in the muscles (in the form of glycogen). Plants store their energy surplus in a multi-molecular form of sugar called “starch” (e.g. in potatoes and cereals).
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Sugar molecules also serve as the structural element of larger molecules, as in cellulose and cotton and when forming the supporting strings of DNA and RNA. Cellulose may be the most abundant organic material on Earth, with high energy content, but animals lack the enzyme needed to break it up and absorb it as food [55]. Sugar molecules also can form “chitin”, a plastic-like material used as supporting structure (armor) by the invertebrates.
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ATP: The small molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) plays a key role in the cell wherever energy is needed – for example, in the formation of proteins through transcription and in the deformation of proteins as in working muscles. ATP consists of a complex head formed by a couple of hexagonal or pentagonal rings of carbon and nitrogen atoms with an attached tail of three phosphorus atoms, coupled by oxygen atoms and with oxygen atoms to their sides. The last of these phosphorus atoms can be shed with an explosive effect, driving the ATP head or third phosphorus link, and whatever it is attached to, forward. This may serve for the firm attachment of a smaller molecule to a larger one by overcoming the mutual repulsion provided by their electron orbits. It may also help molecules to move forward against fields of electric potential as when moving through openings (“channels”) in a cell wall. Finally, it may serve to bring a protein molecule to a different folding pattern, with different geometric aspects resulting, for example, in the movement of muscle fibers relative to each other. That can result in a “shortening” of a packet of muscles on the body.
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ATP is produced or reconstituted in the mitochondria of a cell with the assistance of an electron-donor molecule (NAD, resulting from the vitamin niacin) and the components and energy from sunlight in plants or, in animals, from oxidizing carbohydrates (glucose, a hexagonal ring of carbon atoms with attached hydrogen atoms, then becoming carbon dioxide and water) and fats (fatty acids, ultimately also becoming carbon dioxide and water). There may be a million ATP molecules in a single cell at any one time, being replenished by the mitochondria as needed.
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One cannot leave this section without marveling how the few basic atoms – carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and phosphorus (why phosphorus, and no other?) – arranged in a few interconnected simple patterns – in simple hexagonal and pentagonal rings or just in more or less extended strings – can result in so many different molecules with such widely different and important functions in the human body (or in any other organism), thereby providing the phenomenon of life.
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All of these phenomena of origin of organic molecules, their interaction, and life can be seen as another demonstration of the Combinatorial Principle that was presented in connection with cosmic evolution as facilitating and driving the amazing evolution in the universe – whereby individual particles are capable of combination in such a way that the resulting larger components present totally different types of characteristics from their constituent parts. Carbon dioxide, water, and some other small molecules were able to form proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates – that were able to form living cells – that were able to form organisms – that ultimately had brains – and formed civilizations.
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One can also marvel at the shapes that folded DNA and proteins can assume – the art of nature – so different from our art and, yet, so intriguing.
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2.1.4. Cell Evolution: Genomics, Proteomics, Computational Biology, Epigenetics, Death
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Upon the origin of life, the formation of “cells” was the most important innovation after the appearance of RNA and DNA, possibly occurring simultaneously out of self-forming lipid bubbles protecting their interior space where undisturbed proto-organic evolution could have taken place. The original living and multiplying cells may have contained little else but DNA, RNA, some proteins, and a nutrient solution of water.
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It was the most important accomplishment of the following three billion years of slow evolution, prior to the appearance of complex organisms, to develop some advanced cells, the “eukaryotic” cells [56], with a number or important internal structures and functions – setting the stage for the subsequent explosive evolution of higher forms of life. These internal structures of cells, also called “organelles” – some possibly symbiotically acquired by absorbing other micro-organisms – include (organized by their function):
- A major internal separation:
o Nucleus: An inner membrane includes the DNA, now subdivided into chromosomes, and provides protected space for the transcription of DNA into RNA
- Structures serving the controlled transport of materials
o Endoplastic Reticulum: a complex structure surrounding the nucleus providing surfaces for directed molecular transport
o Golgi apparatus: Membrane enclosed spaces for the transport and processing of lipids and proteins
o Lysosomes: Membrane enclosed spaces for transport and digestion of imported materials
- Structures serving the energy household of the cell
o Chloroplasts (only in plants): Membrane-enclosed spaces for photosynthesis
o Mitochondria: Membrane-enclosed sub-units, now believed to be symbiotically incorporated basic bacteria with their own DNA, providing oxidation of organic materials resulting in either heat or production of ATP for subsequent processes requiring energy (muscle movement, formation of proteins, and more)
- Structures for the physical stabilization of the cell and material transport within
o Cytoskeleton: consisting of various fibers providing structural support for the cell and placement of organelles or RNA when in translation into proteins, but also serving as path for molecular movement within the cell, and, finally, serving to divide recently split chromosomes in the process of cell division
and more. All of these structures or “organelles” function in a complex way of chemical, molecular, or just electron processes as studied and described by “molecular biology” [57].
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The essence of life and the core of a living cell is the DNA double helix. It has a surprisingly simple structure – but the dynamic world of all the many thousands, if not many millions, of molecules within a cell is astonishingly complex. All molecules are in constant movement, in either a slight wiggle at a given place or in a zigzag movement under the influence of perpetual collisions with neighboring particles. Some of those movements follow certain surfaces of structures within the cell; others occur in the three-dimensional space of the cell liquid, the cytoplasm. This movement is the energetic expression of heat and is called “Brownian” movement, sensed by us as temperature. Equally important are movements of certain molecules that are guided by electric potentials along the outside of larger molecules, as when providing the translation of DNA and RNA or when passing through “gates” in the cell membranes. Between these erratic Brownian movements and the guided progressions, the choreography of molecules in a cell is a strange combination of random events and strictly regulated progressions – a dichotomy that was already described in cosmic evolution and appears as a basic principle of all natural evolution – and that can still be found in human thought and human societies in their progression.
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To understand the dynamics of the world of molecules in a cell, one has to look at the atomic forces at play. Positive and negative charges attract and neutralize each other, but two positive or two negative charges repel each other. As discussed before, atomic nuclei are composed of protons that are being held together by neutrons. Each proton has one positive charge, consequently capturing one electron with its negative charge. The electrons “circle” the nucleus at a certain distance, not unlike planets. The all negative electron spheres, also called “shells”, of adjacent atoms repel each other, keeping the atoms or molecules apart. But when an electron is missing in the outer shell of an atom, the forcing together of adjacent atoms, as in collisions, can lead to the sharing of an electron. This provides a permanent bond between those two atoms. Consequently, the Brownian zigzag movement of all the molecules within a cell result from those particles being bounced off the electron shells of other molecules, but this movement can also lead to new bonds, resulting in “chemical reactions” of the molecules among each other.
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There is one additional energy source for molecular events in the cell -- ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This is a small organic molecule with an attached tail of three oxidized phosphorus atoms, as described above. The separation of the last of these three phosphorus atoms (called “hydrolysis”, due to the need for the presence of water) is an almost “explosive” event, setting energy free for motion or chemical bonding. ATP is produced in large quantities by the mitochondria in the cell, utilizing the carbohydrate food intake or fat storage of the body and oxygen as supplied by the bloodstream. Subsequently, the energy from freshly formed or reconstituted ATP can be used through hydrolization to facilitate chemical reactions in the cell or just for the folding of proteins, motions of molecules against electrostatic fields, or deformations, as in muscles.
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If one were able to shrink oneself – to the size of a molecule within a cell, – one would be in a large room comparable to, say, 20 feet length, width, and height (if one equates one foot to 1 micrometer, which is one-millionth of a meter). The organelles described above would appear as bulky furniture distributed within it and, in the case of the lysosomes, moving three-dimensionally through the cell. There would be plenty of water molecules floating around, constituting as much as 70% of the cell content (“cytoplasm”), each about one-thousandth of an inch wide (corresponding to a few Angstroms or to 10-10 meters). The very numerous ATP molecules (up to a million within a cell) are about ten times larger than the water molecules, in our presentation about one-hundredth of an inch wide (less than 100 Angstroms). The thousands of proteins in a cell (constituting up to 40% of the cytoplasm in some cells) are about one-tenth of an inch wide (less than 100 nanometers, 10-9 m), but would be up to several inches long if they were not coiled up in little balls a few tenths of an inch in diameter. The chromosomes that appear only upon cell division would be short of a foot tall (less than a micron), but if the human DNA string were ever extended, it would be about 1.3 miles long in this visualized miniature world [58].
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The above indicates that the larger molecules and organelles are imbedded in a very fine quicksand of water and ATP molecules, which constantly wiggle and move around. This lets even the largest molecules move erratically, as they themselves move and are being pushed by surrounding molecules in Brownian movement. Diffusion figures at the level of cells are difficult to come by and are contradictory. Indications vary from diffusion rates of 6 microns (1 micron = 1 millionth of a meter) per minute to 400 microns per second. This indicates that protein molecules may need several minutes or only small fractions of a second to move from one end of a cell to the other (possibly as little as one-thousandth of a second, especially the smaller molecules when they move along the surfaces of the flat cell structures, the organelles, described above) [59]. This lets the innards of a cell appear not just like a boiling stew, but like a most dramatic convulsion of the thousands of types of molecules that are on the loose in the cytoplasm, with the flat surfaces of internal cell structures exhibiting swiftly moving molecular layers like oil slicks on pavement.
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The need for this dynamic behavior becomes apparent when one looks at the process of generating new proteins through translation of RNA, specifically during rapid cell division. Some bacteria cells can multiply in less than 20 minutes under favorable circumstances.
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Compared to this random convulsion, the motions of directed molecules following prescribed paths appear calm and determined. Take, for example, the duplication of DNA upon cell division or the transcription of DNA into RNA or the translation of RNA into proteins. A special protein (the “initiator” protein in the case of DNA duplication, a specific “transcription factor” in the case of selective DNA transcription, or a “ribosome” in the case RNA translation into proteins) begins the process either at the end of the DNA or RNA or at a specific “address” site on the DNA or RNA as given by the transcription factor. These special molecules are created by the cell upon the need for certain proteins or under the influence of neighboring cells, thereby controlling the destiny or role of a cell in the body in the formation of whole tissues or patterns (including surface colorations of flowers and butterflies). There are other proteins that continue the process of transcription. In the case of DNA being transcribed to RNA, it is RNA polymerase; in RNA translation into proteins, it is ribosome. There are at least 30 different types of protein involved in the complete transcription and translation.
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In the case of RNA translation into proteins, each codon on the RNA has to ascertain that a specific amino acid is added to the nascent protein in the proper sequence. This is accomplished by “transfer RNA modules”, one for each kind of amino acid, that capture the required amino acid from within the cytoplasm (by means of a special enzyme) and guide it to the ribosome to be attached to the nascent protein in its turn, under control of the ribosome. While the ribosome proceeds with the attachment, with energy provided by ATP (and GTP), it is already guiding the next specifically required amino acid by means of its transfer RNA to its place next in line.
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The transcription or translation proteins slide along the respective DNA or RNA string like a sequence of pearls, guided by their shape and driven by field potentials at the point of their action and by energy supplied by ATP when shedding one of its phosphorus atoms.
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The progress of translation can be in the order of hundreds of nucleotide steps per second. This is even more impressive if one considers that, at this rate, matching the type of nucleotides of the string to be translated with the proper nucleotide material from the cytoplasm has to be accomplished in the proper combinations(!). This explains, to some extent, the need for the great quantity and great mobility of the molecules in the cytoplasm that have to become available at the small points of action in the cell at the right time. Furthermore, one has to consider that not only one transcription or translation takes place in the cell at a time; multiple DNA genes can be transcribed at the same time. The same gene (or part or combinations thereof) can be transcribed several times. A piece of mRNA can be translated simultaneously by a substantial number of ribosomes into a stream of identical output proteins.
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This lets a cell appear as a humming factory for the mass production of proteins – when highly active, as in growth phases. There are other phases – when the organism is at rest, in hibernation, or in segments of the organism – that are not in an active state. Even a resting human body, however, has ongoing respiration, digestion, circulation, minimal muscle movements, and brain functions – plus the continuing growth of skin, hair, and nails – all requiring ongoing cell functions, including translations and protein activities.
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Transcribing DNA or RNA and producing proteins is not all that a cell does. Once the proteins are formed and properly folded, assisted by a group of many other proteins, they enter a very complex network of interactions of molecules. At any one time, there may be thousands of types of proteins in some cells and some hundreds of thousands or even millions of types of proteins (including the many antibodies) within a human individual. Of these, many are formed by the 25,000 human genes or their splicing and combinations in transcription. Others are provided by protein interactions in post-translational modifications, thereby contributing to protein diversity. Some special ones are provided by food intake (for example, vitamins and medications).
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Modern science has been able to trace the network of protein interactions for some important cell functions. On paper, they look like strange line patterns with many intersections and back-and-forth progressions across the picture, some repetitive or circular. Considering the fact that the human genome can produce tens of thousands of proteins, there are many such network patterns of protein interactions that are active at any one time in the cell. All this must be visualized not only in chemical, but also in physical terms as the wild motion of molecules in erratic diffusion or guided paths, thereby perpetually combining, unfolding, refolding, and separating – with the addition of the large number of explosive ATP hydrolizations providing the required energy. The discovery and understanding of all the possible networks of protein interactions may well be the main task of molecular biology and “proteomics” in the foreseeable future.
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One may want to look at ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in greater detail. The human energy source is food, digested and distributed throughout the body to each cell. Within each cell, there are domains called “mitochondria” – possibly the remnants of once-independent organisms that were symbiotically incorporated into more advanced cells when the cycle of energy from the Sun through chlorophyll was replaced by energy gained through the oxidizing of organic material through evolutionary steps some 600 million years ago (possibly beginning already some 1.5 billion years ago).
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Mitochondria’s main function within a cell is the production of ATP from glucose and fats. The amount of mitochondria in a cell or tissue varies with the function and need of the cell or tissue. Depending upon demand in the cell, a more or less copious stream of ATPs emanates from the mitochondria into the cytoplasm that obviously can store only a limited amount of these molecules.
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The “burned out” ATP molecule, having lost one of its phosphorus atoms, now in the form of ADP (adenosine diphosphate), returns to the mitochondria, where it is reconstituted into ATP.
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Another dynamic effect results from openings in the cell membranes. There are either “gates” for the transfer of materials or merely some protruding proteins poking partway through the membranes for signaling between cells and their surroundings, as for controlled cell growth or behavior. Such molecular signals let the cell realize its specific function within the texture of the body. This leads not to total DNA replication but to the transcription of only those parts of DNA into RNA and translation into proteins that are required for the cell’s function at its specific place and time. The gates transfer not only signals and nutrients into the cell and waste product out of the cell, but also transfer substances for cell metabolism or, in the case of glands, transfer necessary substances from the cell into the organism’s body.
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The enormous complexity of simultaneous and alternative molecular activities in the cell can no longer be analyzed or influenced by conventional laboratory processes. Increasingly, computer analyses and models are utilized. Potential processes are computer-modeled, even the folding of large proteins. The models are increasingly refined and have now reached a high degree of accuracy. Interdisciplinary molecular biology supported by computer scientists utilizing large computers (“computational biology”) is the most advanced form of research at this time, concentrated mainly on “proteomics”, the field of science related to proteins, their composition (their amino acid sequences), their folding into specific shapes, and their great variety of interactions [60].
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The large variety of proteins in the cell and the very complex molecular interactions must have evolved over a long period of time after the origin of life. At first, RNA and some primary proteins may have given origin to life on the basis we know. Subsequent DNA and chance enlargements of its molecular chain through attached nucleotides [61] may have given origin to new proteins, some useful and retained in superior cells, others not, leading to cellular “birth defects” and the disappearance of those cells. Could the large number of unusable nucleotides (introns) on the human genome partially be witness to that? [62] Life existed for more than 3 billion years on the monocellular level before complex organisms arose. If one counts possibly two cell divisions per day in the most prolific areas on Earth, there were about a trillion generations for the evolution of cellular complexity – and many trillions of cells were evolving in parallel – resulting in trillions time trillions of nature’s experiments.
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It is interesting to note that it was the complexity of the above described molecular dynamics that permitted an increasing diversification of cells and, later, of the swiftly evolving organisms. Diversification and evolution required at least some changes in the DNA-RNA-Protein sequences. More often, it required the addition of new steps on the genome, genome splicing and control of expression, and, thereby, the production of additional types of proteins, specifically as the rise of complex organisms required a great variety of different cells to develop out of the same seed or egg cell.
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To explain the swiftness of some important hereditary adaptations to the environment in biological evolution only by the theory of random changes in the genome has left some scientists dissatisfied. While religious people look for divine interference in genetic evolution (see the Intelligent Design Theory, discussed later), these scientists recently began to look for another scientifically provable mechanism of genetic change. The field of Epigenetics [63] investigates the occurrence of heritable changes in gene expression without changes in the DNA sequence. Specifically, DNA methylation, histone acetylation, and RNA interferences are being investigated. This leads to the consideration that the very complex multiple gene coiling in chromosomes may possibly become influenced by environmental factors. This can lead to the covering of expression addresses on the genome and, hence, expression inhibition – and possibly other factors.
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While this effect of gene expression modification is understandable, it still is not automatically heritable. Only if the new form of gene coiling (or compression, condensation) becomes part of the egg cell and is propagated, would this environmentally triggered effect become hereditary. A permanently not-expressed gene could subsequently deteriorate without being rejuvenated (lacking random failure elimination) through selection and end up in the junk genome. Furthermore, gene over-expression or inhibition is known to be a factor in cancer. Furthermore, this concept seems to lend itself more for the explanation of gene suppression and less for the explanation of gene modification or creation.
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It is a mysterious fact of nature that cells do not live eternally. The limited life and ultimate death of all complex organisms, including humans, is based on molecular circumstances on the level of cells. For one, there can be pathological events in consequence of invasions by bacteria or viruses. There also can be errors on the genome leading to the production of erroneous, “toxic”, or non-functional key proteins that result in the cell not being able to continue its function. The whole organism may not be able to survive, as when excessive cancerous growth occurs in the brain.
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On the other hand, there are various molecular circumstances that lead only to aging and age-related death of the cell [64]. For example, in animal cells, the tail end of the genome, the “telomere”, deteriorates with successive cell divisions, finally leading to the cell’s dysfunction. At that time, the cell initiates its own termination, a form of cellular suicide. The debris of a single or a few cells is quickly removed from the body. A dead body, returned to earth, quickly returns to the cycle of materials and energy in nature and may be taken up again by other organisms [65]. While this leads to the conclusion that all cells are mortal, the egg cell of an organism, forming a new organism in the next generation, actually survived. Consequently, there is a form of “permanent” life for one strand of cells through all generations. This is even more apparent in monocellular organisms propagating by simple cell division.
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From the human point of view, one must marvel at the dynamic world of the molecules in the cell – not only as the carriers of our lives and minds – but also leading us to ask an existential question of our existence: what, or who, are we if our component parts are constantly changing, new ones arriving in our bodies, old ones disappearing from us such that, at the end, possibly none of the original parts we were born with is still within us – yet, we are still the same individual. Is the essence of living beings not in their physical substance, but only in their configuration (“Gestalt”)? [66]
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In sum, it is the dynamic world of the proteins and other molecules in the cells that provides for the evolution and functioning of all life, even in the largest and most sophisticated organisms. Of course, a protein does not “know” what it does; it just appears to follow the given circumstances in adherence to the natural laws of physics and chemistry. When a nerve impulse reaches a certain cell, the fibers within it are moved by the action of released calcium that activates ATP (by hydrolysis), and a muscle contracts – with whatever consequences for the organism. But when a certain pattern of neurons in the brain are activated in connection with a “thought visualization”, some cells in the body may produce large amounts of adrenalin, activating the whole organism, leading to whatever beneficial or catastrophic consequences for the whole organism. In other words, the molecules in the cell do not merely follow blind laws of physics and chemistry. There can be a controlling – or, at least, somewhat influencing – mind far beyond the cells. We will see more of this in the discussion of the brain and mind in later chapters.
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In the course of evolution, it was first the cosmic evolution that produced its great variety of phenomena and structures and is now moving on for many more billions of years toward its ultimate exhaustion and dissolution. But subsequent to this physical evolution, the origin of life on Earth – and most likely on other planets in the universe well before – produced another evolution of new phenomena in existence, namely, in the cells. This new natural, biological evolution may appear less powerful but it became at least equally if not more complex, at least equally if not more dynamic than the cosmic evolution – leading to a new dimension of existence in the molecular life of cells – and, later, to organisms and the human mind.
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2.1.5. The Changing of the Oceans and Atmosphere. Organisms. The Tree of Life
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Life requires the input of energy to transform the basic materials of simple carbon compounds, water, nitrogen, and others into the organic materials of proteins, sugars, lipids, and more. Two sources of energy were available on early Earth, volcanism and the Sun. The most dependable source of volcanic heat combined with material for organic processes was presented at the fissures where continental plates slowly separated over hundreds of millions of years, deep under the oceans at deep sea vents. In contrast, the most favorable areas for availability of the Sun’s energy and material for organic processes were in shallow waters or directly under the surface of the oceans. Consequently, nascent life split rather early into those two directions. The undersea life of Archaea bacteria and a resulting deep sea food chain as well as the variety of primitive microbes living deep within rocks [67] will not be further discussed in this essay, even though they may well constitute a large portion of the mass of all living organisms on our planet. It was the other direction, of Sun-based life, that ultimately evolved into human life and that will be the object of further discussion.
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The early atmosphere of Earth consisted mainly of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane (CH4), spurious other elements, and only a minor percentage of oxygen. Early life, in the form of monocellular plankton or algae, had developed some very significant processes. It was able chemically to combine the dissolved calcium in the oceans, augmented by influx from the erosion of early land masses, with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (that became dissolved in the oceans) to form structural and protective shells. Upon the death of those monocellular beings, their shells fell to the ocean floor and formed limestone – or, in its purest form, marble. Furthermore, the process of photosynthesis appeared, allowing those forms of early life to utilize solar energy for the production of bio-substances, thereby absorbing even more carbon dioxide in order to extract the carbon for use in biological compounds. This left oxygen as a by-product that was released to the oceans and, later, to the atmosphere.
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The original oceans on Earth contained large amounts of dissolved iron, augmented mainly by submarine volcanic activity and the influx of sediments. The dissolved oxygen from the original atmosphere and any other oxygen subsequently formed by algae photosynthesis, as just mentioned, were quickly depleted in forming insoluble iron oxides that resulted in deposits of banded iron formations and red clays at the bottom of the oceans. Only after all iron had been deposited out of the oceans could oxygen accumulate in any significant quantity in the oceans and atmosphere. This began about 2.5 billion years ago. Oxygen availability has increased steeply since that time as a product of increasing biological activity.
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Beginning about 800 million years ago – and more rapidly about 550 million years ago – the abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans facilitated the appearance of a new energy cycle for the growth and reproductive needs of early forms of life by utilizing the oxidation of already existing organic material as the source of energy. This had a number of significant evolutionary consequences:
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- The era of “complex organisms” began. The concept of “complex organism” shall be used here to describe composite beings consisting of large numbers of connected cells with differentiated functions in specifically structured arrangements. At first, those arrangements may have been just tubes, evolving beyond the earlier occurring algae strings of identical cells. The formation of these tubes floating in water facilitated the capture and digestion of other biological material (plankton or simple algae). Only later did one end of the tube become a mouth, and the other a restriction to retain the captured material until digested by means of emitted enzymes. Enzyme production and food absorption may have become delegated to suitably located cells. Extensions of strings of cells may have evolved into food-capturing tentacles – and these later into limbs.
- The internal cell structures (organelles, as discussed) and the digestive system appeared and mitochondria became incorporated in the cells to serve energy conversion (by way of ATP production for the formation of more complex proteins or for muscle contraction, see earlier chapters, or for body heat in warm-blooded animals).
- Larger size and different functions were an advantage in the competition with other bio-material-consuming organisms for food sources.
- Larger size and functional differentiation could also be a defense against being consumed by other organisms – with high propagation rate being another defense of some species against being extinguished.
- Differentiation allowed the utilization of ecological niches in an increasingly crowded world – ultimately leading to the population of the dry land of the continents. Speed of differentiation or of evolutionary adaptation allowed early occupation of niches.
- Larger size and the accumulation of specialized cells increasingly required coordination and control within the organisms – at least in balanced growth and balanced function – as known to be largely accomplished by inter-cell and intra-cell control mechanisms on the level of proteomics, facilitated by an increase in the number of types of proteins and their interaction. In other words, the increasing complexity of organisms went hand in hand with the increasing complexity of protein functions.
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The consequence was an “explosion” of genetic evolution and, more so, a consequential substantial increase in protein complexity leading to basically new structures of life and ever new varieties of species in the oceans, in wetlands, on or under dry land, and in the air – even at submarine hot-spot vents or under snow and ice.
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Evolutionary biology has traced this evolution and has developed a pictorial presentation in the form of the “phylogenetic tree of living organisms” – with the earliest beings at the root and the later beings forming the trunk, branches, and twigs of that evolutionary “tree” – humans commonly being shown at the top.
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Strangely enough, it is not possible to indicate the earliest root of the evolution of life with any degree of certainty. The genetic material of the earliest cells that appeared about 3.9 billion years ago was not retained in fossil materials. Should one assume that there were even simpler forms of life at an earlier time when RNA may have been the starting molecule of life’s origin about 4 billion years ago?
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Subsequently, a very early split into two branches of cells – the undersea cells living at submarine hot-spot vents and the earliest cells living in shallow surface waters – allow the assumption that either one of the two was the earlier form of life with the other being a derivative.
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Even later, as life branched into various forms and higher forms of life appeared, it is often not possible to indicate precisely the sequence of evolutionary development. There is discussion concerning the correct presentation of the main trunk of evolution. Should it be the line that ultimately leads to the highest form of life, humans – leaving the now-disappeared dinosaurs on a side branch? What if humans will be exterminated in the next global catastrophe and even higher life would evolve from a different branch than mammals, leaving humans as an abandoned side branch?
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There is one valid comparison with a tree – the lower branches of life’s development are wider spread, are quantitatively larger, and arrived at greater diversification than the top branches – possibly on account of more time having been available, but also on account of the shorter reach of smaller organisms and their faster multiplication.
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There is another mystery with the evolution of life: The “phylogenetic tree” obviously is not a “tree”. Trees appear as multiples in forests. On any tree, the same leaves and fruit sprout on each branch. On the phylogenetic tree there is no repetition. All branches, twigs, and their endings are different. Why is there only one tree and all branches are singular? Why did the primitive form of life not permit the evolution of other trunks of higher life to shoot up from time to time? Why did similar branches not evolve out of the main “trunk” from time to time, again and again?
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Why is the proper presentation of the evolution of life not a forest or bush? The standard response is that life was quickly crowded on Earth and all niches were rapidly occupied, which did not allow any new “trunks” or “branches” to appear, but only further development at the tips of the trunk and branches. This is not totally believable. Geological instability on Earth repeatedly formed new islands (as Australia, Iceland, the Hawaiian or the Galapagos islands) or remote valleys (as in the Himalayas). Steep climate changes (ice ages and new warm periods) or catastrophes repeatedly opened immense areas for new niches of life.
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The rate of mutation of DNA in various cells is rather constant over long periods of time. Most such mutations lead to failure and, consequently, no evolutionary progress. Evolutionary progress depends upon the arrival of more suitable characteristics for propagation or survival in a constantly changing environment that is also subject to catastrophes. This results in the fact that the rate of evolution of the tree of life is not uniform, neither along the “trunk” of the tree toward higher levels, nor along any of the branches or twigs in the evolution of families or species of beings. Some species are wiped out, others remain unchanged for millions, if not hundreds of millions, of years (for example, the horseshoe crab). At other times, one can observe rather swift evolution of certain characteristics in some species – if not the appearance of new species. The evolution by punctual swift phases of evolution seems to be the rule rather than the exception. This may specifically be the case when new opportunities for evolution appear, as in the form of new niches not occupied by other species, or when nature “discovers” new niches by randomly providing some species with some new characteristics – for example, a very large brain.
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There is an often repeated discussion whether there can be genetic adaptation to learned and successful habits. In detail, there are two effects. Environmental factors, including learned behavior, can have an influence on gene expression. Certain biochemical intake by pregnant mothers lead to different fetus development. Certain biochemical intake or environmental factors lead to different growth and aging processes, possibly by influencing gene expression. But these effects are restricted to individuals and do not become hereditary, unless damage to the genes occurred. All else is based on genetic changes, not necessarily in code changes, but also in variation of gene expression on gene multiplicity with those events having a much higher probability than genetic code changes and being responsible for some of the spurts in species development. These questions are being investigated by the field of epigenetics as discussed above.
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Interesting evolutionary “progress” occurred in our time through the interference with nature by means of domestic animal or plant breeding by humans. Not only were new domesticated species created, but lately their genetic variation has been artificially accelerated, as in cattle, dairy cows, and horses. Equally rapid is the human genetic engineering in plants. A large effort is under way for the genetic engineering of cures for human diseases – possibly resulting in the evolutionary change of the human species. Complex questions of bioethics and practicality are involved.
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In other words, human science takes control of the evolution of the tree of life in accelerating some evolution, bringing unforeseen changes, as well as cutting many branches by extinguishing many species – the latter being welcome when it is a matter of extinguishing certain diseases (for example, polio) or pests (for example, malaria-carrying mosquitoes). In general, mankind moves along an unknown path in pursuing genetic manipulation – not clearly knowing or agreeing what the goals are, not clearly seeing the consequences, not really knowing what we truly want, how an ideal world would look and still be functional, and what we should avoid.
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In every instance that science has been able to analyze, the evolution of life was led by the “basic principle of natural evolution”, whereby each evolutionary step was conditioned by the starting conditions and by the boundary conditions and was driven by statistical or random variation of some genetic characteristics – with subsequent propagation beyond available resources and selection of the survivors or progenitors by the prevailing of the fittest.
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2.1.6. Oxygen, Life Feeding on Life, Mobility, New Functions, the Brain, Complex “Systems”, Ecological Communities
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As indicated, the availability of an increasing amount of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans led to the appearance of a new energy cycle for the growth and reproductive needs of early forms of life utilizing the oxidation of already existing organic material – leading to more complex, larger beings and the evolution of the “tree of life” [68]. There were still other significant evolutionary consequences of this development:
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- Not only bio-detritus was used for oxidation – but life began to feed on other life in a predatory mode of behavior.
- Feeding of life became not only predatory by hunt-and-kill, but also by smaller organisms attacking larger ones (for example, such pests as lice, ticks, and mosquitoes) or by invading larger ones (viruses, bacteria, worms, and snails) – the beginning of diseases and other afflictions.
- Occasionally, predatory behavior turned into important symbiotic arrangements – for example, the inclusion of mitochondria in animal cells, bacteria in the digestive tract, or the fungus cultures of some ants – in modern time, the care for fruit trees or the keeping of domesticated animals.
- Mobility was needed (and the fittest were selected) in order to prevail in the search for more biomaterial after the immediate surroundings were harvested. The mobility increased competition and led to fighting, leading to evolution for the prevailing in that situation, too.
- Sexuality was facilitated – the initiation of multiplication upon combination of DNA from two different generating organisms – later leading to gender differentiation. This had two benefits for evolution. “Inbreeding” resulting from the accentuation and repetition of genetic errors was avoided. Evolution was accelerated where different favorable traits form the parental organisms where combined in the one new organism.
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New Functions:
The important innovations supporting this development toward a dynamic mode of life were the appearance of new functions:
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- Sex organs – for the production of multiple seeds or eggs and pollen or semen
- The muscles for motion – for the search of new food sources and food ingestion (biting, eating), for attack or for defense
- The circulatory system to bring large quantities of oxygen to concentrated muscle packages
- Sensory capability to recognize favorable directions for motion
- Nerves to process the signals from the new sensors, for (initially reflexive) control of the muscles
- Interconnection of nerves and networks of nerves for complex signal processing of sensory inputs, for complex motions, and for strategy formulation
- The last finally resulting in the formation of the brain
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The propagation or multiplication by means of dedicated sex organs and seeds or eggs was a most important, miraculous and ingenious “invention” of evolving nature and became necessary as the cell-by-cell division of large, complex organisms “in toto” for multiplication became impractical or would have been impossible [69]. The multiplication through seeds or eggs and subsequent growth required the appearance of growth control – as by an internal “clock” – accomplished by rather complex protein processes – sometimes under external influences (the blooming of plants after, at first, a cold period followed by the warming in spring).
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Early cell deformation for motion may have been simple, functioning under the influence of external or inter-cell signals (such as in anemones and jellyfish). But mammalian muscles became rather complex and operated under the influence of nerve signals that act on ATP and protein strings within the cells. How did limbs evolve? Where they some tentacles in more primitive organisms that added motion?
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The circulatory system may have evolved out of a fold or borderline between tissues of primitive organisms.
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Sensors for light, chemical compounds, touch, or sound evolved in many branches of the tree of life and in many different ways (from various forms of eyes to antennas or skin sensitivity). Sensors became meaningful only as nerves became available to control subsequent behavior.
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It is a mystery of nature how nerves were originally developed. Why, and how, would a very long cell have developed in early organisms for the purpose of signaling between two points or between groups of dedicated cells within the organism (as for contraction after some input signal)? Could this also have occurred along some tissue folds or borders? [70] It too is a mystery that basically only one type of nerve (with minor variations) was ever developed and can be found on all branches of the tree of life. The nerve is rather complex and slow, using a fairly complex system of neurotransmitters for signaling. Why was no other type of nerve ever developed by nature (for example, with metallic conductivity)? [71]
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The Brain:
Linear nerves permit reflexive behavior (if you burn your fingers, your arm twitches and retracts the hand with the fingers). A significant step in evolution occurred when a nerve began to act on another nerve. Two nerves with feedback to each other allow the formation of a “flip-flop” for “on-off” behavior with memory. More complex interconnections allow for complex memory and for complex responses, leading to networks of nerves.
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Certain midbrain functions must have developed very early in the evolution of animals, thus allowing the fast and economic summary assessment of situations for basic reactions as “fight or flight”. Special nuclei developed in the early brains for these evaluations. Later developments led to the appearance of ever more refined “emotions” – and, ultimately, to ethics and our human system of values that give structure, direction, and meaning to our lives.
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Nerves did develop a variety of neurotransmitters for the biochemical coupling of nerves. This variety of neurotransmitters, some of them specialized for different functions in the body and brain, allowed for differentiated influences on body and brain functions – as by biochemical substances in connection with emotions (for example, the formation and effect of adrenalin or dopamine).
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The formation of ever more complex networks of nerves led to the appearance of large accumulations of interconnected nerves close to the output of the most important sensors – for fast and appropriated response based on memory. This, in turn, led to the formation of the complex brain of mammals. The expansion of the cortex, mainly in the frontal regions, led not only to greater memory. Of equal or even greater importance was the increase in interconnectivity and greater addressability of memory elements. Thereby, language skills appeared, but also higher intellectual capabilities for mental creativity and strategy formulation – including a higher degree of consciousness.
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The cerebellum, almost a second brain, was developed to assume routine motor coordination and controls – including those of skillful athletes and musicians. It is quite a mystery how this second brain could have been developed and function so efficiently parallel to the main brain.
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Complex “Systems”:
The many different and significant structural and functional developments of organisms are not all “linear”, e.g. the development of one element in a quantitative or qualitative way. Many evolutionary developments made sense only in a certain co-evolution or co-development of different functional elements at the same time in a “coordinated” way.
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Examples reach from molecular biology to the complex “system” of a snake’s poison tooth consisting of a hollow tooth and a pressure-sensitive poison gland – or the “system” forming the eye, consisting of a protective lid, a muscle-controlled flexible lens, a retina, and a complex neural network feeding into the neural nerve to the brain. Another “system” is the combination of the feathered wing, muscle, and bone structure in birds to facilitate flight. The brain can be seen as a subsystem of neural nuclei within itself, embedded in the larger, complex system of the body, including sensory and motoric functions as well as functions derived from the biochemistry of the body. These “systems of functions” became the most important features of complex life. They are another example of the “Combinatorial Principle” of evolution explained previously.
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Biology or physiology should be seen more in this view of “systems” than in the analysis of individual functional components.
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Ecological Communities:
To adequately understand life and its evolution, one must look beyond systems of functions in single organisms. One has to see the next level of the "Combinatorial Principle”, the complex structure of life including interconnected organisms – where the life of one organism is coordinated with and depends upon the life of the other or a variety of other types of organisms. This does not, for example, concern only the symbiotic utilization of certain bacteria within the digestive system of mammals; it also concerns the complex interdependence of various forms of life within different ecological areas, biotopes, or systems – in certain wetlands, prairies, forests, or ocean areas – most famously in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean.
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2.1.7. The Virus – the Sneaky, the Parasite, the Drop-Out
It would be an error to see life over time only as a rush forward in the course of evolution to higher complexity. Certain species demonstrated a negative aspect of evolution, as when cave-dwelling species lost eyesight or snakes their limbs.
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Quantitatively seen, most of life stayed rather primitive, remaining on or close to the monocellular level (plankton, algae, and bacteria). There even is one form of life that developed downward toward the most simple – the virus. Some basic characteristics of the virus are
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- Consisting mainly of floating, minimal bits of RNA or DNA
- Barely protected within a uniquely formed shell
- The shell provides just the right form to attach to or penetrate the lipid bubble protecting the cells of organisms
- The virus possesses just enough RNA or DNA to highjack the host’s DNA and make it work for the attacking virus’s multiplication
- The virus demonstrates a very high rate of mutation, thereby circumventing systematic defenses by organisms
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2.1.8. Further Changes or Interruptions – the Extinctions and New Beginnings
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There are five significant causes for substantial evolutionary changes in the past and equally so in the future – by destroying some ecological niches or species and by opening vast new niches:
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- Geological changes
- Climate changes
- Major diseases, plagues, or species instability
- Catastrophes leading to extinctions
- Astronomical cycles
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Geological changes:
Plate tectonics – terrestrial changes – can raise or lower terrain surfaces and move plates or plate segments from equatorial to polar regions or the reverse, thereby changing the climate on those plates significantly. Plate tectonics can also lead to changes in ocean elevation, thereby forming new oceans or deleting oceans by squeezing their area (see the formerly very large Tethys Ocean [72], now remaining only in such small pieces as Lake Aral, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean).
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Plate tectonics can also lift the ground under existing oceans (see the remnants of coral reefs incorporated in some peaks of the Alps or the disappearance of the shallow ocean that once covered the central areas of North America).
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Another important effect of plate tectonics can be the changes in ocean currents – with significant effects on marine life and terrestrial climate (see the importance of the Gulf Stream for Europe). Plate tectonics can lead to the formation of a large variety of isolated areas with ever-changing climates for diversified evolution in complex mountain ranges or coastlines. Geological changes include the formation of new islands from volcanism. New islands in locations separated from existing land masses can allow the formation of new branches of life (possibly also of a new “trunk”) from accidentally acquired forms of life (for instance, the separate developments in Australia and the Galapagos).
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Geological changes are occurring slowly – most of them allowing for natural evolutionary adaptation. Continental drift is in the 4 cm/year range. The rising of mountain ranges is also in the cm/year range at most. But even slow geological changes can result in violent local events – earthquakes, tsunamis, land slides, floodings, and volcanic eruptions. These can bring regional or local temporary catastrophes. The often locally restricted findings of fossil remains are witness to that.
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Climate changes:
Natural climate changes, ice ages, warm periods, wet and dry periods – often changing within a very short time – all contribute to accelerated evolution – by destroying the habitat for some species and binging their extinction while opening opportunities or niches for new ones as changes are reverted.
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These climate changes cannot only occur very rapidly in geological time (within hundreds of years), but often do occur in a sequence of very short waves – sequences of just a few very dry years in some areas or excessive flooding in others. Examples of the catastrophic consequences of such short cycles are numerous – the accumulation of fossil bones around the “last” watering hole at Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska, the disappearance of the Anasazi culture from New Mexico, the Dust Bowl events of the American Middle West, possibly beginning to be repeated now.
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Major diseases, plagues, or species instability:
Such events, for example, in forests or among animals living in herds, can lead to the extinction of species (branches of life) and, thereby, opening of opportunities for the development of others. For example, the North American forests had a prevalence of chestnut trees. After an invasive blight, practically none of them were left. Then, hemlocks prevailed. These are now rapidly disappearing due to an affliction by mites. An analysis of tropical rainforest canopies shows a constant coming and going of tree species in specific areas.
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The often exponential expansion of plagues does not allow for adaptation and can lead to extinctions. But often there are some few resistant individuals that survive and bring a subsequent adaptation, leaving the former plague as an irritant in the subsequent generations – for example, smallpox.
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Catastrophes leading to extinctions:
Five major “extinctions” have occurred already since the beginning of the grandiose diversification of multicellular life on Earth about 600 million years ago – and some more before that time – as evidenced by fossils. The extinction that occurred about 450 million years ago must have wiped out 99% of all species and some interesting anatomical plans of organisms that never appeared again. The next extinction occurred about 350 million years ago. The double extinction 250 to 200 million years ago wiped out the then dominant Trilobites and with them 95% of all species. The most recent among the very large extinctions, 65 million years ago, wiped out the dinosaurs and with them about 80% of all species. The “population” loss (number of individual living beings) may be different, since one does not know the number of individuals that constituted each species.
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At least two of those extinctions, the one 65 million years ago and one of the two 250 to 200 million years ago – can be seen in connection with “meteorite” impacts. A newer theory (by Jason Phipps Morgan, 1999 to 2004, at the University of Kiel, Germany, now at Cornell) indicates that those “meteorites” actually were enormous ejecta (called “Verneshots”, after a Jules Verne phantasy) occurring early, but not necessarily at the very beginning of gigantic basaltic eruptions that had actually started several hundred thousand years beforehand.
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Every one of those great extinctions actually was connected to – and, most likely, caused by – enormous bubbles of highly liquefied basaltic magma that were rising up at random intervals from the D” or other layers deep within Earth (see McLean, VA Polytech, Jason Morgan (Sr.), Princeton, and Courtillot, Paris [73]). As these upsurges perforated the surface of the Earth, they caused enormous explosions and the delivery of very large quantities of poisonous gases (sulfur and carbon dioxide), some reaching high up into the Earth’s stratosphere, destroying the entire ozone layer and causing copious acid rain. Then followed the formation of large cracks on the surface of the Earth, many hundreds of miles long, some perpendicular to each other, leading to the fast distribution of the highly liquid basalts over very large areas and the delivery of more gases. This occurred in dozens of individual ejections over some time – each one possibly occurring within days and quickly running up to hundreds of miles in distance. In the course of those events, the above-mentioned “Verneshots” may have taken place and appeared as “meteorites” upon their reentry to Earth. Due to related geological events, the surface of the oceans dropped by up to 800 feet, destroying the most abundant, remaining aquatic life in the shallow waters that was not destroyed by the poisonous gases and consequent acid rains.
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The most famous basaltic deposits resulting from those events are the “Deccan Traps” in India, about the size of France and more than 5,000 feet thick in some places, connected with the dinosaur extinction. Equally important were the very large “Siberian Traps”, connected with the earlier extinction of life of the Trilobite era. Areas in Ethiopia, seabeds in the Pacific, the Palisades along the Hudson River close to New York, and an area along the Columbia River are minor basaltic deposits.
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It appears certain that more catastrophes of this sort will occur at random time intervals (or in astrophysical connection) in the future. Would mankind and its civilizations survive? What direction could evolution take after mankind’s demise? Future deep scanning of the Earth – as already somewhat used at less depth for oil exploration – may permit us to detect and “see” any future basaltic bubble as it rises – over thousands of years from its depth but only within hundreds of years in going through the surface layers. How would society react when staring into the face of another major extinction? Will future technology permit controlled slow release of the bubbles pressure and channeling of basaltic masses? Will there be controlled survival of a selected few – to be left with what on a devastated Earth?
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Astronomical and Geophysical Cycles and Risks
Some of the above described changes or interruptions of natural evolution were found to be more or less cyclical. This led to the search for underlying reasons. The following phenomena were recognized as having special significance:
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- The wobbling of the Earth’s axis of rotation
- Cyclic changes of orientation of Earth’s axis of rotation under the influence of Jupiter
- Reversals of the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field
- The traversing of the spiral arms of our Milky Way galaxy by Earth
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It is easy to see that the changes in the orientation of Earth’s axis of rotation would lead to climate changes. If those are extreme, they lead to secondary changes of ocean currents, glaciations or melting, and changes of ocean elevation – with consequences, as discussed above.
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The reversal of the polarity of the Earth’s magnetic field leads to intermediate phases of the absence of any magnetic field – suppressing the very important protective, radiation-shielding effect of that field. This can lead to great genetic damage – or to an acceleration of genetically controlled evolution.
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As indicated earlier, it is assumed that Earth rotates around the center of our galaxy once every 200 million years and, in the process of doing so, that it crosses one of the spiraling arms of our galaxy once every 200 million years, requiring about 50 million years to do so. Those 50 million years are a time of increased risk for passing areas of high radiation from nascent or exploding stars.
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They are also a time of higher risk of encountering large comets or meteorites resulting from ejected chunks of material from star formations or explosions. Consequently, those times should indicate a higher probability of extinctions on Earth, either from radiation, meteorite impact, or other perturbations leading to the detachment of basaltic bubbles deep within Earth and consequent volcanic “trap” eruptions described above. There actually were major extinctions 450, 250, and 65 million years ago. [74]
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In addition to the cyclical risks for natural evolution, there is the risk of catastrophic events in outer space close enough to Earth to cause extinctions, for example supernova explosions or the origin of new black holes (implosions combined with the ejection of enormous amounts of radiation), dangerous to Earth when within the distance of a few thousand light-years.
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Resilience and new beginnings:
In view of all these catastrophes, the resilience of life on Earth is remarkable. Not only did life survive in certain niches, but it mostly began to reestablish itself on a higher level of evolution or complexity. The trilobites were followed by the dinosaurs and those by the mammals as leading species.
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A special “invention” of nature was the body’s temperature control at a rather elevated level in mammals. Higher body temperature allows intensive use of all bodily functions – for feeding, fighting, and mating. Cellular temperature is controlled by means of the mitochondrial metabolic function in the cells. It may have appeared as an aberration or anomaly – to do the opposite of what would be expected, not to slow down as temperature sinks and to accelerate when temperature rises. The benefits were manifold – extended activity into cool period of the day or year and into remote geographic areas of altitude or latitude. Specifically, after glaciations – often subsequent to other catastrophes – new niches and areas could be conquered. With the multitude of glaciations and their oscillations, this became important.
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Nature’s resilience after the last ice age was accomplished by the evolution of the mental capabilities of mankind – fire-making and, later, husbandry and agriculture.
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Will there be any more innovations of nature – after the next catastrophe – a germ-related or nuclear one?
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2.2. Biological and Human Evolution, the Human Brain
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2.2.1 Advances in Animal Development, Mammals, Homo Sapiens
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The natural evolution of animals is understood to occur by the selection of the fittest. In further analysis, the determination of the fittest for survival or propagation may be determined by a variety of factors:
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- Competition for food, shelter, or mates: This is the most commonly accepted selection process, as in fighting between competitors.
- Memory of and adherence to resource sources: For example, the finding of hidden food by squirrels, the return of migratory birds to prior successful nesting areas – and also the exotic return of salmons to their river location of origin. Those rivers may have been pleasant, once in geological times, with swamps as food supplies for smaller fish and easy transfer to the ocean for the larger fish requiring more and larger prey. But, with the slow lifting of coastal mountain ranges, co-evolution of fish began as the rivers became increasingly difficult to navigate, some being cut off from fish migration by bad rapids and waterfalls.. Struggling in vain across those would lead to failure. Those fish, however, that remembered navigable rivers with suitable spawning areas, survived or became more successful in propagation. Similarly, spreading of oceans let only those migratory birds survive that remembered manageable passages – a capability not found where ocean distances contracted and could have opened new transmigration opportunities – see the “Wallace Line” separating the once converging Indonesian islands in naturalist’s terms.
- Danger avoidance: Examples are the nocturnal or shy animals, living in crevasses or remote areas.
- High propagation rate, as among many rodents.
- Selection of mates by the females: This the selection process may have resulted from selection of expressions of health and strength in mates, but often leading to some of the most surprising results – excessive coloration, extreme feather décor, exotic mating behavior, song and the artistic arrangements of the Bower Birds – many times appearing to be a hindrance in non-mating survival.
- Exploratory behavior (curiosity), leading to the discovery of new niches or new territories with resources [75] or new usage of resources, as to find better food, as also resulting in lower mortality, especially among children, the main component of mortality in primitive species or societies.
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In the course of evolution, certain characteristics were developed in a great variety of forms, colors, or sounds, as if not critical to survival – the shapes of shells, the colorations of tropical fish or flowers, the sounds of languages – at best, serving for self-recognition of species. Other capabilities were developed several times (the art of flying: insects, fish, birds, bats, and some squirrels – also the poisonous sting: some mollusks, insects, fish, and snakes), but some only once (for example, permanent erect posture and erect bipedal walking [76]). The most important development in the evolution of organisms is the large and complex brain of mammals; so far, it has appeared only once – in humans.[77]
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It is not quite clear why a larger brain and consequent higher mental capabilities did not develop among the dinosaurs. Could higher strategic skills not have been an evolutionary advantage for some of them, too? Could some not have used more articulate arms and hands – first for climbing, then for tool usage – or have benefited from more memory and language skills? [78]
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In any event, it was the mammals that developed higher mental skills in the branch leading up to humans. Did this have anything to do with living in the fruit-bearing trees of rainforests (the dinosaurs did not) and then facing climate changes that were leading to foraging on the ground, bipedalism, and the diverse usage of their hands? [79] In other words, did they go through changes in their environment that some of the dinosaurs had also gone through, but humans then found solutions leading to greater opportunities, new ways of risk avoidance, and new niches in evolution? Some scholars indicate the capability of speech as a motor for the development of larger brain size – but why did the dinosaurs not accomplish this evolution? Why did none of the other apes? [80]
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It appears as if incremental brain growth has happened in various instances [81], but the ultimate human brain appeared only once, about 400,000 years ago in homo sapiens. Competition (mutual extermination) is always at the fiercest between adjacent species on the tree of life. But large brain size could have developed at geographically separated points – even on different continents – and it did not.
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Considering the enormous growth in intellectual activities and density of information processing from the historic times of the earliest humans to our time, it appears that the large brain was oversized for early humans. What did they do with all that neural potential? If it was not used, its development and support was a luxury. Nature does not normally permit luxuries. Why did nature create an oversized brain – or what did our earliest ancestors use it for? Did they just look out of their caves, as so many of us watch television – and not much else? Or was hunting and fighting with each other the main utilization of their large and complex brains?
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2.2.2 The Human Brain
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The brain evolved as sensors required more complex signal processing for the formulation of motion strategies. After the simple “reaction” mode of sensor signals leading to a simple movement, more complex neural networks offered distinctive advantages in complex situations. It could well be that it was the mid-brain with the limbic system that evolved next. [82] This system, now known as the source of emotions, allowed for summary assessment of situations, possibly leading only to fight-or-flight decisions. Complex interactions of brain nuclei, biochemical effects involving some specific glands, environmental factors, or food intake, and genetically given behavior actuation resulted in what we call emotions and consequent behavior (some described in more detail in the essay on “Personality” on the website schwab-, in the “Brain-Mind” section).
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Some memory provided further advantages and, more so, its interconnectivity. Animals with very large brains may not have more than that – complex sensor signal analysis, some mid-brain functions, and some memory with complex interconnections.
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The human brain may merely have added an enormous amount of memory and an equally enormous amount of memory interconnectivity – plus such special features as speech recognition and, separately, speech formulation. Additionally, there was great progress in functional differentiation and evolution – for example, in the multitude of hypothalamus sub-nuclei. The embryonic development of the human brain may reflect and, thereby, explain the actual evolutionary development. [83]
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There are different approaches to studying the complexity of the brain and its functioning:
- The study of the function of local brain areas
- The study of the brain’s structure and interconnectivity (brain physiology)
- The study of neural activity related to the brain’s topography (mapping)
- The study of signaling in the brain – by type and pathways
- The study of biochemistry within the brain
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An especially effective, practical approach in studying the brain results from the investigation of secondary consequences of accidents and diseases that result in disruptions or changes in restricted local areas of the brain – for example, analysis of stroke consequences, brain surgery for the mitigation of epilepsy, or accidents such as the famous one Phineas P. Gage suffered, who shot a rod through his forebrain.
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The study of brain structure and interconnectivity is well advanced, especially through the recent improvement of micro-probes. But there is a limit to the number of probes one can apply at any one time. Therefore, the majority of human brain processes, whether in thought or strategy formulation, remain difficult to analyze by this process.
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Brain mapping by means of electronic scanners has been the approach of preference to the study of the brain in recent years. Some significant insights resulted in the allocation of brain activities to certain areas. But brain mapping remains an inadequate, or insufficient, approach for the understanding of mental functions. One does not understand the workings of a computer by mapping its layout and activation changes. What is additionally needed is an understanding of the type and flow of signals within the brain – see the essays on the website schwab-.
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This gets closer to the question of brain “software”, as in computers that accomplish its function using a certain amount of “hardware”. Without the knowledge of the software, one cannot understand how a computer accomplishes what it does.
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In the analysis of signaling in the brain, one finds some drastic differences between the signaling in computers and signaling in the brain. In computers, signaling occurs through linear sequences of “0” and “1” signals along the same transmission line, with at most a few lines in parallel to transfer “bytes” or “words”, whether by wire or wireless, all in form of digital codes (except in the few strictly analog computers for special applications). In the brain, signaling is different:
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- There is a basic duality of signaling in the brain – the synaptic “on-off” signaling (comparable to digital or discrete signaling) and signaling by firing rate (a form of analog or continuously variable signaling). This simultaneous duality of signaling within the brain leads to the very complex information-processing capabilities of the brain beyond the capabilities of merely digital or only analog computers
- Complex messages are transmitted in “parallel” mode in the brain, through a multitude of synaptic connections to a multitude of other neurons – as in the coupling between sequential “visualizations” discussed later, each coupling possibly comprising many thousands of neurons.
- Messages can also be transmitted through several inputs arriving in parallel at a single neuron (or very few of them). This is accomplished by the fact that most neurons accept a number of input connections from other neurons – whereby some inputs signal “activation”, while others are neuron activity inhibiting. This allows either for alternative or logic-“or” functions, or it allows for the parallel inhibition of competing sites leading to dominance situations of certain signals and groups of neurons. This is necessary to eliminate confusion in the brain when multiple inputs arrive – as is quite normal in daily life.
- The brain does not have a “clock” for synchronization of signals, as computers possess. Consequently, minor differences in the arrival time of enabling or inhibiting signals at a receptor neuron may lead to vastly different consequences (see Chaos Theory).
- One must assume that the brain has a large amount of “bus”-connections, with a signal being generated by one neuron leading to a multitude of receiving neurons. Certain brain functions cannot be explained differently, and the economy of natural evolution demands such a solution – for example, to bring the effect of amygdala-based valuations to many receiving places, while there actually is only a rather limited neural connection from the amygdala to the other parts of the brain. Another example is the establishment of dominance situations, as in foreground activation of subsequent alternative thought sequences (“visualizations”), as discussed later.
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It is important to note that some of the most important brain functions – mental creativity, strategy formulation, language, and consciousness – may be seen as resulting solely from memory and its interconnectivity (see the essays on the website schwab- in the “Brain/Mind” section relating to these issues).
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The study of biochemistry within the brain, related mainly to neurotransmitters, concerns the “mood” setting within the brain and the influencing of neural networks in a summary manner. This led to the discovery that different neurotransmitters are prevalent in different parts of the brain, permitting some selective influencing of brain functions.
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Biochemical analysis of the brain allowed understanding of the action of certain biochemical substances (for example, alcohol, coffee, drugs – even merely the availability of food when needed or the lack thereof).
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2.3. Singularities in Natural Evolution and Anomalies in Nature
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What are “singularities” in evolution?
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- Extremely unlikely developments (very low probability) that provided for substantial progress toward natural or human evolution
- Developments that did occur, but only once, and never occurred again
- The lack of beneficial evolutionary steps that one should have expected but did not happen
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The most significant, and surprising, singularity in natural evolution is the singularity of the “tree of life”, the pictorial presentation of natural evolution, as discussed above. Why do not new types of multi-cell organisms arise all the time out of the level of single-cell beings such as bacteria or algae? Why did all branches of evolution occur only once – as, for example, insects, marsupials, or mammals? Why is there no “forest of life” or “brush of life”?
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One reason could be that competition and mutual elimination are always fiercest between related species in adjacent niches of existence. In any evolutionary step, this leads to “burning the bridges” behind their evolutionary advance. But the evolution that actually occurs indicates that there always are new niches or opportunities for evolution. Therefore, the above question remains.
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The following singularities of natural evolution could be listed and were mostly discussed above. The list is not comprehensive:
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- The regularity of electron shells around atomic nuclei as the key factor for the combinatorial appearance of molecules and for the significance of carbon in all organic structures
- The appearance of RNA and DNA as the foundation of life
- The lack of an enzyme in large animals to break up cellulose (as in brush or woods) for use as food (sheep do it by way of bacteria that produce “cellulase”)
- The phenomenon of aging, based on internal sequences in time and molecular degeneration, ultimately leading to death
- The appearance of bisexual propagation
- multiplication by seeds or eggs
- The appearance of temperature regulation in the body
- The appearance of the nerve
- The appearance of the coupling of nerves, ultimately leading to the brain
- The appearance of emotions, ultimately leading to values as guides of human existence
- The appearance of “visualizations” in the brain (visual, verbal, acoustic, taste-related, scent-related, or tactile), ultimately leading to thought, creativity, consciousness, and religion – as discussed in the next chapters.
- The absence of metallic conductivity and electronic communication
- The absence of wheels
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Obviously, a more thorough analysis should reveal important singularities in early evolution among plants or lower animals. One should consider not only the fact that these “singularities” occurred in evolution at all, but also, at the time scale of evolution, how fast some singularities occurred.
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Anomalies in the biological world, as the anomaly of water in the physical world, are more difficult to define, mostly being consequences of evolution. A list could be established and investigated. Could mate selection by factors that appear to be counterproductive for survival be considered an anomaly? Could unlimited propagation of bacteria in hosts, thereby destroying their sustenance or excessive foraging by some insects or prairie dogs and thereby destroying their sustenance, be considered an anomaly regarding the law of the survival of the fittest? Was increased mitochondria activity at lower temperatures, thereby stabilizing body temperature, an anomaly of nature?
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Both of these and other “contradictory” effects occur too often in nature to be called “anomalies”.
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Part 3: The Human Mind and Beyond, Societies, Extraterrestrial Life, the Future
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3.1. The Origin, Evolution, and Function of the Human Mind
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Emotions, Memory, Visualizations
Thought, Intelligence, Creativity, Ethics, Personality, Art
Consciousness, Free Will, “Soul”, Spirituality, Religion
considering the Brain’s Neurophysiology, Biochemistry, and Cognitive Psychology
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Content of this essay: “The Evolution and Function of the Human Mind”:
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Introduction and Etymology of Concepts
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1. A New Energy Cycle leads to Mobility, Sensors, and Signal Processing for Strategy
2. Fundamental Capabilities Leading to the Human “Mind”: Emotions, Memory, Visualizations
3. The Basic Functions: Thought, Creativity, Ethics, Personality, Art
4. The Abstract or “virtual” Functions: Consciousness, Free Will, “Soul”, Spirituality, Religion
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Introduction and Ethymology of Concepts
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Introduction:
What happened in time and space that, out of the original burst of energy called the “Big Bang”, some 14 billion years ago, finally we humans, with all our exceptional talents, came to exist and live on this tiny planet where we now are – and to develop the mental capabilities we now have?
A few key aspects of the world we live in and its evolution appear to be fundamental to the understanding of what occurred and who we are. They are especially surprising and impressive. A series of essays describes these most important aspects and phases of this evolution. These individual essays can be addressed individually and are also combined in the larger essay on the author’s website schwab-, in the section on “Science and Evolution”.
Within the evolution of the universe, one can say, the appearance and evolution of life represents a dimension of existence different from cosmic, or astrophysical, evolution.
The appearance of the human mind can be seen as the most significant accomplishment of the natural evolution of life on Earth. In its new dimensions of existence, it is extending beyond physical or natural evolution.
How did this evolution occur and what did it accomplish? The natural evolution of the human mind and the mind’s principal functions are described in this essay.
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Etymology of Concepts:
Human mental capabilities or functions are understood and described by a variety of linguistic concepts. These concepts are the result of the human effort to arrive at an understanding of the esoteric nature of human mental existence. The great thinkers of ancient Greece and Rome distinguished three aspects of human existence – soul (psyche = breath, principle of life, anima), mind (noos or logos), and body. The early Christian era emphasized the key concept of soul as the essence of human “transcendental” existence (beyond the physical one). With the Renaissance and, more so, with the Enlightenment, the concepts of reason and emotions moved to the foreground. In modern times, psychology and neurophysiology (combined with cognitive psychology) arrived at new understandings of human mental characteristics. In our time, the concepts of “human spirit” or “human mind” are most commonly used and, decreasingly, still the concept of “soul”. When going into further detail, there are several more concepts describing the specific functions of the human spirit or mind, namely reason, emotions, morals or ethics, personality, character, values, and more.
The two concepts of “human spirit” and “human mind” are similar in meaning but not fully identical. In the French language, only the concept of “ésprit humain” is commonly used and in German only “der menschliche Geist”. But the Italian and Spanish languages both permit the usage of “spirito/espiritu” or “mente”.
In the English/American usage, the concept of “spirit” is commonly used to represent the totality of an individual’s thought, character, and behavior, almost like a homunculus within the brain, very close to the traditional concept of the “soul” (a concept still very much in use among religious and spiritualistic groups, where it is often seen as the center of human sensation, cognition, and personality). The concept of “mind” is commonly used to denote the mental consequences of the functioning of the brain – but more so the thought processes rather than the emotional aspects of mental existence.
In a contemporary scientific perspective, emphasis is placed on the close connection between the structure and functioning of the brain, some biochemistry of the body (hormones or neurotransmitters) and that of human mental existence. Therefore, and for reasons of simplicity, the following essay will use only the concept of “mind” to denote the full spectrum of human mental capabilities or brain functions – emotions, thought, mental creativity, ethical thought or judgment, personality, artistic or aesthetic sensitivity, religious sensations or visions, and more.
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1. A New Energy Cycle leads to Mobility, Sensors, and Signal Processing for Strategy
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One of the above-indicated detailed essays on evolution, namely “Origin of Life, Molecular Biology, Natural Evolution, Humans”, describes the present understanding of the molecular beginning of life more than 3 billion years ago. The essay also describes the evolution of the atmospheric and biological conditions on Earth leading, approximately 550 million years ago, to a new energy cycle for organisms – the oxidation (digestion) of organic material. Oxygen was absorbed from dissolved oxygen in water or through breathing from air. Organic material needed for energy production from oxidation had to be acquired through feeding.
In the earlier energy cycle, solar energy and carbon-dioxide had been ubiquitous. But organic material, once it was harvested in the immediate surroundings of an organism, had to be found – requiring mobility. Mobility became necessary to find more or better food. Competition with other organisms on the prowl ensued. Sensors were required to guide motion and detect competitors. The signals from the sensors needed evaluation or “processing” to arrive at directed motion or behavior strategies. Nerves appeared in the course of the evolution of life – and nerve centers formed as precursors of brains (see the essay in this series in the Section “Science and Evolution” on the “Origin of Life”, chapter 3.2 and following).
It is a mystery of nature how nerves were originally developed. Why, and how, would a very long cell have developed in early organisms for the purpose of signaling between two points or between groups of dedicated cells within the organism (as for contraction after some input signal)? Most likely, this has occurred along some tissue folds or tissue borders. [84] It is a mystery, too, that basically only one type of nerve (with minor variations) was ever developed and can be found on all branches of the tree of life. The nerve is rather complex and slow, using a fairly complex system of neurotransmitters for signaling. Why was no other type of nerve ever developed by nature (for example, with metallic conductivity)? [85]
Linear nerves permit reflexive behavior (if you burn one of your fingers, one of your arms twitches and retracts the hand with that finger). A significant step in evolution occurred when a nerve began to act on another nerve. Two nerves with feedback to each other allow the formation of a “flip-flop” for “on-off” behavior with memory. More complex interconnections allow for complex biochemical memory and for complex responses, leading to networks of nerves.
Nerves did develop a variety of neurotransmitters for the biochemical coupling of nerves. This variety of “neurotransmitters”, some of them specialized for different functions in the body and brain, allowed for differentiated influences on body and brain functions – as by biochemical substances in connection with emotions (for example, the formation and effect of adrenalin or dopamine).
The formation of ever more complex networks of nerves led to the appearance of large accumulations of interconnected nerves close to the output of the most important sensors – for fast and appropriated response based on memory. This, in turn, led to the formation of the complex brain of mammals in their heads. The expansion of the cortex, mainly in the frontal regions, led not only to greater memory. Of equal or even greater importance was the increase in interconnectivity and greater addressability of memory elements. Thereby, language skills appeared, but also higher intellectual capabilities for mental creativity and strategy formulation – including a higher degree of consciousness.
Certain midbrain functions, emotions, must have developed very early in the evolution of animals, thus allowing for the fast and economic summary assessment of situations for basic reactions as “fight or flight”. Special nuclei developed in the early brains for these evaluations. Later developments led to the appearance of ever more refined “emotions” – and, ultimately, to ethics and our human system of values that give structure, direction, and meaning to our lives.
The cerebellum, almost a second brain, was developed to assume routine motor coordination and controls – including those of skillful athletes and musicians – thereby freeing the main brain for the control of other activities or thought. It is quite a mystery how this second brain could have been developed and function so efficiently parallel to the main brain.
Recent research indicates that the earliest organisms provided with nerves showed an accumulation of their nerves around their mouth, possibly guiding motion toward food, but definitely controlling food intake.
A variety of sensors evolved, preferably in the vicinity of the existing nerve concentration, leading to the appearance of a proto-brain and the “head” of early organisms – facilitating not only skillful food search, but also mate searching and competition with other organisms. This evolution continued to let some organisms prevail in territorial dominance, predatory behavior, and mating, thereby selectively leading to further evolution.
Not only sensors, but also memory – an ever larger quantity of memory and also complex memory access – became a competitive advantage for evolving organisms. This evolution was emulated in our time by the evolution of computers and global data systems (for example, the success of Google [86]).
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2. The Fundamental Capabilities of the Mind: Emotions, Memory, Visualizations
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Three very significant steps in natural evolution occurred sometime during the last few hundred million years in establishing the human mind:
- the appearance of emotions
- the capability for extensive and interconnected neural memory
- most importantly, the capability for “visualizations” of the mind, leading to thought.
These capabilities first occurred in a minor way in the brains of animals, then largely expanded and structurally differentiated in humans. These capabilities became the foundation of human evolution in the progress of civilization, in the formation of behavior including creativity, analytical and mathematical pursuit of the sciences, ethics, personality expression, and art, thereby also establishing directions in human life. These evolutionary steps led to consciousness, possibly free will, spirituality, and the evolution of religions. All are described in some detail below.
These evolutionary steps became more significant than the physical evolution of humans and their physical capabilities. They opened new dimensions in existence.
Computer hardware and design can be studied by a branch of physics. But is computer software a branch of physics? The new field of “computer sciences” covers the software area. Does the creation of computer music or art belong to the “computer sciences”? More to the point, is the study of the “mind” a part of neurophysiology or biochemistry – the study of emotions, thought, creativity, ethical values, personality, and the sensitivity for art? To some extent, the fields of psychology and, more specifically, “cognitive” psychology have assumed the position of sciences of the “mind”. But is psychology related to neural signaling in the brain? Is “cognitive” the right term to cover all of what constitutes the human “mind”? Maybe there is a need for a new branch of science to study the human mind and its unique dimensions, but based on what we increasingly know in the sciences about the brain.
Following are discussions of the specific dimensions of the human mind mentioned above:
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Emotions
The most primitive neural functions are reflexes that lead from sensation directly to consequent muscle movement.
Emotions, however, evolved as neural functions that go beyond reflexes. In primitive organisms with small brains, the need to assess danger and to very quickly avoid risk – or the need to fight – may be counted as the most basic “emotions”.
As can easily be observed, fear or aggressiveness are not simply reflexive but can exist independent of muscle movement, as when the muscles or behavior are restrained. In that sense, emotions are the setting of general predispositions or moods leading to corresponding behavior patterns. As we know from ourselves, emotions may be felt as intensely as sensory perceptions.
Emotions led to the valuation of human life and behavior and to human ethical “values” (not to be confused with economic/commercial/monetary values). Our public debate and our concerns for society return again and again to the question of the proper ethical “values” for our culture.
Early in evolution, basic, strongly developed or expressed and genetically anchored “emotions” appeared that led to these so-called “ethical values and behavior”, in the course of time differentiated into three different categories:
✓ The caring for offspring (and related individuals, decreasingly with genetic distance)
✓ The reciprocity in assistance with chosen partners (friends), but only among social animals – as in preference for congregation, grooming, food sharing, and assistance in fight – with the possible reversal in retribution, retaliation, or revenge. Such pair bonding is in contrast to the equally genetically anchored territorial aversion against other individuals among non-social animals – and a mixture of both among humans, where “territories” can be of mental nature, as professional positions (also related to pecking-order conflicts).
✓ The readiness for self-sacrifice for the good of the pack or social group.
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In sum, the significance of emotions has varied through evolution and includes:
- The fast, summary assessment of situations at low neural “cost”
- The rise of a variety of differentiated emotions – emotions coming in many flavors – including love, joy, pride, sadness, despair, and many more
- The “ethical” emotions as foundation of ethical “values” and religious doctrine for individuals and society – in family life, business, politics, and more
- Emotions and values as controlling or guiding the functions or strategies of life – making life worth living or miserable, indicating what course to pursue or what to judge as acceptable or unacceptable
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Other important emotions include:
- Boredom
- Curiosity
- Art appreciation
These emotions had consequences for personal life and the evolution or spreading of civilizations.
A curious human emotion is humor.
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Emotions – originally a simplified neural control mechanism – developed in humans to the new phenomena of love, joy, empathy, pride, happiness – constituting the greatest gifts in human existence – or burdens, when implying sorrow, pain, fear, loneliness, despair, commiseration, sympathy with loved ones, hopelessness. All of these emotions constituted new dimensions in progressing evolution, but they are the ones that give direction and, mainly, value to our lives – or are our burden.
Some psychologists and philosophers want all emotions to be reduced to only one basic emotion of feeling good or bad, happy or unhappy. This reduces all subsequent behavior to an effort to maximize personal benefit in feeling good, similar to “utility” in business theory. In this approach, emotions such as love, pride, compassion, and humor are all lumped into one – with, for example, hate, sadness, or boredom. Such compression of the consideration of emotions may be practical for some summary discussions, but it does not do justice to the diversity of existence, and it provides poor guidance in the multiplicity of situations in real life. It even becomes dangerous when confusing ethical behavior, altruism, and fairness with seeking of personal benefit.
Emotions guide not only instant behavior, but also thought sequences – possibly leading to later consequences. This occurs through “value”-proportional formation of synaptic connections leading to preferential associative thought (see the essays on mental creativity on the website schwab-) as discussed later.
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Memory
Memory can exist without neural networks, as in cellular transformation (for example, a tan) or predisposition for certain external stimuli, either genetically given or acquired (imprinted).
A very important step in evolution occurred with the storage of sensory perceptions in groups of neurons (through formation of “synaptic” nerve endings or couplings between nerves with varying permanence). This neural memory became very significant when embedded in neural control networks – namely, the brain. Therefore, neural memory must be seen as the first step in the evolution of the brain and the evolution of mental capabilities.
The advantage of neural memory became apparent once the oxygen-energy cycle had occurred, organisms obtained mobility, had to search for food, and were led to intense competition. The recognition of prior sensory stimuli and their consequences allowed for the acquisition of experience and led to a higher success rate, whether in the search of suitable food or in conflict with competing organisms.
The comparison of new sensory perceptions with already existing memory required the matching of the defining memory elements of the new perceptions with the memorized perceptions and consequent neural activation when such matches were found. This was accomplished when new perceptions followed the same neural pathways that had established the prior memory. Coincidences led to recognition. Recognition could have occurred through simple increase in neural activity (firing rate) of the new or memorized perception – and coupling into emotions (and later developed valuations, as by the amygdala) and leading to consequent behavior – as in feeding, mating, fleeing, or fighting.
Most sensory perceptions require a large number of neurons for identification and retention of essential perception elements (how many memory elements are needed for an animal to recognize a certain predator?). This led to an ever-increasing demand for memory in the brain. Obviously, though, this required selectivity in acquiring memory inputs. After all, we are surrounded by, and our sensors perceive, millions of impressions all the time, most of which we neglect or do not bring to awareness. Just stop on a walk and look at the many impressions you could possibly perceive.
The selectivity for memory input must be on the basis of significance of the perception, a form of valuation. One should expect that the coincidence of a perception with a strong positive or negative valuation (or important question) led to memorizing. The mechanism could have been a signal increase (increased firing rate of the neurons carrying the perception) upon strong valuation – leading to memorization. In the human brain, valuation is contributed by the amygdala and some other brain nuclei. Memorization is guided by the hippocampus nucleus of the brain.
This is an example of the co-activation of the analog-signaling capability of the brain (analog firing rate corresponding to valuation) with the discrete (digital) signaling in establishing synaptic formations (the individual memory pattern).
Human memory evolved to include much more than only sensory perceptions. It allowed memory of emotions (as in valuation of perceptions), of mental “visualizations” (elements of own thought) as explained later, of verbal concepts (including the “inner voice” as explained later), of mathematical symbols, of space, and, quite mysteriously, of time or time increments. This let memory become the base for thought and consciousness, as explained later.
Memory, at least that of higher animals and humans, is symbolic, categorical, and hierarchical as explained in the following paragraphs.
As indicated, a fully detailed description of most perceptions would contain very large amounts of data. Memory is limited and, consequently, must be reduced to the memorization of only the essential elements of perceptions. This leads to the amazing capability of “symbolic” memory, (consequently also to symbolic visualization and symbolic thought, as discussed later), a fundamental and most important break-through in evolution. Without such “data compression” capability, practical amounts of memory and thought could not have developed. For example, what is a lion, since all lions are different from each other in appearance and possibly also in sound and smell? Yet, they must be readily recognized by their prey – in differentiation from other not-dangerous animals possibly of similar color. Symbolic presentation is somewhat related to the recognition of Aristotelian “ideals”.
All words are symbolic presentations – also of emotions – thereby becoming important to individuals and cultures as expressions of their inner substance. Is all of mathematics a handling of symbolic concepts?
All types of prey, predators, and potential mates had to be recognized from memory as such in a “categorical” manner, as certain individuals belonging to certain categories – allowing the structuring, simplifying, and handling of memory and thought more efficiently. As a matter of fact, the tendency of all human thought (and, more importantly, judgment) to be categorical may be very efficient, but may also result in severe deficiencies in thought and judgment – as in prejudices against groups of individuals (but selective targeting by the police or inspections is practical).
The “hierarchical” structure of memory is an amazing capability, resulting in corresponding substantial efficiencies and large steps in associative sequences for thought. For example, a family pet named “Spot” was, on different hierarchical levels, a Terrier, a dog, a mammal, an animal, a living being – yet, retained in memory only as “Spot”. What is in memory a family, a nation, or a “democracy”. What is a letter, an alphabet, a number, or an equation such as “e=mc2”?
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Visualizations
The most important step in the evolution of the mind – and consequent much later evolution of human civilization and culture – occurred when the brain became capable of the presentation of visualizations – and their associative sequencing.
The concept of “visualization” is used in this essay to describe the appearance in the mind of images, sounds, verbal or mathematical or other symbolic concepts, tastes, fragrances, or tactile sensations independent of sensory perception. In other words, the mind can present the images of objects or any of their characteristics – for example, we can visualize a flower or the face of another person – without that object being present. A writer can search for and have a verbal concept in his mind. A mathematician can handle complex equations of mathematical symbols in his mind. An advertising agent – or a preacher – can handle the symbolic significance of images or words. A musician can have in his mind a sound or harmony without any musical instrument actually being played – as every composer or musician knows.
In a neurophysiologic sense, a visualization occurs when the group of neurons required for an element of memory is activated and remains active – even beyond the duration of such initial activation from outside. Such activation may occur not only through new perceptions but also through thought or the synaptic linkage to neurons related to other memory elements or brain processes. A technical task may lead to the finding of a solution. Hunger can lead to the visualization of food, fear to the visualization of enemies, the mentioning of a town to the visualization of a person living there, et cetera.
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A very important next step in mental evolution occurred when sequencing of visualizations became possible by means of their synaptic coupling – possibly facilitated by shared visualization elements that provide for the coupling and sequential activation of groups of nerves constituting those next visualizations. In other words, visualizations can be not only static, like a slide show; they also can be dynamic, like a video show in the mind, leading to “thought”. In the case of sequences of verbal concepts, this leads to the thought phenomenon of the “inner voice”, as if thoughts were expressed in the mind by the mind’s talking, see later discussion. Sequences of harmony-“visualizations” may result in the composer’s “visualization” of melodies.
Individual visualizations within the sequence may last only for fractions of a second.
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3. The Basic Functions: Thought, Creativity, Ethics, Personality, Art
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Thought
The phenomenon of thought is discussed in detail in the two essays on “Mental Creativity” in the “Brain-Mind” section of the website schwab-.
Thought is the appearance of sequences of virtual, perception-like effects in the mind, however independent of sensory input – here called “visualizations”.
The appearance of a single visualization does not make for “thought”, but the pursuit of properly coupled visualization sequences does (associatively linked visualizations or those providing a meaningful sequence). The capability for thought became the most significant step in the evolution of practical progress, for the formation of human civilizations, and for an understanding of existence..
Some further observations regarding “thought”:
As discussed before, “visualization” and, consequently, thought is the consequence of the appearance of the capability for memory in primitive organisms. Equally important, evolution must have allowed for associative connectivity between memory elements in the brain. The perception of any memorized aspect of prey or predator (fragrance, visual detail, sound) would have led to the full visualization of that prey or the feared predator. Based on this fact, the call-up of one memory element led to the subsequent activation of the next associatively linked memory element. Once this was given, associatively linked visualizations could sequentially follow each other.
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The activation of a visualization must be accomplished by initiating the firing of the neurons that make up that memory element, providing the same effect as an actual perception. If there are many memory elements, as in the human brain, any other memory element but the one addressed must be inhibited or kept from firing – for example, by neural cross-connections as also existing in the retina of the eye and among neurons in the skin to improve the perception of motion or differences (edges).
It is typical for many neurons that they fire only for a limited period of time, as if tiring after that. As the firing of one memory elements fades within a fraction of a second, the suppression of others equally fades, and the next one, possibly the one with the strongest associative linkages to the previous one, begins firing, suppressing all others in its turn. This establishes a sequence along the line of the strongest association – resulting in an associative thought sequence. This selection of the strongest associative link in thought sequencing is somewhat similar to Darwinian selectivity in the progress of the fittest. The “speed” of thought is given by neural characteristics – and may vary.
The strength of the associative link between memory elements – and, consequently, the direction of the thought sequence, is provided by several factors, principally by the emotional or biological value (experienced poison, danger, or reward) of the stored memory element (provided via the amygdala and other brain nuclei), but also by the habitual perception or usage of that link (as your automatic drive home from work), or by the perceived value of the consequences of the train of visualizations (as when leading to risks or rewards).
Any new perception with high signal strength (for example, the ringing of a telephone) – as determined by valuation – can interrupt the thought sequence through neural inhibition – and lead to its own foreground presence in the mind.
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All of the above results in the mysterious capability for “thought” – to move in a virtual world, to simulate, and to project alternative developments or new objects – or mathematical symbols with their implied meaning – or art – or religion.
The combination of emotions and thought can be seen as the appearance of “mind” among advanced animals.
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Do animals think? Dogs can be observed dreaming – indicating visualization sequences – consequently indicating the capability for thought. Predators can develop hunting strategies – consequently they are capable of thought.
The question arrives, why there is always only one foreground thought at a time even though there are two halves of the brain, with limited connection between them, allowing only for limited inhibition of memory activation sequences between the two halves.
Thought in association with verbal concepts is very common among individuals dedicated to speech or writing and appears as the “inner voice”. It may actually be a secondary phenomenon, with verbal formulation following the preceding perceptual thought (see some cases of mental creativity, verbal aggression and defense in debate, or some newer experiments related to the subject of “free will” – where action is indicated prior to verbal formulation of a reason).
The inner voice may actually be a nuisance at some time, whether as the “voice of the devil” or in not letting the mind rest. But the inner voice is the key capability of poets and writers – or founders of religions (often merely reflecting their own mind as embedded in their culture and not that of a higher being).
The great importance of speech for human mental evolution results from the fact that the evolution of speech recognition and formulation led to the evolution of more complex concepts and systems of thought – and the facility of their communication. Especially we humans developed a wide hierarchy of words, much beyond the capabilities of animals, substantially contributing to cultural progress. Simple words are descriptive of single actions or objects (walk, sit, chair, or table). But more advanced words are summary designations of complex sequences or of groups of objects (for example, furniture, voting, inventing, molecules, Americans). The most advanced words comprise the visualization or communication of complex thought patterns or interpretations of existence (for example, politics, research, religion, relativity theory). The use of such word concepts allowed for very much faster progression and communication of thought and a deeper understanding of existence.
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Given the importance of language for human thought and cultural evolution, it is interesting to note that word concepts, not having any intrinsic invariable substance, have no unique value, varying widely from language to language and in time. Words do not only vary in sounds between different languages, but also in the fine nuances or coverage area of meaning, leaving some words not-translatable or becoming very practical new words in other languages. Since different cultures are sometimes distinguished by a different spectrum of emotions, their languages become a distinct expression of this emotionality – and, consequently are appreciated and guarded.
Mathematical thought, possibly not different from any other symbolic thought, became of high importance as modern science discovered that nature can be understood in mathematical terms, with mathematical expressions being independent of languages or cultures – or residency on Earth – as a universal “language” to communicate “universally” valid thought.
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A specific aspect of thought is the fact that only certain connections of visualizations are acceptable, that there is some “recognition of “truth”, some following of logic. This gave rise to the mental occupation of “philosophy”.
Very important is the thought capability of differentiating between actual perceptions and (only) visualizations – between reality and dreams, between the actual surroundings and a TV-show – but being able to widely span space and time, far beyond our own existence. Pathological failures of these capabilities to distinguish are readily recognized and may become dangerous.
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Emotions, memory, and visualization led to the evolution of the human mind in its capabilities for:
- Creativity, including mathematical creativity
- Ethical thought and judgment
- Personality formation or expression
- Appreciation of Art
- Religion
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Modern science and technology offer vast new capabilities in electronic memory and data processing – not to mention the advances in miniature machinery down to the molecular level in nano-technology. Will these new technological capabilities, as servants of the human mind, extend the mind’s capabilities? How could such an extension of the mind occur and what could it bring? Forecasts usually bring only more of the same. Evolution, however, occurs in “branching” progress as discussed before – and works differently.
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Creativity
Creativity evolved from pattern recognition or, more often, from the “combinatorial” linking of memory or thought elements to form new concepts – as in fire making (possibly 1.5 million years ago) to tool usage, architecture, technical innovation, development of philosophical systems of thought – or the writing of this essay.
There are various forms of creativity and different steps in the progression of creativity. Distinction shall be made between practical creativity leading to new objects or concepts and artistic creativity leading to new sensations or emotional responses. One can also distinguish various levels of creativity, from the smallest steps in detail to new holistic, large-step insights or improvements – giving rise to distinction in level of “intelligence”.
Practical creativity can go through various steps:
- Asking the right questions (the wording of the question often predetermines the final answer)
- Initiation of the right search or experiment
- Pattern recognition among multiple observations or results
- Finding or defining new concepts or structures
- Building a new or expanded system of thought or perceptions
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Seagulls learn to break clam shells by lifting the clams to a certain altitude and dropping them on rocks. Apes learn to extract insects from hiding by means of small sticks and to use stones as breaking tools. The domination of fire (specifically the starting of a fire) may have been the most important step in early ingenuity and, specifically, in human creativity [87]. Thus, the recognition and remembering of successful experiences for later repetition, the building of experience, may have been the beginning of creativity. The recognition of opportunities as occurring in most lives from time to time, the mobilization of initiative for their proper utilization, and the pursuit of the next one is still a significant factor in human life’s success or progress.
The process of mental creativity in arriving at new results or new concepts is, mostly, a “combinatorial” one, combining existing memory elements or new perceptions (see the two essays on mental creativity on the website “ schwab-”).
Consequently, a greater volume, variety, or addressability of available memory elements – the expansion of memory and also of the interconnectivity of memory elements – leads to a higher level of creativity. In teamwork, additional creativity is accomplished by the contribution of different educational background perceptions by the different team members. Equally, new entrants to an established field, or the entry of an individual into a new field of enquiry, can contribute to new creativity – by facilitating new associative connections and new systems of thought.
Initial usage of vaguely defined objectives or words leads to more associations and, possibly, higher creativity (see the historic Japanese approach to problem solving).
Human creativity was halting, at first, during human evolution. But creativity became increasingly appreciated, especially in the Western societies, and progressed more rapidly, especially in our time – leading to an overtaking or replacing of natural evolution, as in the genetic modification of plants and animals. Will there be no end to creativity – or its usefulness?
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Ethics
Basic ethical behavior – to be defined as behavior for the benefit of another individual, even at one’s own expense – is genetically established by nature in consequence of the benefit of prevailing for an individual in a harsh and competitive world – more importantly, among social animals, of the benefit of prevailing by means of group cohesion and coordinated group action.
Natural ethical behavior – genetically founded – can be observed in three ways (and may have resulted from a lack in behavioral maturation from nest or den behavior with multiple siblings to mature independence):
- Caring for offspring and those close of kin, more intergenerationally forward directed and diminishing with genetic distance, leading to wonderful family coherence and, when largely extended, to social balance and support in society – but also to problems of a “Cosa Nostra” duality of morality.
- Reciprocity, as occurring among social animals (as in congregating, grooming, sharing of food, and assistance in fighting) – with the negative consequence in revenge for failed reciprocity or cheating – leading to high values in friendship, to networking in business, and, ideally, to Christian love (“agape”) for other human beings – but also to problems of personal and tribal revenge behavior.
- Sacrificing own benefit and security for the benefit of the pack, as also occurring among social animals: (as when the male animals fight predators to let the female animals with their young gain safety) – in modern society leading to taxation, military service, and public service engagement for the benefit of society – but also to nationalistic extremes with negative consequences.
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In sum, the origin, evolution, and function of societies and the accomplishments of civilizations or cultures are largely based on healthy and balanced ethical emotions and behavior among the members.
These natural ethical emotions are the foundation for the judgment of morally “good” and “bad” and for the emotions of “pride” and “guilt”, or for “conscience”, the feeling of moral self-esteem and communal acceptance (pecking order) resulting from the memory of moral performance.
There are individual variations (and variations with age) in emotional intensity. There are pathological imbalances and deviations in emotions and moral judgment.
All “ethical” behavior is associated with some degree of learning – beginning with the recognition which in a crowd of youngsters is the own offspring, sibling, or parent – and decreases with genetic distance. Most learning is the result from selective observation (see, for example, great loves ending in divorce). This fact presents problems but also opportunities.
The development of more differentiated emotions and thought led to the appearance of ethics beyond the genetically given, ultimately to the complex phenomena of cultural development in societies. This occurs through inclusion of an ever-wider range of individuals in the caring, reciprocity, and personal sacrifice sphere (including charitable aid to the most remote parts of the world, specifically to children). It also occurs in applying ethical behavior to more complex situations – ultimately leading to ethical values for family life, social coherence (civil rights), the conduct of business, politics, international relations, and more – even to the protection of wildlife and the environment.
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Moral laws, ultimately anchored in human needs but then historically anchored in religious teaching or clan culture, evolved through human history. The first written records of “moral” laws are from Urukagina, King of Lagash, in Mesopotamia, also called Uru’inimgina, approximately 2,380 bc, establishing laws against abuse of the poor by the once powerful priests and presenting himself as the protector of the weak, the widows, and orphans. not too much later, certain “moral” teachings appeared in Egypt. Then, a wave of religious an moral teachings went through mankind around 700 to 500 BC, with the appearance of Buddha, Lao-Tse, Confucius, and the composition of the Bible, including the emphasis on morals by Isaiah (about 750 – 700 BC). A new wave of moral teaching appeared with Jesus and some Greek philosophers (Aristotle and the Stoic philosophy). Should one add in later times St. Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, and others?
In our time, moral laws are increasingly determined by public law based on the same general and natural human needs – for security, fairness, freedom, and opportunity – including the punishment of the violators, free-loaders, and cheaters – as an expression of natural revenge emotions, for the necessary deterrent effect, or to isolate the incurably dangerous ones.
Modern public laws of behavior go far beyond the old religious moral laws – with differences in laws resulting from differences in emphasis between different cultures – as for security, protection of property, freedom, balancing of individual interests, protection against misleading behavior, restraint in reciprocal “vengeance”, judgment and treatment of criminals, fairness in offering opportunities, and assistance to the needy.
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The evolution of ethical values goes hand in hand with the evolution of modern societies – or the lack thereof.
Still, there are two directions for moral laws – the satisfaction of emotional needs or utilitarian considerations, the usefulness, the rendering of benefit. Religious laws are somewhere in between, having originated from utility (the Ten Commandments) but having been expanded by rather emotion-based Christian morality.
There are also two distinct attitudes concerning the morality of each step in the behavior (process ethics) or the justification of acts by their moral purpose (result ethics).
The preference for one or the other of the above alternative approaches to morality is mostly not a black-and-white question in extreme cases, but one of degree in gray-zones of decision making in daily life. In other words, observation of what is going on in society leads to the conclusion that the resolution of both of these splits in morality – emotion vs. utility and process vs. result ethics – depends upon the quantitative weight of situations. For example, each individual in our modern society is protected in its basic rights. Lately, however, after 9/11, various governments decided to have their air forces shoot down civilian airplanes full of innocent people if a terrorist on board threatens to use the plane as a tool of attack against the center of a city.
An attempt is under way to let all moral laws of various religious or ethnic origin evolve into a “global” set of moral laws (see, for example, Hans Küng’s writings and proposals that were discussed at the United Nations). To arrive at such a global set of laws, one would need a globally accepted view of the future world, easy to define in the coverage of basic needs, but more difficult to define in higher goals and ambitions. For example, must the rich support the poor when suffering resulted from self-inflicted or addictive behavior? Does everybody have the right to unlimited propagation, irrespective of a sufficient economic base and genetic defects? Are local natural resources for the benefit of local populations only? What migration is permissible? This includes the questions of divorce, abortion, and the human rights of “deviants” – and the consideration of the commonly occurring “unintended consequences”.
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Ethics is also the subject of the rather verbose and involved field of moral philosophy – from Plato and Aristotle to the great teachers of various religions, the thinkers of enlightenment (for example, regarding the question of hypothetical vs. categorical imperatives [Hume vs. Kant]), to modern thinkers – with new contradictions among them appearing all the time (for example, in the old question whether morality is, ultimately, only selfish [Hobbes vs. Feinberg, Gauthier]). “Metaethics” attempts to provide a better definition and understanding of the terms used in the discussion of morality and attempts to distinguish between rational and emotional aspects of moral thought. Normative ethics attempts to provide prescriptive basic rules for moral behavior. Applied ethics is concerned with the analysis of practical ethical behavior. Being part of the wider field of philosophy, moral philosophy attempts to use rationality (for example, in the application of the “prisoner’s dilemma” to mutual disarmament). This leads into problems when discussing the emotionality of so much of morality. While addressing some major questions, moral philosophy is not very suitable to decide daily conflicts between contradictory moral demands (for example, between family and public or charitable demands – and self-realization). Debates among moral philosophers are often reduced to emotionally weighing the skillfully worded but contradictory intellectual arguments.
Modern thought and analysis of moral emotionality and behavior is largely related to analyzing the functioning of the human mind – consequently to the functioning of the brain and biochemistry. Therefore, there should be a new field of “neuro-moral-philosophy” to analyze the old questions of ethics in a new light and understanding. More realistic findings could be expected.
For most ethical behavior there exists a reverse – as cooperation can be reverted to revenge or retaliation – sometimes justified by resulting abhorrence – but often resulting merely in destruction. Moral philosophers have given inadequate attention to this phenomenon.
Additional questions of ethics relate to “morality” in sexual behavior or dress code, to the phenomenon of “honor” (and, when offended, to the need for “satisfaction”, even when very destructive – as in blood feuds or honor killings), and to the questions of “duty” (fulfilling commitments).
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Personality
Differentiation between individuals of the same species is a basic tool of evolution when used for the subsequent prevailing of the fittest. Among humans, such individuality is significant in self-esteem and in finding purpose or direction in life. More importantly, personality influences thought, behavior, consciousness, “free will”, and spirituality.
Is the “personality” of an individual a nature-given constant? Is there an evolution of personality – for individuals or for societies? One should consider the stability, variability, and also the multiplicity of expressions of individual personality (see the essay on “Personality” on the website schwab- in the “Brain-Mind” section).
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Personality – the behavior and even the thought pattern of an individual – is considered stable and characteristic for a given individual. But this assumption is not comprehensively correct.
- Personality varies somewhat with age (especially during adolescence and in advanced age).
- Personality varies quickly but only temporarily in consequence of biochemical effects (alohol, coffee, drugs)
- Personality may be changed by cultural influence, but only for as long as being immersed in or supported by that culture
- Personality can change instantly under the influence of situations – in reaction to irritation, success, or catastrophes
- Personality can change with own thought, as in role-playing, following role models, or in consequence of own determination
- Personality can change in consequence of accidents, diseases, and tumors.
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“Personality” describes regularities in behavior patterns of individuals. The existence of individual personality is a complex phenomenon based on three factors:
- Brain physiology
- Biochemistry
- Perception of the environment that may occur in various ways:
o Adaptation to the surrounding culture
o Learning, adopted religion, or adopted ideology
o Reaction to momentary situations
- Own thought, as in self-selected behavior or following of role models
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Brain physiology establishes the strength of signal projections between various mid-brain nuclei or to the strategy-formulating forebrain – or a lack of such signal strength, possibly in consequence of birth defects, accidents (see the famous Gage case), or medical afflictions.
The biochemical functioning of the body or sensitivity can be equally variable, as demonstrated by degenerative diseases, as, for example, Parkinson’s. More so, the introduction of biochemically active products into the human body can vary behavior patterns and, consequently, “personality”. For example, a cup of coffee in the morning renders a person perkier, sedatives more tranquil. Too much alcohol or addictive drugs can have devastating behavioral influences. Medicines are available to correct some medical, behavioral, or mood problems.
Perception of the environment can result in changes of valuations of associations and can bring about biochemical changes in the body (for example, during phases of rage).
Adaptation to the surrounding culture is widespread and leads to the regional or national character of populations. It also leads prescriptively to community formation as in selective schools (in a positive and in a negative meaning), congregations, monasteries, or the military.
Learning and indoctrination in religious or ideological institutions can lead to variations in the acceptability of behavior and to the stimulation or restraint of behavior.
Reaction to momentary situations demonstrates the multiplicity of potential personality expressions as available to each individual.
This variability indicates the possibility for personality change by means of setting the right circumstances for the desired personality expressions. This option is often overlooked but exceptionally important in selecting a strategy for personality selection or personality-expression modification, whether in personal relations (resulting in harmony or divorce), in personal development (in education, formation), in business (possibly toward trustworthiness or the opposite), or international relations.
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Own thought can have substantial influence on behavior stimulation or restraint. It can lead to the following of role models or to role-playing – another form of multiplicity of personality expressions.
This indicates a degree of personal responsibility for one’s own character as given by the chosen personality expression.
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Art
Considering the large amount of resources individuals and communities spend for art – in their homes, on public spaces, in the form of museums and theaters, in the often expensive architectural design of buildings, or in the time spent admiring art and reading fiction or poetry – one must see art as an especially important accomplishment of human evolution. For a more detailed discussion, see the essay on “Aesthetics, Art, and Culture” in the section “Brain-Mind” on the website schwab-.
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There appear to be four different foundations of art as defined in our time:
- Aesthetic sensitivity
- Emotional stimulation or communication
- Attention-getting (including advocacy)
- Concentration on detail
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Aesthetic sensitivity, mysterious as it is, is sometimes related to simple physical correlations – as in harmonics, being related to even multiples of resonating lengths, see the work by Pythagoras, who exalted his findings into religious teachings. The ideal proportions of ancient buildings (e.g., Greek temples) offer another example. Still, the basic sensitivity for aesthetics appears to be genetically provided and a common gift of nature. Simple decorations appear on all primitive pottery in the history of mankind. All primitive cultures developed music or rhythms. The enjoyment of fragrances, tastes, tactile sensations (for example, the preference of silk over cotton) can be found in all cultures at all times.
Emotional stimulation or communication is mostly accomplished through symbolic presentation – the image of a great leader, the statue of a god, the picture of a hero or saint – and, later, images of beautiful scenery or of familiar settings. Stimulation can be negative – battle scenes, pictures of disasters.
Attention provoking use and abuse of art occurs in politics, in ideological groups, in advocacy, and in commerce through attention-getting, emotional formation of marketing material, and attention-focusing. The arousal of positive feelings of attraction by art is channeled toward the issue of political propagated. The most common is the attempt to associate youthful beauty and attractiveness with the respective issue. On the other hand, technical aesthetics (the design of cars, modern trains, or airplanes), while being attractive, can obviously not be equated with emotionally “good” or “bad”.
Attention-getting effects are increasingly used in modern art and admitted as forms of art – and are exploited in advocacy. Much of modern art seems to be no more than attention getting effects.
Concentration on generally overlooked detail can bring aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual responses and, thereby, become a method with which to produce “art”. This is effective, since our life is over-flooded with sensory inputs – far beyond what we can become “aware” of – and since modern art has opened the door to almost anything that includes either an aesthetic or an emotional effect – with positive or negative value. The concentration on almost any detail of, mainly, visual perception can lead to the observation of aesthetic, emotional, or attention-getting reactions. Just select a detail of observation, frame it or set it on a pedestal, and it is accepted as art – and may be interesting, if not enjoyable.
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4. The Abstract or “virtual” Functions: Consciousness, Free Will, “Soul”,
Spirituality, Religion
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The capabilities of the human mind in emotions, memory, and thought led to the evolution of some aspects of existence that appeared as typical characteristics of humans or, at least, as concerns of philosophy: consciousness, free will, and the “soul”. Beyond that, there were the phenomena of human spirituality and the appearance and evolution of numerous religions. These aspects of human existence or phenomena are discussed in more detail below. In the discussion with progressing science, the question arises again and again: are these phenomena real or just “virtual” phenomena of the mind? As always in philosophical discourse, the definition of terms or concepts is of paramount importance – or can lead to controversy.
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Consciousness:
A meaningful discussion of this subject requires agreement on this concept’s definition. In this essay, consciousness shall be defined as the knowing of oneself as a person and of the surrounding world in space and time – and the resulting capability to reflect upon both within the limits of human thought capability. This definition, while commonly prevalent, is not always followed in the very wide discussion of consciousness through the centuries. For many philosophers, there is often no clear distinction between momentary “awareness” and basic “consciousness” as defined above. As in the case of so many philosophical concepts, one can easily get lost in discussions of semantics and word definitions. Science has not sharply defined the concept of consciousness either, with different scientist using different definitions.
In a more specific usage of verbal concepts, “awareness” is a different concept and should be used for the momentary foreground presence of nerval or mental focus – as a worm beginning to wriggle when being poked with a stick or an animal suddenly becoming “aware” of a predator or hunter – or we being aware of a specific foreground phase of thought or perception.
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The human mind can present only one focus or thought in awareness at any one time – even though multitasking is possible by means of subconscious thought, fast awareness-switching, or use of the cerebellum part of the brain [88]. Awareness must be analyzed in neurological terms. The neural explanation of awareness – mainly of visual perceptions – has been specifically investigated and excellently described by Christof Koch in his book The Quest for Consciousness (Roberts & Co., 2004, ISBN 0-9747077-0-8) mentioned in a prior footnote.
Awareness is already given, when sensory input leads to a muscular reflex, as in primitive organisms. Awareness becomes more complex when it leads to the call-up of memory and, more so, when memory elements lead to competition in consequent behavior selection or when trains of “thought” are stimulated in the human brain. At that point, awareness flows into consciousness, especially when leading to new memory.
“Consciousness”, discussed for some time by philosophers and more recently by scientists, is a somewhat fuzzy concept. It is generally understood to be a holistic concept for the capability to be aware – anytime when and if focusing on this subject – of oneself and the surrounding world in space and time [89]. There is also the concept of the “subconscious”, the momentary or continued mental activity that does not reach awareness – as when driving along a familiar road. When an important subconscious thought reaches awareness, it is considered an “intuition”.
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For many philosophers and for some scientists, “consciousness” is the most mysterious essence of being human. In general and for scientists, it is very surprising that consciousness can be explained simply as a virtual effect resulting from the capability for memory of past sensory perceptions, visualizations, and past own thought within the concepts of time and space, as commonly available to the perception of our minds based on the memory capability of the brain. This fact renders “consciousness” nothing but a virtual phenomenon resulting from memory and thought visualization – specifically when containing memory of wide areas of space and time, thereby allowing us to gloriously transcend individual existence.
It is posited that such memory of the sum of past sensory perceptions, past visualizations, and past own thought – in their full coverage in space and time – is necessary and sufficient for “consciousness” as defined above to occur – with whatever emotional connotation (or not) as provided by the emotion-sensing individual.
As indicated earlier, memory elements are synaptically interconnected providing for associative linkage in thought. If a primitive person has seen only one chair before in a hut, then the concept of “chair” will be mentally connected only to the hut and possible events that occurred surrounding the chair. But when another person is a professional designer of airplane seats, then the concept of “chair” may have a much wider variety of associations, from materials used to applications and experiences with that product – rendering a much greater addressability of the concept “chair” by means of such synaptic connectivity – and rendering that person’s “consciousness” that much more complex.
In sum, consciousness is as developed as the duration, quantity, and refinement of memory (to also include, for example, elements of emotions, verbal concepts, and timing) and the complexity or multiplicity of the memory’s addressability or connectivity.
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Is consciousness restricted to humans? Every dog which scratches where it itches (and stops chasing its own tail) is aware of itself. Every predator with a strategy for capturing prey is aware of the surrounding world.
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“Free Will”:
A definition of free will should be at the beginning of any discussion of this subject but usually is lacking – because it is difficult to arrive at and agree upon such a definition. One may have to distinguish “free will” from predictability of behavior.
One may also have to ask oneself the key question how a person with a “free” will would decide differently from a person who lacks “free will”. Is unrestrained expression of personal preferences equal to free will? If there is another explanation, that, too, could be “programmed” into an “unfree” mind – to render the two indistinguishable once more.
Do moral and public laws establish restraints on free will? Does lack of physical or mental capabilities or lack of knowledge – factual or cultural – form a restraint on free will?
The answers come easy in extreme cases (black-and-white discussions), but are more difficult to find in gray-zone cases.
People do not generally jump from bridges. In that sense, they are predictable. But that does not mean they lack free will. They just do what they deem best. Addicts need drugs to satisfy their addiction. Do addictions render people totally un-free? Or do addicted individuals also only do what they deem best for themselves? In general, decisions are made based on one’s natural constitution or on what one has learned, experienced, or is expected to do within one’s culture.
There can be various perspectives in the discussion of free will:
- Determinism: Neural determinism, quantum mechanical effects in the brain, expression of will as a phenomenon of Chaos Theory, and unpredictability on account of feedback phenomena in the brain
- Free will in the sense of a fully independent will, independent of the will of other individuals
- Free will as an expression of personality and selection of personal preferences. How else would an un-free will decide (possibly not differently)?
- Newer insight into decision-making processes as found in economic theories.
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Determinism can be seen on the physical level – the neurophysiological level – or on the psychological level – the learning and environment level.
Decisions are made by brain processes. They follow synaptic connections and biochemical conditions. In sum, there is a neurological aspect of free will and determinism. The old philosophy of determinism in the physical world (for example, by Laplace) was dissolved by the random effects of probability of quantum mechanics and by the unpredictability indicated by Chaos Theory. The study of the brain (see above) indicates a vast amount of causality of all neural effects. But the study of the brain also indicates vast areas of unpredictability of synaptic expressions and, quite importantly, of signal timing – and the effect of personal preferences on neural synaptic strength formation due to personal valuations. This leads back to the statement that free will becomes the expression of individual personality and personal preferences – some given by nature, some acquired inadvertently, some after personal deliberation. This may render a person’s decisions predictable, yet remaining the expression of a free will.
The newest experiments with decision making in the brain indicate a “subconscious” brain activity preceding the conscious decision [90]. This is seen by some philosophers and scientists as an indication of determinism of will under the influence of neural brain functions. There may be a problem with the interpretation of this finding as determinism. Subconscious thought is a form of “thought”, after all – see the two essays about mental creativity on the website schwab-. Subsequent and “aware” thought follows associative sequences in the brain leading to explanations – sometimes to “a-posteriori” justifications. The original and subconscious thought still was the expression of that person.
If awareness is equated with verbal awareness, then one must consider that verbalization always follows actual thought and decision making by a certain amount of time (about at least 1/10 of a second).
Limits in decision-making result from limitations of knowledge and personality strength or weaknesses – for the latter, including the influence of the environment and culture, see the essay on personality on the website schwab-. In sum, expressions of will result from the sum of what was genetically given and what was learned (and biochemical effects in the brain, as from stimulants or drugs). This allows for some predictability. It also leads to mitigating considerations in judging other people, specifically in criminal justice, and to approaches for the treatment of people, whether they are considered normal or not.
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How would a person with a “free” will ever decide differently from a person lacking “free will”? Would not either strive to express himself or herself? In other words, why should a “free” person want to be somebody different?
Actors can play roles. Most people can assume different personality traits under different circumstances. Decisions can be changed in consequence of challenged behavior or own thought. Even “arbitrary” behavior can result from such a challenge – at least the opposite of what would have to be expected – see adolescents in opposition to their parents.
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Independently free will – beyond self-expression on the known level and expression of given personality – would require omniscience and total independence of personality factors – still leaving, for example, the search for common benefit in a cultural setting – another restriction to “free will” in a philosophical sense.
Could preferences remain? One person may prefer one color over others, one taste over others, or one fragrance over others. Does that constitute lack of free will? Would free will require absolutely no preference? That would make many decision situations unresolvable – leaving the need for action to arbitrary choice – even requiring external decision tools such as dice when personal decisions are no longer possible.
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People who cannot decide are not well suited for practical life. Nature appears to have provided for decision mechanisms in uncertainty – most likely to be found in neural signal-balancing within the brain, combining sensory inputs, midbrain signals (emotions), and frontal cortex processes (thought).
It is interesting to note that even when individuals possess vast knowledge, effects that are distant in time and space are heavily discounted (for example, maintenance tasks, the need for saving for a “rainy day” or for retirement, prevention of global warming and climate change in the future).
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If there is no “free will”, would we just be like the balls in a game of pool, without true “values”, with no freedom and, consequently, no responsibility? In sum, while “freedom of will” cannot be “proven” and is lost in philosophical semantics, the hypothesis of “free will”, the freedom to express oneself, still provides the more viable approach to life – leaving “determinism” as an obsessive concern, if not an excuse – but also leaving the need for understanding and proper treatment for those who got into trouble and are (or merely feel) “guilty” – and still leaving the challenge to do right in our lives.
Newer theories of decision-making in economics require the differentiation in the assessment between “economic values” (utilities), often measurable, and beliefs (as in the assessment of estimated probabilities and risks), often given incorrect weight. Both can have emotional content.
It is an important capability of the human brain that it can arrive at decisions in uncertainty – and, in most situations of practical life, does so within a relatively short time – as the resources and time for deeper analysis of situations is mostly not given.
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Soul
“Soul”, differently defined by different writers, is a linguistic concept that attempts to describe some ultimate essence of a person, like a spiritual homunculus within that person.
Historically, the idea of a “soul” existing independently of the body may have resulted from dreams, the human capability for spirituality (discussed below), religions, and the experience of death – of somebody fully being with you one moment, being fully alive, and then, subsequently, seeing an immovable body, as if that person were just dreamingly absent.
Is there a “soul”? What would it be? The “essence” of a person should include that person’s personality (based largely on individual neurophysiology, biochemistry, and cultural experience), that person’s perceptions (for example, to perceive an afterlife), and some of that person’s memory, at least to know who he or she is and relates to.
Why would the soul exist independent of the body, the brain? Why would the soul not be just an expression of the brain (its memory and its “personality”)? There are many obvious indications of the interdependence within the biological “system” body-brain – see the result of accidents, diseases, or aging. There are no indications to ever see the essence of a person being independent of bodily givens. In other words, the “soul” would be as variable as the structures of the body or brain, and would change as those do. This leaves the concept of “soul” only as a practical linguistic expression, to describe the mental aspects of a person in a holistic way, but without any “real” content – similar to the concept of “culture” for an ethnic group.[91]
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Spirituality
“Spirituality” refers to mental phenomena beyond logical thought or memory, expected to provide additional insight – as in visions – or capabilities – as for healing. It is believed that certain spiritual experiences can unexpectedly occur, others are searched for in meditation.
Brain research has found that dominant and routine daily thought occurs primarily in the left side of the brain and is more detailed or quantitative. Only upon the calming of active thought does right-sided activity of the brain prevail. It is mostly of a more geometric (visual) and holistic nature. This has led to better recognition of some situations in life and to greater creativity, even in scientific research (see the occurring of major mental break-throughs).
Equally important is the fact that “visualizations” in thought often are correlated with emotions. Calmness is seen mostly as pleasant. Consequently, meditation leading to holistic insight combined with calmness can be seen as a special experience, described as “spiritual”. However, extreme cases of meditation, sensory withdrawal, and physical imbalance through dieting can lead to “hallucinations” and virtual recognitions without real content, as in “enlightenment”. “Enlightenment” has never permitted the solution of any social, political, or practical problem.
It is known that body biochemistry influences emotions. It is equally known that emotional states can influence the body, including endocrine functions and immune responses. The correlation of meditative, “spiritual” settings with emotions leads to either the medically disturbing or the medically healing effect of spiritual experiences. Seeing ghosts can lead to loss of hair color, rashes, and digestive dysfunction; yet spiritual phenomena can also be very helpful in healing or stabilization.
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In most cases, moderate forms of spiritual pursuits – as meditation, the consequent calming and regaining of a holistic view of life – can be very beneficial.
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Religion
The verbal concepts of “religion” or “transcendental” refer to phenomena beyond the physical world and scientific understanding (the latter always requiring verification by reproducible, factual experiments). Most religions are connected with moral teaching – even though this is not a necessary connection.
The theme of “Religion” is discussed in detail in the essay “Religion: What Is Religion? What Should Religion Be?” to be found on the website “schwab-” in the section on “Philosophy/Theology”. That essay covers the following aspects of religion:
- What is the origin of religions?
- What provides for the stability of religions?
- What provides for the change or evolution of religions?
- What would be a beneficial approach to the question of religiosity?
- What benefits and problems derive from organized religion – congregations, churches?
- Would other “conscious”, extraterrestrial beings in the universe have any religion?
- What is “cosmotheology”?
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How did religions originate and evolve? Historically, religions are a universal phenomenon of mankind – naturally originating and evolving from the universal human search for causality in natural phenomena which are beyond understanding. The universal capability of the human brain for visualizations of the mind then led to the assumption of unseen, spiritual causations of such otherwise unexplainable phenomena (the movement of the sun, wind, lightning, earthquakes, diseases, unforeseen probabilistic accidents all led to a belief in gods in the antique world and other civilizations). Once a transcendental, virtual world was seen as the home of the gods, the phenomenon of death, the parting of a living being, led to the concept of ongoing life in that other world and, consequently, to the immortality of the “soul”.
The resulting attempts to obtain favorable influence by such spiritual forces led to various forms of sacrifices to the spiritual forces (gods) and to rituals in all cultures.
Sooner or later, all religions connected the expected divine favors or misfortune with proper human, god-pleasing behavior or lack thereof. This evolved into the search for acceptable god-pleasing moral laws, expected from divine revelations or from proclamations by religious leaders.
Our modern time, more than any other, has emphasized the human search for a meaning in life on Earth – a search for personal values, purpose, and direction.
In times past, the struggle for survival and fulfillment of basic needs was predominant. Throughout most of history, people were tied to their occupations – as farmers, fishermen, or in the trades. In our time, in the developed countries, there is some surplus in resources and, mainly, there are more choices in life regarding occupation and priorities in values. There is more pressure on demonstrating personal value and accomplishment in real or idealistic terms. Furthermore, the sciences and general education have brought more knowledge about the world we live in and its evolution in time – concerning the universe, natural evolution, and historic development of mankind. This leads to questions concerning the essence of life and of existence. Religion is often expected to provide explanations concerning meaning or purpose and guidance for our lives and actions.
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How did religions evolve and what did they bring?
Only selective observation allowed the maintaining of the belief that sacrifices and “acceptable” behavior (or the following of the moral “laws”) leads to either divine favors on Earth – or to our surrender to misfortune in this world (even though attempts were made to teach and prove this correlation even in our own time). Observation, however, indicates that too often, the “bad” individuals fare well and too many innocent or “good” individuals suffer in this world – just read the newspaper for a few days.
A valid religion cannot only be the one of the survivors and the lucky ones, but should also be valid for the innocent ones who perished and suffered in spite of their good deeds and prayers.
Putting together the above elements of basic religious beliefs and observations, evolution in religions found a solution in the concept of a judgment of the souls after death and a compensating afterlife – pleasant (in paradise or in Nirvana) for the “good” and tormented (in hell) for the “bad”.
Many religions still show a mix of the above elements – maintaining sacrifices and ritual for the presumed pleasure of the gods and a morally acceptable behavior to obtain divine favors or avoid punishment in this world – combined with a belief in a last judgment and a compensating afterlife.
Concerning the questions of meaning, purpose, and direction in life, the different religions, as they evolved, came to similar conclusions – finding the only answer – in a single-perspective view – in the proposed effort to get out of this world and into the next one as safely as possible, through collection of merit in this world – with merit generally described in moral or charitable terms – and in the providing of sustenance (if not wealth) for monasteries or churches.
In the practical world, a remnant of historic, older goals and directions remained – mainly among the governing and warrior classes – values described, for example, by fidelity, honor, courage, and conquest.
Then came the Renaissance, bringing with it an emphasis on learning, mental exploration, and the arts as a significant field of human expression and experience – thereby leading to “fulfillment” of life. This development was accelerated by the rise of the middle class, specifically later, during the industrial revolution and in democracies.
While not presented by any of the great teachers of mankind or ideologies, our modern world, actually accepted a triple perspective on meaning and purpose of life and direction to pursue – mental growth and exploration, ethical and charitable goodness, and an enjoyment of the world in beauty and culture.
However, all religions accepted the need for mankind to somehow establish law and order and to provide some public social balancing of fortune between the rich and the poor in this world.
In some cultures, this allowed the ruling Imams, Mullahs, or kings and nobility to see this task as their God-instituted mandate, as an extension of God’s power and action in this world. Democracy did not find acceptance in their mindset – as it is not fully part of the modern Muslim world or other fundamentalists either.
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Many aspects of the old religions have disappeared in our time – with different rates of fading among different populations – sometimes resulting in liberation of the people, sometimes leaving them in mental insecurity and deep loneliness. The loss or absence of religion, while greatly liberating for some, may be heavily felt as a loss by the suffering and lonely – specifically when social bonds do not step in to help or to provide an avenue for corrective action.
What is left of evolving religions? Even in our “scientific” time, the remaining question of the origin of the universe is still the most fundamental enigma leading to transcendental if not religious explanations, beyond the sciences. The basically intellectual characteristics of the nascent universe, called “Creation” in the religious view – energy (fields in the vacuum), forces, natural laws, basic principles, constants of nature, and quantum mechanics – can or must be found in a transcendental force or spirit (beyond scientific or physical explanation) – as an essence of existence – that one cannot give a name, but commonly calls “God” (or just “the Structure Providing Essence of Existence”).
Yet, the assumption of a transcendental origin of the universe does not imply an ongoing involvement of this originating essence in natural evolution or human history (the question of the “living God”) or a personal helping responsiveness of this essence to human prayer (the “personal God”) or a final “judgment” of souls after their death.
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And what are religious or divine “revelations”? The brain’s capability for the visualization of verbal concepts, appearing as the common phenomenon of the “inner voice” – see the discussion of visualizations of the brain above. This can lead, in the believer’s mind, to the perception of verbal divine religious inspirations. Depending where one stands denominationally, such verbal visualizations or revelations are either accepted as of divine origin or are totally rejected (see the voices experienced by early Christians, by Mohammed in perceiving the Koran, by Joseph Smith in perceiving the Book of Mormon, by certain preachers of our days in various religious sects, or as reported by numerous individuals from their experiences, whether sane or considered insane).
The inner voice and its interpretation, whether in positive ideas or, in its reverse, as the perceived “voice of the devil”, can be a constructive or saving force as historically perceived by leaders of their respective cultures – or may become a curse to society and the afflicted individuals. But the inner voice is mostly just a product of the creative imagination of individuals resulting from a mix of their prior perceptions and personal associative thought, always very much founded in their respective historic and cultural setting.
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Some of the most important dogma of religions refers to the continues existence of the “soul” after death. If the “soul” is the carrier of an individual’s personal essence, this should imply the preservation of the individual’s mental capabilities and personality. The possibility of separating mental capacities from the brain and letting them exist immaterially is not accepted by science – nor by observation of the directly commensurate impact of diseases, cancer, surgery, accidents, or aging on the brain and on personality.
Can there be a permanent “life” for reincarnated “souls” after bodily death? Can one expect some storage of anything, including all souls, for eternity? One must consider the fact that our solar system will burn out when our Sun has consumed its energy supply. The whole universe will burn out in due time. All of the universe will end either in a collapse or in a few black holes that will dissipate over very long times into ever-expanding and cooling radiation. The whole concept of the universe or nature does not indicate or allow a permanent storage of anything, anywhere – but rather the coming, flourishing, and subsequent disappearing of all phenomena of existence.
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An additional warning: While one always sees an exception for one’s own religion from criticism, it is easily piled on other religions – and vice versa. But unrealistic religious expectations lead to a misdirected life.
On the other hand, one should not overlook that benevolent religions can bring comfort and strength to the weak, suffering, lonely, and hopeless where nothing else can – sometimes for their benefit – but sometimes preventing them from activating their own remaining strength to pursue a more beneficial course in resolving their problems.
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The ethical or moral laws of most ethnic groups are anchored in religious beliefs. Religious people fear that the abolition or loss of religiosity would lead to loss of ethical or moral behavior, excessive selfishness, greed, licentious behavior, and aimlessness in life. This may not be true. Basic ethical emotions are genetically given and a necessity for continuation of life – specifically, for social life (as in caring for offspring, reciprocity in friendship, sacrifice for the group, and respect for others). The basic human nature and strictly practical considerations will not only continue to support basic “ethical” or “moral” laws, but their expansion is visible in all the civic and criminal laws of modern nations. Actually, the Ten Commandments do not contain any charity or the prohibition of cheating. They were merely the minimal practical laws for cohabitation in society.
Religions tend to promote a very human image of God. But even if only a “God of Creation” remains in the mind of modern people, the grandiose vastness and intellectuality of the laws and principles of nature would not allow a “human” image of the Structure Providing Essence of Existence. [92]
Organized religions can easily become closed systems of thought, incapable of further evolution or of keeping pace with the evolution of human knowledge, thought or cultures. It can happen that this incapability for evolution holds up the evolution of the underlying culture and society. The poor performance of societies dominated by religious hierarchies are examples.[93]
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The evolution of religion appears to occur, as the evolution of species in nature, subject to random events of history and the appearance of variations of thought (in the minds of the reformers) in accordance with borderline conditions and opportunities. Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha were individuals embedded in their time and culture, and so were Luther and Gandhi – and brought innovations commensurate with opportunities – Buddha gained India at first, then lost it all, but won over all of China – Luther, gaining only in northern Europe, impacted the rest of the world only over centuries.
The above-mentioned essay on “Religion” indicates that the wide variety of cultures with their different states of evolution and the wide variety of human individuals on Earth actually did need a certain variety of religions:
o The old cults of offering minor symbolic sacrifices and giving thanks to the forces of nature and of destiny in a simple way – for those who live close to nature and for the simple of mind.
o The strict faith in moral laws and a divine judgment – for our urban societies as they become wealth-, power-, and pleasure-oriented.
o The faith in humanely addressable, merciful forces of destiny, in forgiveness, love, and the Christian concept of a merciful “God-Father” – for the many sensitive individuals who struggle in life, who sincerely search, and must often suffer so very much in this world, also in compassion – and also for the gratefully joyous ones to direct their thanks.
o The abstract view of the grandiose, dynamic universe with its finely tuned forces and natural laws and the uniqueness of the consciously thinking, sensing, and acting living beings therein with their search for meaning, purpose, and direction – with emphasis on not relying on an interfering god, but on personal responsibility and initiative in the often desperate effort to fulfill the basic needs in sustenance and caring for family and clan, in the often very harsh struggle for further security and means for action, and, under favorable circumstances, in the mental fulfillment of one’s own life and in contribution to the improvement of the surrounding world – through personal exploring development, through caring and compassionate (Christian) service to others, the community, and our environment – and with joy in observing the beauty of Creation and the arts – but also with acceptance of the unavoidable.
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Religions denying the world and advising withdrawal cannot be seen as corresponding to the nature of this universe. Acceptance of suffering does not imply condoning it.
Other religions, seeing most events of life on Earth as directed by transcendental forces and suggesting the reliance on these forces, even if this force is believed to be God, may weaken, if not mislead, their followers and, mainly, reduce their responsibility. Still other religions, strictly settling inflexibly on views and laws of the time of their origin, miss ongoing evolution and become stifling or oppressive.
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A helpful religion would have to leave human evolution open-ended, as all evolution, but would strengthen human dedication and initiative toward the general directions indicated above – while offering some peace in the vision of being embedded in a so much larger universe of transcendental origin – and our hopefully peaceful return thereto.
The mitigation of suffering and opening of opportunities fairly to all were indicated as general goals. Buddhism believes that joy must be forgone to end suffering, since both are interconnected. There is the observation that people with a permanently good life are superficial and sometimes cannot find happiness either. But there can be no doubt that the ample amount of suffering in this world from diseases, predators, loneliness, corruption, crime, and accidental occurrences calls for urgent help. To let suffering continue in order to keep balancing joy seems out of line. The wise among the wealthy or permanently happy remain actively involved in compassionate service to the less fortunate – to do what is right and to keep their human balance – until they learn the harshness of real life first hand.
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A closing comment: the loss of religion would leave many people with a grave loss of support – especially among the suffering ones of those religions which present God as a loving “father” – and among those who lack support by social bonds and do not find a way to translate their suffering into corrective action. The loss of religion also leaves prior believers with mental emptiness. But it does not have to be like that. We are left with the fact that we are part of the universe as it was created, like a small thread in a large and colorful tapestry, existing “for the pleasure of the Creator”.
All we can do is flourish and grow as and where we are, like all other living beings are expected to. We can love and caringly serve our family, nation, mankind, and the environment at large – trying to help in mitigating suffering, in opening of opportunities, in establishing a morally or ethically and emotionally humane society, and in caring for the sanity of spaceship Earth, our only home in the universe. We can also enjoy all the beauty in nature and our arts or culture.
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And when we find death, the near-death reports indicate that we can hope to find unspeakable peace in our last moments and may see a wondrous great, central light as our mind fades away.
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3.2. The Origin, Evolution, and Function of Society, Culture, and Beyond
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3.2.1 Another Step of the “Combinatorial Principle”: New Dimensions
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The origin and foundations of societies can be found in forces of group coherence that evolved on account of their benefit to the group and became genetically anchored, in ethical behavior: the supporting care for others, cooperation, and sacrifice for the common good, see Chapter 3.1.1.
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In that sense, the origin and formation of societies corresponds to a basic phenomenon of nature. The combination of atoms to form molecules, the combinations of cells to form complex organisms, or the combination of words to form sentences can be loosely compared to the combination of individuals to form complex societies.
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In becoming a member of a society, the individual loses or surrenders part or all of his or her independent behavior and gains significance in his place within the higher order of things. Not only behavior, but also individual thought may have to be adjusted to integrate into society. Even the lead individuals may be influenced in their behavior and, in their minds, playing the role that they assume to be expected of them by their followers, sometimes being more pushed by the crowd than leading. This acting, as presumed to be expected by the respective “society” or group, is quite pronounced in political parties, but also in industrial or charitable organizations. It can lead to differences in ethical judgment or behavior when acting for or within the group, as compared to acting in the private sphere. This can also lead to greater heroism of individuals being part of a group (as in a military unit) or to senseless stampedes in a crowd. Such descriptive observation can lead to prescriptive suggestions to facilitate behavior change or behavior maintenance. For example, it has led to the formation of congregations by religious movements – or to the removal of sect members from their group to allow them to return to balance.
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There are a number of predecessor phenomena to human societies to be found in nature: the swarm of fish, birds, or insects, the herd or the pack of animals, the human family, and the tribe. They all are examples of the above-mentioned “Combinatorial Principle” of evolution. There are observations in nature indicating that “swarms” of individually judging organisms demonstrate a “wisdom of crowds” by averaging individual error rates in danger avoidance or resource location. The history of successful cultures may indicate the same – but the phenomena of mass hysteria tell another story, even in their milder forms, where judgments can be correlated and errors magnified.
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These predecessor phenomena present a variety of characteristics. Swarms of fish or birds do not seem to have any hierarchies or leaders, yet are able to act in unison, as in the direction of their movement. Herds or packs of animals have a primitive structure, with different roles for males and females and certain lead animals, which can direct the motion of the herd and have preference in procreation. The most differentiated are some insect swarms (for example, bees) with physical differentiation of individuals by function and extreme subordination of individuals under the common interest.
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The human family used to function in a similar way as certain animal packs – especially in early times when having been multigenerational and including unmarried relatives and subordinated auxiliary members. There was the lead-individual, mostly male, occasionally female. But, with the availability of language, there was discussion or debate. As siblings split away from the core family but stayed in the neighborhood, practical reasons of cooperation in complex tasks (hunt, construction of large buildings), defense, conquest of new territories, and common resource-utilization (allocation or irrigation of fertile ground, partition of fishing catch) necessarily led to the evolution of additional structures, ultimately resulting in societies. The groups of humans with strong bonds of society coped better and prevailed – but the ones with excessive rigidity lacked innovation. Thus, our modern type of human behavior as a social beings evolved.
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The history of the fall or decay of civilizations is another story – of succumbing to superior weaponry of invaders, to better leadership, or in consequence of their own civic decay. But first some comments on the origin and evolution of societies:
The invention of husbandry and agriculture, the generation of surplus resources and idle time, and population growth with consequent warfare for needed territory led to the evolutionary formation of larger social units with more important political, military, and religious hierarchies, served by more subordinates occupied in the military, trades, arts, commerce, and rituals. Large societies, beyond extended clans, began to emerge, possibly first in Sumeria, southern Mesopotamia, sometime before 3,000 BC – not very much later on the Nile and among the Dravidians on the upper Indus River and in the south of India – all rather soon connected by trade. Additional societies became connected through wars and commerce. This led to the exchange of ideas and the acceleration of cultural evolution.[94]
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A similar, but totally disconnected development took place in Central America, first possibly in the coastal area of Peru near Caral, north of Lima, but later also in other places.
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As societies evolved, became larger and more complex, complex systems for communication, command, and control necessarily evolved – in a balance between specialization and coordination.
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The evolution of human societies seems to indicate that there are trade-offs between emphasis on individuality and adherence to common behavior, between freedom and order, between stability and evolution.
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It is interesting to note that societies do not necessarily have any permanent material substance. They can move from building to building. Their individual members are exchanged through aging or hiring-and-firing. Their inventories or financial resources are just cycled through. The essence of societies is abstract, consisting only of their configuration (Gestalt), and even that may be evolving in time – similar to what was mentioned about human existing, where the material content of the body may be cycled through and evolve while the “human individual” remains as such.
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3.2.2 Main Dimensions of Societies
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The new dimension (with the concept of “dimension” to be understood as a specific aspect or expression of existence in the universe) of human “society” had never appeared before and was now evolving beyond the primitive predecessor phenomena described above. As indicated, societies resulted from the fact that individuals adjusted or subordinated their behavior in order to facilitate group action. Such adjustment or subordination was based on a variety of constellations in either forced dominance-submission schemes or on habitual or voluntary consensus-building, resulting in a large variety of structures of society, from loose brotherhoods to hordes, oligarchies, democracies (with a large variety of interpretations of inclusiveness and civil rights), monarchies (of different types, from absolute to constitutional or elective), tyrannies (including consensus of the ruled or not), and dictatorships. [95]
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Societies, in many ways, are similar to organisms, including their urge for survival, noticeable even among the smallest clubs and political, social, or charitable organizations. This may result not only from commercial interests of employees, but also from the fact that many individuals as members of societies see part of their personal – at least mental – existence anchored in the association with such a society, seeking to protect that aspect of their existence.
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Our culture may still supremely value the individual – its freedom, its meaning of life in personal development and expression, and in its rights –, but, as a matter of fact, the significance of individuals in our time is often seen in direct proportion to their significance in or for our society.
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In a functioning society, one can observe the evolution of the following “dimensions” or aspects of its expression:
- Various forms of coordination, dominance or submission between individuals or groups
- Establishment and maintenance of law and order
- Various methods of consensus-forming
- Culture (including ritual, fashion, art, and formulation of values)
- Politics (methods of governance)
- Economics and Commerce
- Technology development, industry, transportation
- Education and research organizations
- Religious organizations, churches, monasteries, religious hierarchies
- Military establishments for protection and organized warfare
- Welfare for the poor and medical systems for the sick
- The unique function of literature and the media
- Directions of societies (religious foundation and proselytizing, commercial, freedom, conquest)
- Personality-like characteristics of societies (for example, aggressive versus peaceful)
and more
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Coordination does not require dominance by the few and may occur by common self-interest or common exposure to external forces, for example, in “free market” scenarios. Dominance, occurring in various forms of more or less intense command and control in all types of government, implies the imposition of will or force on others [96] – often justified by external dangers (or “market failures” in economic terms) – but those dangers being equally often caused by government failures (“non-market failures”). Mental dominance can occur among individuals or among groups. The consequence of dominance is submission – if not evasion. This establishes a basic structure among groups of people and evolves into a rudimentary “society”. In sophisticated societies or organizations, dominance or submission is voluntary, as in the political order, in police action in traffic control, in organizational structures in industry, or in command structures in the military. In any event, the proper institution of dominance and submission schemes is the foundation of a functioning “society”.
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The establishment and maintenance of law and order and, in this sense, confidence-building among its members serves not only emotional needs but serves the efficiency of all forms of operation (in economic terms, “lowering of transaction costs”). This leads back to the discussion of ethics and moral laws with their foundations in both, emotions and utility. This maintenance of law and order actually takes place not only formally through laws, a legal system, and the police, but also informally through accepted cultural values and behavior. Full regulatory control would be cumbersome (see the orthodox Jewish multiplicity of laws), if not impossible, since life’s evolution can never be fully predicted.
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Consensus-forming, also occurring in various forms in all types of government, is the process of influencing and coordinating the focusing, selective observation, and preference-weighing of a group of individuals. The first scientific observation of the behavior of multitudes in uncertainty and their formation of consensus was done and expertly described by the early sociologist Gustave Le Bon.[97] For example, he describes how “masses” of people in uncertainty may mill around for a while, consider one or another alternative solution, until one solution gains increasing attention and, finally, unites the multitude to act in a certain direction. This process, appearing more “democratic” than the phenomenon of arbitrary dominance, may appear as the quintessential evolution from individual to group existence – where not the individual leads a singular existence, but the group or “society” is the principal phenomenon of existence, with the individual just being an element of it, like a cell in an organism. Individuals with divergent opinions are swept along, unable to exist independently of the group. The majority of individuals assume behavior consistent with or for the benefit of the group. This is also visible with the behavior of individuals in modern industrial organization.
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“Free markets” in our time attempt to provide efficient information processing and decision making mechanisms in a very complex world. On the other hand, the global character or the free market and the inherent global dangers in market failures let the need for global governance appear more urgent. Such failures may be not only of economic nature, but include ecological dangers as, for example, global warming.
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Consensus forming on a large scale does not necessarily imply homogeneity (generally more efficient), but may leave justification for diversity resulting in higher flexibility.
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Culture is a fuzzy linguistic concept, often describing the totality of a society’s characteristics. As a general definition, it can include a society’s common world view, values (including human rights in politics, civic obligations, and common heroes or role models), type of education, rituals, habits, artistic expression, language, religion, and common history, as when talking about the “culture” of a specific ethnic group or geographic area.
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In a narrow definition, “culture” refers more specifically to the world of the arts: the offering in theaters, concerts, museums, libraries, the production of literature, and architecture (see the essay, “Aesthetics, Art, and Culture” on the website schwab-.), as when talking about the “cultural life or character” of a city. It is amazing how much of private resources are spent for embellishment in each home and of public resources for embellishment and the cultural offering in each community.
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In the unending evolution of higher forms of existence, multi-level hierarchies of cultures have evolved – for example, the superimposed cultures of nations over provinces (for example, of “America” over “Texas”, of “France” over “Provence”, of “Germany” over “Bavaria”) and of federations or continents over nations (for example, of “Europe” over “France”) – with often Darwinian evolutions as in biology.
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The phenomenon of large-scale immigration in the Western countries has led to another form of cultural hierarchy, with the historically local culture being seen as the one to maintain the direction of society (see the German discussion of “Leitkultur” and the corresponding French discussion of the dominant French culture in France). In the USA, the discussion is not focused, remaining on the general level of acceptance of “diversity” but insisting on a common history and values derived from the time of the founding of the American society in the 18th century and its early development thereafter (see the reciting of American values in work ethics, family, and the political structure). It will be interesting to observe whether the American – and now, united European – society can ever do without a uniting “culture” and how it will be defined as the joining of new nations in Europe and large-scale immigration in the USA continue. And how about the United Nations attempting to form a super-national world society(on the basis of what culture? Can America and Europe be covered by the same “culture” as Iran, Iraq, China, India, Lesotho, and Tovalu?
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Politics is the art of getting some action in governance without dictatorial dominance – often in the form of establishing policies. It is a form of consensus-forming and, sometimes, manipulation among individuals for the purpose of directing society at large – if not for gaining personal power. It implies “leadership” (strength of character, charisma, psychological impact), conviction, persuasion, favoritism or networking, barter of votes and support, threat or blackmail, excellence in having better information or skills, and capability for fundraising. Politics also includes the manipulation of mass psychology to get public support, to remain in power, or to be reelected – this often being the highest goal for politicians. In this sense, politics can be the highest calling for an individual who wants to serve the common good, a form of intellectual art for the greatest benefit of society, it may also require some realistic practicality – or it can be misused.
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In this sense, politics presents an evolution of human thought and creativity to other dimensions than individual life, the dimensions of society, not functioning individually, but always in the context of a multitude of interacting individuals, within the organism of society.
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Economics and commerce are the result of an evolution from a subsistence way of life or forced change of possession as in banditry or war to the controlled allocation and exchange of resources. “Economics” became an academic discipline investigating all economic activities, subdivided into microeconomics and macroeconomics. Commerce basically consists of the bartering of unequal objects or services between distinct entities, individuals or groups. Commerce is necessarily connected with logistics for the storage and transportation of goods, whether of agricultural or industrial origin.
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A key element in the evolution of this phenomenon of society was the invention of money. Initially, money was seen as a step in bartering by presenting the underlying amount of a rare or noble material (gold, silver, or copper) as the substance of currency. As this equivalence was removed, currency has no substantive “real value” any longer and has acquired “virtual value”.[98] The value now is largely controlled by a government’s money-printing practices and setting of central interest rates. This brings us to “interest rate”, which results from the abstract “time-value” of a resource, as another phenomenon not applying to individual life (or could it?), but evolving with society.
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In further evolution of the phenomenon of money, we now have the complexity of international currency exchange rates, with their potentially great significance for the prosperity of nations, see the Chinese political manipulation by attempting to keep their currency pegged to the US dollar at an extreme rate favoring their exports and, hence, their employment level and political stability while the USA, consequently, experiences great unemployment problems. In other words, not virtual economic value, but equally “virtual” political considerations become the determining factors in currency value and, consequently, commerce.
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Furthermore, there are the often ancient instruments of toll, import duty, taxation, or subsidies to impact or control commerce – all phenomena nonexistent in a world of individuals or family units and evolved in the course of the appearance of societies.
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Value assessments of alternatives in multidimensional, probabilistic situations are facilitated by the intriguing, abstract economic concept of “utility” (corresponding to value assessment in emotional or ethical situations). [99]
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Commerce is influenced largely by the psychological assessment of the future among the buying public or among industrial organizations. Confidence in the future or apprehension actually impact purchasing selection and, more so, purchasing volume – specifically in the stock market.
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Another important evolution in consequence of commerce is the establishment of contacts with other cultures resulting in idea exchange between different cultures and consequent cultural evolution.
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Commerce led to the spread of religions, first, of Hinduism, then of Islam throughout Indonesia as far as commerce reached – that is, up to the Spice Islands in the Moluccas (Ternate for cloves and the Sundas for nutmeg). It may now assist in the spread of democracy. Commerce benefits from political stability. Consequently, commerce supports stability in society.
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Technology development, initially slow in human evolution, accelerated with the generation of energy from water mills, then steam power and later electricity or atomic energy, leading to mass production of goods in industry, innovations in transportation (railroads, large ships, cars, airplanes), and finally to the world of electricity and electronics for communication and data processing. Not only did a large portion of the population find employment in industry and transportation, but specific organizations formed and began to influence society’s life.
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Education (beyond training in the military or the trades) began as an individualistic, elite pursuit, selectively supported by religious organizations. Evolving societies (after the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and Socialism) brought education to every citizen. Research in technology and the sciences had also been an individualistic, elite pursuit. In the 19th century, educational reform in Germany combined education with research in the universities – soon also implemented in the United States. Special research organizations supported by industry followed. This evolution brought research to the awareness of society, attracted public funding, and accelerated its progress.
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Religious organizations, a typically human consequence of religious movements, led to the building of meeting rooms for religious assemblies, education and devotion – the churches or synagogues. The idea for monasteries probably came from the India of Buddha’s time. Governance of the monasteries and, more so, the maintenance of religious dogma in evolving thought led to religious hierarchies – based on the ancient priestly order of ritual and as typical for human nature. A power struggle within society between religious and political hierarchies was the logical consequence – in some countries still going on, occasionally being a beneficial check on the political power, in other cases much to the disadvantage of the ordinary citizen.
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Military establishments evolved for the protection of communities and for organized warfare for conquest. Territorial skirmishes are as old as most pre-human animals, especially predators. But the organization of structured armies under the command of strategy- and tactics-controlling leaders is typical of human societies.
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What are the driving forces of warfare? Initially in history, tribal territorial friction and territory expansion under the curse of population expansion may have been the driving force – and still is in many parts of the world. Rulers of societies always searched for the expansion of their power base. The securing of borders and creation of buffer areas may have been another reason, as in Chinese colonialism along the whole of its Western frontier and as by Israel on the West Bank. There always were the fights between nomads and farmers, the value builders and the bandits. Then there were the great historic migrations leading to conflict with local populations on the way. They occurred all over the world, on the American continent, the same as in Europe, Asia, or Africa. There also were the religious wars, driven by fanatical zealots – first the Muslims, then the Crusaders. After all, there were also the wars fought for the possession or control of resources – minerals, water, access to harbors for access to resources and commerce. There were wars initiated for defensive reasons – to preempt attacks by others, as demanded by Scipio against Carthage and as claimed against Iraq in our day,
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Organized warfare of large societies had a number of effects:
- Changes in society’s structure
- Acceleration of technological evolution
- Spreading of cultures or absorption of foreign cultures
- Cultural evolution in reaction to conflict
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Ancient Rome and some American-Indian tribes used a different political structure during times of war, using specifically suitable personalities for leadership in war. They subordinated other concerns of society to the needs of war – as if adrenalin had taken over the human brain. Many, if not most, important wars were decided by differences in technology [100], some by superior leadership and strategy or tactics (Alexander the Great and Napoleon, for instance). Technology, advanced for warfare, occasionally had important consequences for society, as the recent advance in electronics demonstrates.
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The building of empires always spread cultures in ancient times, the same as in more modern times. But equally often, the occupied cultures changed the occupiers.[101] Occasionally, cultures changed in reaction to warfare. The Spartans adapted their entire culture to the purpose of military superiority and dominance over the occupied and suppressed Helots. They would have had to be more farming-oriented without that. The dominant British culture changed in reaction to empire-building and colonialism – as did the Japanese prior to World War II. Such cultural change can be intense when the soldiers are a large group of conscripts, not just a small group of professionals.
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Society responds to the typical characteristic of warfare by creating dedicated functions, but also by producing dedicated groups of individuals, often drawn from the nobility in feudal societies or from family tradition.
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Welfare systems for the poor are as old in societies as formal ethical thought, going back to the dawn of human civilization among the Sumerians.[102] Medical systems greatly expanded with the medical knowledge of the Greeks, leading to the establishments of elaborate clinics and spas (see the one established by Galen [129 to 199 AD], in the valley below Pergamon). In Christian times, hospitals were established for sick pilgrims and times of plagues. The French Revolution and subsequent civic reforms brought improved hospitals for the communities. In our time, with the steeply rising cost of ever more advanced medical knowledge and costly equipment, medical insurance evolved as one of the key problems of society’s structure.
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“Literature” as a form of a society’s cultural expression may have begun with the Gilgamesh Epos[103] in Sumeria, supported by the invention of writing at that time in that area. Verbal epic stories of cultural importance must have existed before and also were found in most other cultures, including the Polynesians. As a written document of cultural definition, the Gilgamesh Epos was followed by the Old Testament, Homer’s epic works, the Vedas (about 1,000 BC), and others in other cultures – in more modern times, the works of Shakespeare, Goethe, and other national authors.
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The “media” play a special role in the life, formation of culture, and functioning of modern society – the bestsellers, newspapers, radio, TV, films, and now the internet. Is that merely the role of a “communication” system? Is it, rather, the physical role of a system of sensors and reporting “nerves” to amuse the communal brain? Is it an intellectual control function with which to spot trouble? Is it the attempt to form a second brain, competing with the political function of the government for control of society, as is being blamed on those who control some of the media? Is it just a commercial function reacting to what sells at highest profit? Or is it a strange combination of all the above – similar to what would be a neural system run wild in an individual, but only possible in the evolution of societies?
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Societies can pursue specific directions in their existence, for example, religious ideals (as in the medieval Vatican and in modern Iran), empire-building (as often in history and, lately, in the British Empire), commercial prosperity (as common among modern states), and just freedom for its citizens (as in the historical United States). Subsequent to the Enlightenment and the intellectual approach to human matters, great slogans appeared for the preferable meaning and direction of societies:
- “Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” (USA)
- “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (France)
- “Freedom, democracy and the order of law”
- “Unity and law and freedom” (Germany)
- “Law, order, and good governance” (Canada)
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Nations, as individuals, usually long for what they lack – the poor ones long for some sustenance, the troubled ones for peace, law, and order, and the suppressed ones for freedom. The few lucky ones living in freedom and well-being still see the wide variance in the status of individuals within their own segment of society, the poor and suffering ones in their midst, and the frivolous consumption by some of their wealthy citizens. This leads to balanced “directions” combining several complementary goals (for example, the American “compassionate conservatism” or the German “social market economy”).
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The basic principal of evolution valid in the universe at all times – based on a forward thrust in accordance with always varying starting and border conditions and in accordance with opportunities – may not allow the definition of a single, optimal direction of our or all other societies forever.
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As cultures appear and mature, so can societies evolve. The last few hundred years have seen important changes – for example, the rise of democracy with the disappearance of slavery and the rise of feminism. Both were not predictable in the preceding centuries. Will there be other changes of our societies in the future that we cannot predict now?
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Societies can project characteristics similar to personalities. It is common to describe nations or organizations, whether industrial or charitable, with terms that are used for the description of individual personalities – ruthless, aggressive, fair, idealistic, and more. What establishes these personalities of social entities? Are they stable or variable? In what way? The description of the characteristics of a society on the level of a nation or ethnic group is largely the description of its culture – defined above by the common world view, values (including human rights in politics, civic obligations, and common heroes or role models), type of education, rituals, habits, artistic expression, language, religion, and common history. Consequently, the behavior of a society reflects its culture – and is as stable or variable as that. But many societies are temporarily defined by their lead individuals, establishing their direct responsibility.
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As individuals demonstrate a variety of personality expressions under the impact of situations, societies can do the same – with different expressions in peaceful times of abundance, in stressed times of internal convulsions, or under attack. An extreme form of dual expression is possible – almost schizophrenic – as in present-day Iraq – deeply religious and, at the same time, exceedingly cruel and untrustworthy.
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Commercial organizations are basically unethical, unless specific laws of society or internal rules are used to establish certain “ethical” behavior patterns. There usually is a deep and complex split between the values and behavior in the private matters of individuals employed by such an organization and their behavior when representing the organization – when they feel that they have to act in the interest of the organization as they perceive it. Therefore, ethical rules must be established, possibly by national or international law, and the individuals within the organizations – not just their organizations – should be held legally responsible and financially liable for their actions.
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There are some special developments of societies that should be mentioned, namely exotic sects and mass movements, – sometimes based on the strange neuro-psychological phenomenon of “obsession”, as in mass-hysteria. Some of the human emotions discussed earlier can be inflamed by gifted leaders (or preachers) leading to group formation and total submission of individuals to the group spirit, for example, of religious, ideological, or nationalistic nature [104]. Human history is filled with reports of such small or large movements, some benevolent, others resulting in afflictions of mankind and wildly destructive.
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As in organisms, specialized functions in society imply specialized occupations for some individuals (as for the cells in organisms). Specialization can occur by tradition, inclination, skill, or available means. Such specialization-by-function results in specialized areas of intellectual competence and interest. This is most visible in the specialization of academic branches of research and knowledge, as in, for example, anthropology, sociology, politics, economics, commerce, and warfare. Associated are specialized think tanks, consultants, lobbyists, and public relations professionals. The composition of government “cabinets” – the sum of secretaries or ministers – also corresponds to this differentiation.
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3.2.3 Beyond Societies: Virtual societies? Super-societies? A “Super-Brain”?
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Can there be another step in evolution beyond societies by following the “combinatorial principle”?
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The internet can bring an evolution toward “virtual” societies and subcultures across actual or physical ones, as in another dimension of existence.
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Hierarchies of societies have evolved through the ages: Tribes or their remnants, in the form of provinces, were incorporated in nations and nations in federations (in the USA, the same as in Europe today). Lately, the United Nations are hoped to assume greater importance for the whole world, including military intervention. Globalization is supposed to bring a super-society by way of commerce, requiring “global” rules of commercial behavior and control, for example, by way of the World Trade Organization.
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Societies are similar to organisms. Organisms acquired brains that provided them with exceptional benefits. Will there be an evolution arriving at something like a “super-brain” within and for the benefit of societies? What would it have to look like, or how would it function? A few interesting observations are possible. [105]
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In certain areas on Earth, one can observe the role of one or several (multi-level) minorities providing a degree of coordinating intelligence and control, being societies within themselves. They are comparable to a system of nerves, featuring good communication, loyalties, and shared interests, apparently acting only in their own interest, but their presence and actions mostly resulting in benefit for their respective society.
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Examples could be: The feudal and in-bred elites of Europe’s past. The Indians on South-Pacific islands or the Chinese in South-East Asia providing commerce and striving for education, beneficial governance, and civic law-and-order. Even the much criticized Whites in the colonies, having been small minorities, did bring sophistication in infrastructure, governance, and law and order – now often lacking as they departed. The Jews in Europe or America greatly contributed to the flourishing of “culture”, promoted and implemented social responsibility, and contributed a less self-centered, more world-oriented view of those nations – and also accelerated commerce and industry, thereby both their own and the general well-being.
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Do all those minorities have, maintain, or evolve their own “culture”?
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3.3. “Intelligent Design Theory”; Plan and Meaning Versus Natural Evolution
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3.3.1. The Concept of “Intelligent Design”, the Controversy:
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The very intricate design of some complex organisms – specifically, some of their organic systems consisting of the combination of several functions (see Part 2 of this essay discussing the origin of life, molecular biology, and natural evolution) – has always led to the question of whether a higher, transcendental intelligence, God, is active in their evolution or design. This question arises specifically also in regard to the origin of life and the appearance of the human mind and consciousness. The resulting “religious theory”, known as “ID” (Intelligent Design), stands in opposition to the purely evolutionary, “scientific” understanding of “evolution” and theological concepts of God.
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On the one hand, the science of natural evolution shows the convergence of developments to fill available niches rather quickly and in the most efficient way. For example, all swimming animals, whether fish or the mammals that returned to aquatic life (whales, dolphins, seals) assume similar hydrodynamic shapes and fin-like flippers within a short time of their evolution (called “convergence”). Even the origins of the most intricate phenomena of evolution – the origin of life and of the human mind – are increasingly explained by natural, scientifically provable sequences in evolution.
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On the other hand, the exceptional complexity of some designs – and, mainly, the limited time within which these designs evolved – make it possible for the proponents of Intelligent Design (often abbreviated as “ID” in the literature) to doubt their evolutionary origin merely by randomly, and rarely, occurring changes in the genome. This leads to their postulating a contributing divine intelligence.
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For example, it is difficult to see how the appearance of the first feathers on the skin of some dinosaurs could have led to substantial survival or breeding benefits – leading subsequently to the capability for flight. In another example, the human brain developed within the last 2 million years or so, corresponding to about 100 to 200 thousand generations in evolution. Can the enormous complexity of the human brain have developed step by step through random variations and the selection of the fittest during such a short time? Many other examples of surprising complexity in nature (as simple as the spider’s ability to produce its webs and as complex as the design of the ear and eye and, specifically, the operation of the human mind) could be mentioned, all leading to the same question of “Intelligent Design” versus natural evolution.
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Another argument by the proponents of Intelligent Design is provided by the fact that science has never succeeded in synthetically creating a self-replicating molecule and that human consciousness still seems to elude the understanding by many thinkers, whether scientists or philosophers.
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The “Intelligent Design” concept remains as a major issue in the on-going “Science and Religion” discourse, often as a controversy. In essence, science owes an answer to the question how the rapid evolution of very complex biological systems can be explained. But, also, theology has to look at the consequences of the Intelligent Design concept.
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3.3.2. The Response of Science to “Intelligent Design”
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Presently, there are two answers of science to Intelligent Design, a rather defensive one and the beginning of a stronger, scientific explanation.
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The defensive answer states that not all gaps in scientific understanding should be quickly and simplistically filled by statements about “divine interference” or “intelligent design”. History shows that religious theories concerning the natural world collapse as science progresses and, sooner or later, provides explanations. A readily available Intelligent Design answer to open scientific problems would preempt all scientific effort and would bring all further scientific research to an end. Take, for example, the struggle against newly appearing complex diseases. Science is built on the confidence of a world adhering to the laws of nature – actually, another form of confidence in God – allowing further growth in knowledge and the eventual resolution of remaining scientific questions.
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The beginning of a scientific explanation of rapid genetic evolution sees a variety of factors contributing to rapid changes in evolution:
- The multiplicity of appearances of the same gene within the genome
- Gene splicing and gene combinations – leading to a very large increase in gene expression options without changes in the actual genes
- Gene conscription – the use of a gene in an area unrelated to its general area of expression – see the recent findings about the evolution of snake poisons
- Reduced error correction in DNA replication in certain limited areas of rapid gene evolution – resulting in a larger number of mutations within a shorter time
- The often large variation in size of organic elements (size of limbs, number of seeds, etc.) – a question of tissue growth and of growth inhibition – as used in animal and plant breeding
- The origin of new genes
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3.3.3. Theological Concerns with “Intelligent Design Theory”.
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A number of religious or theological concerns should be stated in opposition to the Intelligent Design theory or belief, which postulates ongoing, divine intelligent design interference:
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- The cruelty of some designs would lead to a correspondingly cruel image of a “designing” God. For example, worms in the drinking water of some African tribes evolved to live in human eyes, rendering those innocent, poor people blind. The polio virus has led to the crippling or death of millions of children. The present-day HIV virus devastates not only the “guilty” ones (drug users, sex abusers), but leads to the suffering of many innocents. The weakness in gene design and gene expression leads to a certain number of birth defects of body or mind, with consequent severe suffering of children and their parents. The list of cruel “designs” is long.
- There is an unfair distribution of predatory advantages and prey defenses. It is often the stupidity or the disadvantageous design of prey animals that allows predators to kill them, preferentially their calves. Minor redesigns of the prey animals could correct that – if there were fairness in design.
- There is a surprising lack of “obvious” design advantages in some areas – for example, metallic conductivity in nerves, capability of digesting cellulose or wood in mammals, and resistance against virus infections.
- There often occurs senseless destruction in consequence of new designs – for example, new plagues, bacteria, or viruses destroying recently “designed” higher organisms.
- If divine interference by intelligent design is assumed, how about the historic consequences of such design events? Would that not constitute interference with history or constitute the divine guidance of history (e.g., the plague that afflicted Athens and killed Perikles) – consequently, the assumption of “Intelligent History”?
- This would lead to the observation of unfairness in history.
- The assumption of “intelligent design” or “intelligent history” should lead to the concept of a God willing to interfere when being appealed to in justifiable situations by the morally “good”.
- Observation does not show a pattern of divine response to appeal or of fair compensation.
- A key Christian question for the Intelligent Design theory: Why were humans created “sinful”?
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3.3.4. Some Philosophical Conclusions
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An acceptance of divine interference in natural design would lead to a questioning of human counteraction against such designs, e.g. a questioning of medical research and medical care – a totally unacceptable position in our modern world or when confronted with suffering, mostly of the innocent.
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An assumption of “intelligent design” and “intelligent history” could even lead to a questioning of “free will” and, consequently, personal responsibility.
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The question of “Intelligent Design” is connected with the question of a divine plan in evolution and, consequently, a meaning of evolution and existence.
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Are the steps of evolution generally plan- or goal-attracted, or are they forward-driven by starting conditions, probability distributions, and random events, though within the limits of the laws of nature and the given opportunities – consequently, converging on the most efficient filling of niches for prospering – still leaving a wide variety of possible implementations – as the multitude of different flowers, birds, or fish indicates?
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Those niches result from the astrophysical evolution of the universe based on the laws and constants of nature. Consequently, the appearance of the niches is a result of the given structure of the universe, possibly founded on a transcendental spiritual essence, the “Creator”. In this sense, this Creator preconditioned the universe for the appearance of life in all its forms of evolution. This may occur through the process of attaining higher complexity in the course of time to the extent that the genome of some few species grows and their protein processes become more complex
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On the other hand, one should realize that it is inevitable that catastrophic extinctions will occur again, as they have occurred before. All the stars will ultimately fade, and the universe will find its end – in a big collapse, in some Black Holes, or in forever expanding and cooling radiation. If the latter is the case, there is no other meaning to existence but to be there, for the time being – for “the pleasure of God”, the original “Creator” and initiator of the evolution of existence. This still leaves direction and meaning for individual human lives in the fulfillment of personal potential and pursuit of general values – in growth, in service, and in appreciation of beauty – for the very limited duration of our presence in this existence. Instead of passively accepting the world as inscrutable and destiny as preordained, we must assume responsibility to understand and improve the world as best we can.
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3.4. Extraterrestrial Life and Intelligence, “Cosmo-Psychology”, Consequences?
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3.4.1. What Is Life and Intelligence? Intelligent Life on Other Celestial Bodies?
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A living molecule can be defined as one that multiplies (in basically similar configuration), uses resources from its environment (energy and chemicals), and evolves or adapts to its changing environment. It is somewhat arbitrary to require “life” to include metabolism (internal chemical processes), growth (“directed development”), and the content of special “hereditary information” beyond just being what it is [106].
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When talking about extraterrestrial life, the field of “astrobiology”, it is commonly assumed that such life must also be based on organic compounds utilizing carbon, since only carbon permits the formation of such a variety of molecules and the formation of such complex molecular structures or materials. Silicon is a distant second-best. Water must be available as the most common solvent for the transportation of chemical compounds. Methane is a distant second-best to water. Such assumptions ultimately lead to concepts of life not too different from ours on Earth.
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Let’s try an experiment in thought of a different form of life. Let us assume that some distant star has a planet like Jupiter, also with a large singular spot. Let us assume that this spot is a vent throwing vapor high into its atmosphere, whatever the vapor consists of. Let us also assume that the vapor condenses into flakes, much like our snowflakes on Earth. The cumulus cloud of that vapor above the vent may be such that a large quantity of the flakes, when falling down, are sucked back into the rising vapor stream and go on being re-cycled, through many cycles. When they become large enough, the flakes break up and each particle becomes the nucleus of a new flake. The flakes “propagate” and use the resources of their environment.
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The vapor from the vent contains small amounts of exotic material. This can lead to special formations or deformations along the branches of the flakes. Flakes with certain of those special formations are more apt to absorb vapor for their growth, thereby depriving others of this supply. Soon, such special flakes outnumber and, finally, replace the other flakes. As newer special formations appear through chance events, a certain evolution takes place.
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The margins of the cumulus cloud can present different environments and can lead to adapted evolutions [107]. For example, the lower sides of the cloud may present “dryer” areas where only certain flakes prevail. The higher areas may present “colder” areas of thinner vapor, where other flakes prevail. This would be a form of adaptive evolution.
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Do the flakes in the cloud present a special form of “life”?
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Can an advanced robot containing a super-computer ever be considered to be living? What if consciousness, decision-making, creativity, and some “personality” – see the discussions in the various essays in the section “Brain, Mind” on the website schwab- – should, to some degree, all be reproducible in an advanced computer of the future?
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Can a virtual being ever be considered living? A virtual being shall be defined as a software-simulated being – having only a virtual existence within the electromagnetic realities of a local or global data processing system. As discussed in Part 1 of this essay, about cosmogony, electromagnetic fields are rather abstract phenomena in empty space. As indicated in that part of the essay, all phenomena of existence are, ultimately, only expressions of fields. Are all phenomena of existence only virtual?
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Thinking in more realistic terms, advanced extraterrestrial life should be expected to use carbon compounds for its materials. As discussed in Part 2 of this essay, regarding the origin of life, the precursor “organic” molecules and building blocks of RNA most likely arrived on Earth aboard icy comets or meteorites. Consequently, they are expected to be available throughout the universe. This lets the appearance of life similar to ours on other celestial bodies appear quite likely. The evolution of such life may have started billions of years before ours and, consequently, may have led much further than our evolution on Earth – and may have gone in different directions. In cosmic terms, we may just be a unique side-branch of cosmic evolution – fascinatingly interesting as we are.
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Furthermore, if such life is “advanced” – and, consequently, derived from evolution – such life would need some blueprints of its structure upon multiplication, whether cell-by-cell or in toto. Carbon-compound chains are quite suitable for use as complex memory – unless nature can develop some two- or three-dimensional memory molecules, thereby accomplishing even more than our one-dimensional DNA helix. The evolution of such basic “blueprint” molecules over time, in evolution toward higher complexity of the derived organism, can move in many different directions – as evidenced by the myriad species that evolved on Earth through the ages. This would indicate an absolutely unpredictable diversification of evolution on other suitable places in the universe.
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But, after all, to prosper, evolution must follow opportunities. Consequently, evolution cannot diverge arbitrarily. Evolution must “converge” on organisms that can prosper within the given niches of the environment.
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As discussed in essay #2 on the evolution of life, the converging of evolution on organisms that have sensors and can move and that, consequently, have actuators and some control function between the sensors and actuators is indicated only in case of predatory behavior – on Earth prompted by the oxygen-based energy cycle already mentioned. This leads to organisms that contain systems for sensory signal communication, signal processing or control, and motion control of actuators, corresponding to our nervous system that began to develop with the most primitive animals. Advanced control centers can be compared to “brains” and the control process to “thought”. In other words, certain energy cycles lead to predatory behavior and, therefore, to evolution toward brains, rudimentary as these may be.
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But are “emotions” required – or more?
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Nervous systems appeared several hundred million years ago, providing motoric reflexive as well as “emotional” control (for example, in “fight or flight” reactions). But higher forms of brains appeared only recently, 500 million years after the beginning of animal evolution. Why did none develop earlier during the past hundreds of million years? Why did the “convergence” on this level of natural existence not occur earlier, and in other species? [108]
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It is possible that the development of larger brains occurs only after the evolutionary transition through some narrow passages that we do not understand yet – then leading to the expansion into evolutionary niches based on higher intelligence.
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Regarding those “narrow passages” toward the development of complex brains and intelligence, some scientists think that it is the development of language (based on some physiological changes facilitating the production of language) that is needed for the development of higher intelligence.
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Others see the need for three-dimensional vision (requiring front-viewing eyes). This is needed for the development and usage of tools – and the development of freely usable, skill-supporting frontal limbs (arms and hands). Such frontal limbs were not available to dinosaurs and are not available to other animals with large brains (elephants, whales).
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Once such a certain narrow passage in evolution is breached, brain development may occur swiftly, having then taken only 2 million years from higher animals to humans.
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Is this passage likely to occur in extraterrestrial life? If one subtracts the long period of mammal suppression during the dominance of the dinosaurs, the development to brains can possibly be seen in a much shorter time than 500 million years. On Earth it required less than 65 million years – and the development of large brains only 2 million years from there – a very short time interval in cosmic terms.
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Can one expect intelligent life on other celestial bodies? How likely or unlikely is intelligent life on other celestial bodies, “extraterrestrial intelligence”? Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee discuss this subject in their book [109]. They present convincing arguments that primitive life may exist in many places in the universe, specifically since extremophile bacteria have been found to prosper in great heat at deep sea volcanic vents or deep in rocks, as well as under the permanent ice and snow of Antarctica. Life with higher intelligence, however, would possibly exist nowhere else but on Earth, they argue, since intelligent life takes too much time to evolve. Instabilities or the repetitive “catastrophes” (see the discussion in Part 1 and Part 2 of this essay regarding the evolution of Earth and life on Earth) do not allow this to happen [110].
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This assessment appears somewhat subjective and, possibly, emotionally pessimistic. The resilience of life and evolution on Earth through numerous catastrophes, as discussed in other essays, seems to indicate that the evolution of life, once begun somewhere, is rather persistent.
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Furthermore, evolution’s progress being as uneven as demonstrated, may not need as much time to arrive at higher intelligence as it did on Earth. Fortuitous combinations of genetic change and environmental change may bring intelligence much faster than on Earth. Peter Ulmschneider, in his Intelligent Life in the Universe [111], provides an in-depth analysis of the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life and the likelihood of finding any. He arrives at the expectation that extraterrestrial intelligence should be quite common in the universe (about 4,000 such colonies now existing, he believes, in our galaxy alone).
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3.4.2. The Minds of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Beings, “Cosmo-Psychology”
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If there are other intelligent beings in the universe, what can one say about their possible mental characteristics? They, too, must have undergone evolution, not having arrived in the possession of higher capabilities from their beginning on. Any evolution is caused by random or probabilistic events that change the inheritance of characteristics with subsequent selection of the most suitable or fittest.
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Most writers assume that other intelligent beings in the universe should be quite different from us on Earth. Regarding extraterrestrial intelligence, however, one can say that, in order to accomplish anything of importance, any other intelligent beings in the universe must also live in some form of cooperation with many individuals, even in what we might call civilizations. Furthermore, some evolution is necessary for a civilization to arrive at a higher level of technological accomplishment that we could perceive from Earth.
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Evolution implies concepts such as stronger/weaker or correct/incorrect; it also presupposes some competition or fight to allow the more successful one to prevail.
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The mental composition of other beings in space does not necessarily have to include emotions (see the successful societies of insects). For all social animals and humans on Earth, the caring for offspring and clan-members, the forming of friendship bonds in reciprocity of services, and the providing of personal sacrifices (as in defense) for the benefit of the community constitute the foundation of “emotions” and ethics. Are some extraterrestrial civilizations nothing but emotionless, utilitarian insects? Coherence in extraterrestrial civilization may be merely, and solely, utilitarian.
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On the other hand, the mental composition of extraterrestrial civilizations may possibly include not fewer dimensions than ours, comprising reason and emotions, but additional ones, as unknown to humans – consequently, not imaginable by us – as any beings without emotions could not imagine our emotions.
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The following paragraphs present a more systematic approach to predicting the origin, evolution, and function of the minds of extraterrestrial intelligent beings, this effort to be called “cosmo-psychology”:
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Evolution toward higher complexity in this world usually follows the “Combinatorial Principle”: Initially, the basic phenomena of existence in our world are granular, being composed of some small components which are available in a certain diversity of types (categories). These small components are capable of being combined to form hierarchically larger components, which then offer new dimensions of existence (sometimes called the phenomenon of “emergence”). This principle of granulation in categorical diversity and subsequent hierarchical composition into larger structures can be found in particle physics, biochemistry, biology (ultimately leading to large, complex organisms), and in human mental development (see the Part 3 of this essay about the “Origin, Evolution, and Function of the Human Mind”).
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As in the case of the human mind, one can expect that the minds of extraterrestrial intelligent beings began their evolution with small elements – for example, by means of the first few elements of useful memory appearing in the above-indicated “control” function (between sensors and actuators) of simple predecessor organisms in the course of their evolution – or by the first elements of communication (for us, sounds or the simplest of words) which they could formulate. Some such elements will be mentioned later. Let us give these simple elements of the nascent “mind” a name – calling them by a Greek term “noöns” (derived from “noös”), or by en English term “spiritons” (corresponding to the term “Begriffe” in German). It is postulated that, in the course of the mental evolution of extraterrestrial beings, the simple spiritons were combined into macro-spiritons (of hierarchical higher complexity and wider coverage) and those into mega-spiritons.
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The following spiritons can be expected in the minds of extraterrestrial intelligent beings:
- Descriptive terms: terms for detailed geometric features of the terrain they live in, of circular or conical form. Their own bodily shapes and forms may result in terms for dots, lines, triangles, quadrangles, pyramids, and cubes. If we ever receive signals from them, the extraterrestrials must be able to perceive electromagnetic frequencies and may have terms for certain bands of frequencies (“colors” in our terms) – unless they will signal us by gravity waves!
- Basic numeric terms: one, two, three …. and so on.
- The terms of mental “logic”: “and”, “or”, “not”, and “equal” – as used not only in philosophical logic, but also in the “gates” of all control mechanisms – and terms for “right” (correct) and “wrong” (incorrect).
- Basic terms to express “time” – as derived from any cyclic events in their existence, for example, the rotation of their planet or any radiation frequency (e.g., common absorption lines in universal spectra).
- Basic terms related to their social structure: individual, functions of individuals.
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The following macro-spiritons can be expected:
- Simple combinations of descriptive terms: Combinations of figures – e.g., the totality of their bodies.
- Simple mathematical functions: plus, minus, multiply, divide – a term for prime numbers – terms indicating “all” or “none” or partial quantities (e.g., “half”).
- More complex control and communication components or functions (antennas, amplifiers, arithmetic units, and more).
- Larger units of time.
- More advanced terms related to their social structure: Leaders, followers, larger functions (resource providers, waste removal, law givers, law enforcers, warriors, engineers?) – terms for adding/gaining/hiring or deleting/firing/dismissing/losing.
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The following mega-spiritons can be expected:
- Cosmic configurations (galaxies and their spiral arms), clusters, comets.
- Mathematical operands: integrals, differentials, Laplace transforms, and more.
- Control centers (“computers” in our terms).
- Complex timing schemes, terms for sequences, “before” and “later”, history, the concept of “evolution”, and concepts of motion.
- Advanced social and cultural terms: Constitution, economic systems.
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There must be rules for the combination of spiritons to form macro-spiritons and mega-spiritons (the grammar) and the corresponding terms would be of special interest, especially when going beyond logic or mathematical terms. These terms would express their thought processes – e.g., terms for logic, invention, intuition.
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In the human brain and mind, creativity and mental progress is provided through a combinatorial process involving existing memory elements, new perceptions, and their interconnectivity, see the two essay on “Creativity” in the “Brain, Mind” section of the website schwab-writings. While this interconnectivity is multidimensional, the human mind is tied to a linear progression of thought – somewhat like the search results of Google being provided in a linear sequence. It is not – as one may wish – that the human mind looks down on all the elements of knowledge and perception spread out before it like a tinker-toy set and then chooses the most suitable piece to progress the building. Would it be possible that an extraterrestrial mind would have a better approach to creativity, a two-dimensional search capability or better, could look down on all the pieces of the puzzle in parallel? Would that require that their speech is better than linear, not like ours is? Is that the problem why we have not been successful with the SETI-project, because we should be able to look in parallel at more than one string of signals arriving in a linear mode?
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As indicated before, terms for some “religious” concepts can be expected and would be of special interest: “creation” of the universe, “revelation”, “meaning, purpose, direction” of evolution. But terms for emotions – or for completely different mental dimensions – may or may not be found among extraterrestrials.
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The next step would be the development of an understanding for behavior. Here, the basic controlling assumptions would be:
- Diversity of individuals within their societies (as necessary for evolution), terms for “equal” and “different”.
- Hierarchical ranking of individuals (as necessary in forming societies), terms for “dominate” and “subordinate”.
- Competitiveness (as a foundation of evolution), even “fighting”.
- Terms for “generate” and “destroy”, “birth” or “death”.
- Assessment of correct or incorrect regarding the results of their thoughts or actions.
- Assessment of beneficial or damaging of the results of their behavior, terms for “useful” and “useless”.
- Gradual assessments of “better” or “worse”, “superior” or “inferior”.
- Dynamics of behavior.
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It would be an interesting experiment to construct a “cosmic” language (using arbitrary symbols) and attempt to conduct a dialog based on the above-assumed spiritons, the likely rules for their combination, and expected forms of behavior. What could we, and what could we not, communicate or understand if communicated to us?
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3.4.3. Possible Consequences for Us on Earth?
Resulting Fundamental Philosophical and Theological Questions?:
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Astronomic distances and the limiting speed of light will make any two-way conversation with extraterrestrial civilizations nearly impossible. But one-way communication may be received from them. The consequences of receiving information about, or from, extraterrestrial intelligence could include the sciences, technology, medicine, philosophy, and theology – even art.
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New scientific knowledge may be related to the ultimate questions of cosmogony, cosmology, the “great unified theory”, and the origin of life, possibly with consequences in energy production and genetics.
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Technology information may be helpful, or it may create serious problems. For example, if a method were communicated to produce abundant amounts of food in a very large “factory” at very low cost, the problems of hunger in the world might be solved, but all agriculture and, thereby, the sustenance of still a very large part of the human population would be socially and economically disrupted. The same could be said about the possible replacement of lumber, coal, or oil by other materials or merely about processes that became available through “celestial” communication.
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Superior medical knowledge, as welcome as it would be for all the suffering, would also increase the growth and aging of Earth’s population – with not only economic and social, but also environmental consequences. Could we permit ongoing procreation on Earth if there were no more death?
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Are there any philosophical or theological expectations or consequences connected with the possible discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence?
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On account of the very slow speed (in cosmic dimensions) of light or any other signal transmission – requiring already more than four years just to reach or arrive from our closest neighbor among the stars and millions of years to reach other galaxies – it is unlikely that we can obtain the information we seek or ask for concerning specific answers from other civilizations in outer space within the foreseeable future. Possible philosophical and very important theological consequences result, however, solely from the fact that other civilizations exist in outer space and from our knowledge of astrophysics, see the essay “Theology, Astrophysics, and the SETI Project” in the “philosophy-theology” section on the author’s website schwab-.
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A deeper understanding, as possibly available to other intelligent beings in the universe, of the dynamics of the universe and our existence could help in answering the most fundamental question of our time – of our mental evolution so far – regarding a transcendental structure of the universe. They concern the clarification of the theological questions regarding the following concerns:
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- Creation: Is there a transcendental origin of existence, “God”?
- Is there ongoing action of the creating force in the universe, the “acting God”? This is also the question of “Intelligent Design” in evolution and of divine interference with the course of history.
- Is there any response of the creating force to supplication? Is there a “personal, merciful God”?
- What is the foundation of moral codes? Will there be a last judgment or compensation by the creating force, the “judging God”? This is the question of a compensating afterlife.
- The explanation of all the suffering, misery, destructiveness, and waste in this world.
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Would answers to these questions represent the end of an era of thought and faith? It is mainly the abandoning of a faith in a last judgment with a subsequent compensating afterlife that would bring a fundamental change in the human perception of life!
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Will there be structural changes of society with the demise of the churches and theological-hierarchical structures?
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Will there be changes in the perceived “meaning” of life when no afterlife can be expected?
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What will be the remaining ethical guidelines? Will the loss of religion lead to nihilism and materialism – or to something else? But certainly more will remain than materialism and selfishness! The ongoing force of genetically given ethical emotions and behavior (for the human as a social being) and practical interest (in the family, at work, in society, business, and politics) will prevail! New congregational life will occur with that.
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There will always be the need to fulfill our basic requirements of life – food, shelter, procreation, minimal social contact, even some aesthetic decorations. There may always be the somewhat dubious middle level of accomplishment in wealth, public recognition, power, and entertainment. But beyond that, the significant goals/directions will be found in mental growth (personal development, as it is the goal for all other beings in nature), dedicated service (to family, clan, others, the needy and lonely, society, and the environment), and joyful artistic expression (in aesthetics, art, and culture)!
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The consequence of the theological question may very well be seen as a second “being driven out of Paradise”, this time for good – toward increased self-reliance and self-responsibility of mankind for the conditions here on Earth.
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3.5. The Future
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3.5.1. Mankind’s Future?
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Predictions of the future, whether for the next few years or long-term, can be found in three categories:
- More or less of the same as we have seen so far, with all the ups and downs through history, but not leading to any extremes neither in the positive nor in the negative direction for the whole of mankind – but certainly for those concerned in some regions
- Pessimistic predictions of great dangers, often of the doomsday variety for all of mankind
- Optimistic predictions, extensions of science and technology trends, often leading to science fiction forecasting ideal conditions on Earth.
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More of the same:
The history of civilizations over the past few thousand years, whether in urban or rural life, appears as a sequence of waves, with positive and negative periods alternating – even though not always in the same regions. Devastations and plagues in some regions were followed by new high cultures in different regions.
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This implies that mankind, as a whole, is resilient and can survive catastrophes, subsequently developing new strength for further progress. It also implies that new devastations and plagues do occur again and again, leading to great instability and the demise of existing high cultures – only to see new cultures appear eventually – based on the inherent resilience and strength of mankind.
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Pessimistic predictions:
Doomsday predictions have a long history. About 2,000 years ago, apocalyptic visions were rather common. Great religions appeared and expanded based principally on arguments for the salvation of the souls in another, better world to come or offering a Nirvana upon resignation from this world of endless suffering.
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A few hundred years ago, the dangers of comets or meteors were widely propagated.
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But the worst modern catastrophes to subsequently arrive, the World Wars and the ideological persecutions under dictatorial regimes in many places, had not been predicted.
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What can be said from today’s point of view?
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Earth’s population is close to 6 billion, with an increasing portion of that number in the major cities of underdeveloped countries. This population can be supported only as long as the production and distribution of energy, food, textiles, building products, industrial products, and medications function at low prices and as long as climate does not change excessively. In other words, such a very large global society is fragile. Following are some specific comments:
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New diseases will certainly appear. They will be more devastating as more people live closely together in big cities. Resurgence of old diseases (e.g., resistant strains of tuberculosis and malaria) and the appearance of new diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS, SARS) occur at a surprising rate. As long as research in the advanced Western countries functions well, these threats can be countered. But if political or social unrest – lately, one must add to it religious unrest from Muslim radicalism – reduces the Western potential, these diseases can become major threats.
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A moment of imbalance can occur when destabilizing forces lead to a weakening of the pharmaceutical industry. Further international destabilization could occur upon the arrival of the next major disease in a downward spiral. This can result in the death of billions of people in a very short time and the destruction of all political order and higher civilization. Pockets of remaining civilization may find themselves at the level of about 500 BC or lower.
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One must also think of diseases attacking animals or plants – with possibly the same devastating consequences. Science fiction can also think of microbes invading and destroying the world’s oil supplies.
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Environmental changes, possibly including a warming of the climate, appear as great dangers. Warming would lead to three consequences; sea levels around the world would go up and inundate fertile areas. The suitability of land for agriculture would move to different areas, for example, farther north on the Northern Hemisphere, leaving deserts behind where fertile areas had been before. Another effect could be a change in ocean currents with catastrophic consequences (for example, frequent and intense El Niños or the stopping of the Gulf Stream). With fairly settled populations and rigid national borders preventing mass migrations, any one of these effects would create disastrous political problems. If the world order collapses, the previously indicated consequences for civilization must be expected.
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Natural disasters may occur once more, like the great catastrophes of millions of years ago, causing new “extinctions”. The greatest natural disasters in our time causing some locally restricted extinctions were gigantic volcanic eruptions (for example, Thera in the Mediterranean and Krakatau in Indonesia). New eruptions of large basaltic “traps” from deep within Earth, as they occurred historically in India and in Siberia, or major meteorites may bring the most destructive extinctions, including the extinction of mankind.
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Man-made disasters and extinctions have occurred and will occur again. Religious, political, or criminal movements or organization may lead to great catastrophes, as the recent “Jihads” and the “war on terrorism” indicate. Specifically, the possible availability of weapons of mass destruction can bring the risk that world order may get out of control. Locally released germs may devastate sufficiently large portions of mankind in critical areas to lead to the above described loss of balance in society, leading to a total breakdown in energy, food, pharmaceutical, and industrial production and product distribution.
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There may be slower risks for mankind, as from over-breeding or down-breeding. Over-breeding can lead to social destabilization, first in some countries only, ultimately internationally. Down-breeding can, theoretically, occur in human mental capability – the lowest performers having the most children, the highest performers the fewest – with consequences for social balance. The greatest danger may result from medical down-breeding. Life’s struggle in modern society is no longer related to medical conditions. Social standards make it desirable and civil rights make it mandatory that the medically “challenged” be given equal opportunity and equal right to propagate. Natural evolution indicates that, in the long run, only evolving adaptation to changing environmental conditions ascertains survival. Will environmental conditions for mankind not evolve? Initially, this would merely result in an increase in society’s medical costs. Ultimately, social destabilization could occur. But at our present level of science, we expect genetic engineering to take care of most of these problems.
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On the other hand, it takes only a small percentage of the population to provide the key functions – intellectually or in leadership.
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The most advanced civilizations are also the most fragile ones. The well-being of the world – a population of 6 billion and growing – depends largely upon the functioning of our advanced civilizations.
When any of the above-indicated major social upheavals occur, though, the breakdown would most likely lead to political, ideological, or religious dictatorships. Dictators are known to take care of their core group and not of the population at large. Dictators spend money on internal security and on weapons for either empire-building or military defense. Such societies will not be able to cope with major new diseases, major environmental changes, or natural catastrophes.
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Intellectually, there may be a standstill or regression in religious or fundamentalist-political perceptions, as observed by some people in our time. Established hierarchies may not be able to cope with modern situations any longer (for example, the prohibition of AIDS-preventing condoms by the catholic church or inhibition of stem-cell research by some political parties).
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In more general terms, mankind proceeds on a precarious course through history, hemmed in on all sides by the dangers and risks of extremes:
- Too much control by religious, ideological, or political forces – as by fundamentalist religious leaders or sects, ideologically excited mass movements, or dictators with their mind control and secret police forces.
- Too little restraint through loss of all values and direction – leading to general decay, not only in moral terms and law-and-order, but also in loss of governance and corruption of public finances.
- Too much progress, in science or technology and in society’s structure or loss of structure (globalization) – leading to large unemployment, need for migration, and loss of “culture” or mental stability.
- Too little progress, whether in terms of science and technology or national and international structure – not allowing the resolution of social problems in many nations and large sections of the world, and not allowing the absorption of an increasing population of the world in decent living conditions, mainly in the ever growing, very large cities.
In Toynbee’s interpretation of the course of history, the above risks constitute the challenges for the world elites – in politics, the media, and the all-influencing business world. In a more democratic view, not only in blessed countries like Switzerland, the above risks constitute challenges for all and every citizen.
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Optimistic predictions:
When automation appeared in the factories, predictions appeared showing men to be freed from all work in the future. When the first electrical household appliances became available a hundred years or so ago, predictions appeared showing women to be freed from all household chores in the future.
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During the acceleration of technological progress in the 1960s, some newspapers had the habit of bringing year-end editions with exciting predictions for the future. Few were ever correct. For example, helicopters were predicted to replace cars and space travel appeared as imminent.
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Recent predictions refer to the progress in genetic manipulation, foreseeing the end of all diseases. In the more distant future, new kinds of “human” beings with higher mental capabilities and greater beauty are predicted – hopefully also with higher morality.
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Pseudo-genetic processes are being used for increasingly automated scientific research. Experimental approaches are used as if all the experimental variables were genes. They are then more or less randomly varied. Improved results lead to further pursuits along the successful line. Unsuccessful lines are being abandoned.
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What can be said from today’s point of view?
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Predictions usually follow one or another of the most recent developments in a linear extension far into the future. This is never possible. Such specific developments would get out of balance with the reality of the world. For example, society will do whatever it can to keep men and women working, if not for gain, then as volunteers in some worthy cause. Environmentalism would like to reduce individual vehicle use – not only cars, but, more specifically, helicopters. Space travel should be replaced by space probes with robots. Environmental concerns and bioethics turn against gene manipulation.
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But the most important scientific or technical innovations were those never predicted – for example, genetics, the computer, and the internet revolution. We just cannot foresee what we never experienced before.
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Developments do not follow a straight line where systems become fragile. The next developments appear in unforeseen areas. There will be progress, but more moderate than optimistically predicted and in directions we cannot foresee. “Growth” may not be in “more”, specifically not in more material consumption. The “growth” of mankind from ancient times through the Middle Ages was primarily not in numbers of people or consumption, but in mental or cultural growth – after substantial set-backs lasting for centuries and new starts in different directions.
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And in the far future?
Homo sapiens occurred only a “short” time ago. Can super-humans appear in the future? Possibly not so easily – since there are no islands of evolution left for separate development – and since propagation no longer goes with the “fittest”, in the sense of the most advanced.
But what can genetic engineering accomplish in the future? How little did we predict technical progress in other areas in the past – in manufacturing, transportation, medicine, communication, or data processing. Who knows how little genetic adjustment it will possibly take to substantially improve certain human performance parameters? The genetic difference between humans and other primates is very small. Evolution of humans may move from natural evolution to genetic engineering.
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What may not be dangers for the future but often is seen as such?
The most common pessimistic prediction about mankind’s future concerns moral and political decay, with consequent catastrophes for society.
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On the other hand, moral laws and the resulting laws and regulations of society ultimately correspond to, and are anchored in, mankind’s natural needs – protection against violence, protection of personal property, protection of children and the weak, support in distress, some “dignity”, availability of opportunities, and some civil rights.
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The vision of progress during the time of “enlightenment” found its balance in the denial of progress in “back-to-nature” movements of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Romantics. The emphasis on intellect with drift in morality found its balance in mystical ideas with emphasis on ethics, such as the Rosicrucians and subsequent Free Masons.
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Whenever things get out-of-hand due to political or religious imbalances, they will swing back to cover human needs. This will prevent moral or political decay going too far or lasting too long – as long as resources are available – see the other dangers coming from diseases, overpopulation, or climate change – all possibly resulting in catastrophic political and then also moral developments.
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The other most cited danger for mankind’s future is the running out of resources – of sources for energy, water, certain metals, and more. While this danger is real in the short term, adaptations are more likely and possible than generally presented. The total influx of energy to Earth from the Sun far exceeds mankind’s energy need for the very distant future. Atomic energy, after all, is an equally “un-exhaustible” energy source – and energy conservation, if not conversion, is always a goal. Scarce minerals can largely be substituted, albeit at somewhat higher energy need or cost.
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In sum, when things go to well, indiscriminate waste of resources and the abuse of power reduce progress. But when the downtrend reaches the level of a disaster, the resilience of human nature and the onset of corrective forces will bring things back to a bearable level – this can be observed in the political as well as the economic world.
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What else could come in the very distant future?
The reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field may bring high levels of radiation for a limited time – resulting in extensive damage to plants, animals, and humans – and the acceleration of evolution. The extinction of the magnetic field due to solidification of the core (crystallization) upon cooling (within billions of years) could bring permanent high levels of radiation. The next passage of Earth through one of the spiral arms of our galaxy (just beginning now) may bring high levels of radiation and higher probabilities of meteor encounters. Ultimately, the Sun will first overheat, then lose most of its energy, letting Earth first be scorched, then freeze over permanently.
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3.5.2. How Does the Future of the Universe Look? How Will It All End?
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Astrophysics has arrived at a certain understanding of the dynamics of the universe. For example, within a certain time, one must expect the extinction of all the stars in the universe as their atomic fuel is consumed.
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At some time, there will be no further formation of new galaxies or stars, as all the dust is used up in the universe. It is not absolutely clear how much gas and dust is left at this time – in our Sun’s neighborhood, in the Milky Way, and in the universe.
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In one scenario of astrophysics, all galaxies will ultimately collapse into their centers – into “Black Holes”. Furthermore, over very long periods of time, many black holes may collapse into a few gigantic black holes.
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All Black Holes will ultimately dissipate into radiation – based on quantum effects over long periods of time (Hawking’s theory). In the end, only radiation will be left that dissipates into ever more distant space and, thereby, cools to close to “Absolute Zero” (about minus 500 degrees) in absolute darkness.
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In an alternative scenario, the “repulsive” energy of space, that presently accelerates the dispersion of all galaxies in space, may possibly be reversed, leading to renewed attraction and, consequently, a future collapse, the “Big Crunch”, of the whole universe, a reversal of the “Big Bang”. [112]
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In the recognition of the end of all existence as we know it, within the laws and principles of the universe as created, there is no room for permanent and invariable storage of “souls” – neither in a “heaven” nor in a “hell” or any other form of existence.
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But there is the basic principle of theoretical physics of “Conservation of Information”! This would result in the theoretical possibility of time and evolution running backwards. Is there a conflict with the concept of “free will”? Or does conservation of information not apply to the brain processes in connection with will-formation? Or is the conservation of information the only and ultimate form of permanent existence?
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Closing Comments – Conclusions – Personal Comments
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The preceding presentation has led through four spheres of progressing evolution in growing complexity:
- The physical universe as seen by cosmogony, particle physics, astrophysics, and astronomy – the transcendental origin of energy and its granular structure, forces, natural laws, constants, quantum uncertainties, order and randomness – leading to combinatorial evolution and the greatness of the universe as we see it – largely graspable by theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, and mathematics
- The world of life, its still mysterious origin, then genetic evolution and all the molecular processes in the cells, leading to the evolution of the unique “phylogenetic tree of living organisms” and, finally, to the evolution of the complex human brain – in the process of being understood by biochemistry, genomics, and proteomics
- The human mind with its wide variety of capabilities – in emotions, vast and interconnected memory, visualizations independent of actual perceptions, leading to thought, creativity, ethics, individual personality, and appreciation of art – and the human mind’s multiplicity of expressions – in consciousness, the question of “free will”, “soul(?)”, perceived spirituality, and the many visualized religions – still being investigated by various branches of the sciences, from neurophysiology to psychology – and, more vaguely, by philosophy.
- Societies, civilizations, and cultures with their own great multiplicity of dimensions – several not subject to any scientific approach – for example, culture or politics.
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Three additional topics were presented:
- The “Intelligent Design Theory”, a discussion of a religious view of evolution assuming some divine interference in possibly following a plan and leading to some meaning – as opposed to the scientific view of natural evolution based on the original (possibly transcendental) concept of the originating universe with its given (“created”) energy, forces, structure, natural laws, constants and quantum uncertainty – subsequently following the “Basic Principle of Natural Evolution”
- The possibility for extraterrestrial intelligence and the possible consequences of such existence for mankind, specifically for fundamental philosophical and theological questions or dogma
- The future one can expect for mankind and the universe – risks and opportunities, but also the knowledge about the future ultimate end of all existence as we know it.
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Could there be anything beyond the here-described evolution of our world, anything beyond our universe? What is the essence of our understanding of evolution? Are our observations and conclusions about evolution objectively true? What does the observation of evolution mean to us in our human lives?
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The natural evolution on Earth commenced about 4 billion years ago and may come to its end in about 2 billion years due to the heating of the Sun, in total covering 6 billion years of evolution out of then 16 billion years of universal existence. The generation of stars with planets may have begun earlier than 3 billion years after the Big Bang and will continue for many billions of years into the future until all dust in the universe is “consumed”, in total covering at least 20 to 100 billion years of universal existence. In other words, natural evolution on Earth covers only a small portion of the time of universal existence. These observations let other “natural evolutions” at other times – earlier and later than ours – and in other places of the universe appear as quite likely.
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If one were to build a model of the universe wherein the visible part of our galaxy, the Milky Way, were a disk with the diameter of 1 millimeter, then the whole universe would be a sphere with only 150 meters radius, assuming linear (and not curved) expansion of light since the moment of the Big Bang origin.
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If one assumes 1,000 years to be 1 second, then the age of the universe would be only half a year. Our sun will be burnt out in only six additional weeks on this scale of time. The indicated extinction and dissolution of the universe will be well on its way within only a few hundred years.
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Seen this way, our universe, Creation, as it is known to us, is not very big, very old, or very permanent. What does the Creating Force, “God”, do outside of our universe? What did the Creating Force, “God”, do before the beginning of our universe or will do after its end?
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This causes one to think that possibly more has originated in all of Existence/Creation, in a possibly multidimensional universe, or still could originate. Would it be possible that the whole of Existence/Creation in space and time could be multidimensionally infinite? Are there still continuously new Creations? Is there even more than the “multiverse” of string theory?
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Is “God” the ultimate thought in the “combinatorial principle”, being composed of all the universes that may have or will exist – or is “God” the inversion of the combinatorial principle, with all the universes being derived as component parts from this ultimate essence?
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And then, what is the essence of our understanding of evolution? Is there a divine essence? Are there ongoing “divine” actions within Creation, even if only through the most subtle events in the smallest probabilistic areas, subsequently leading to great consequences? [113] The cruelty and contradictions of nature, of history, and of so many daily events would not allow answers consistent with the theology of any of the major religions – and would lead to the better conclusion that there are no “divine” interactions with evolution and history.
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If God permits the universe to continue running by itself, following the initial impetus and the once-given laws or constants of nature, how can God be seen in the essence of evolution? Does that lead to thoughts of Eastern meditative philosophy of “acting by just being there” – as the ancient Chinese emperors were supposed to be effective merely by inactively “being there”, thus giving strength and life to the whole empire, the machinery of state, and the laws?
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Could a superior extraterrestrial intelligence have a superior understanding of the evolution of existence? As shown in other essays (see “Creative Thought” by H. Schwab, 1994, and others), the creative unfolding of new concepts in thought is a combinatorial process in the course of time. This corresponds to the general principle of the combinatorial unfolding of Creation. Therefore, the recognition of the transcendental origin of existence also will have evolved in other space-civilizations from more primitive concepts. Their possibly existing concept of the original creative force (God) would reflect that. Equally would the understanding and interpretation of evolution correspond to the evolutionary and combinatorial development of their mental capabilities, possibly beyond ours.
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Our understanding of natural evolution indicates that the essence of its onward drive results from the impact of random events and the pursuit of opportunities, limited by competition as indicated by the Wallace/Darwin theory. [114] This leads to increasing adaptation and diversification of species. But beyond that, a larger principle is at work in the universe and in nature, the capability to combine different phenomena on one level to let more complex new phenomena with different dimensions of existence emerge on the next evolutionary level – constituting the “Combinatorial Principle” of evolution. This can be observed, for example, in the combination of atoms to form molecules, the combination of individuals to form societies, or the combination of prior recognitions to form systems of thought.
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This progress of evolution is very uneven in its course – almost stationary for a large portion of life, at times even descending to loss of capabilities and simpler forms of life, but advancing in localized short avalanches for others. Evolution is caused by and under the influence of random or interfering events, follows momentary borderline or starting conditions, and pursues available opportunities, constituting the “Basic Principle of Evolution”.
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Evolution operates in a grand style that one could almost call a wasteful manner. It is now assumed that over 80% of all the matter that was created is “dark matter” [115], little understood and not participating in our world of atoms and molecules – but a small percentage creates the wonderful perceivable universe we live in. The origin of stars and planets is messy, with much of the originating material being re-expulsed into space and not further being part of the resulting wonderful celestial body – but the remaining small part forms the billions of stars we see at night and the Earth we live on. Over 80% of the human genome is “junk genome”, of no known purpose and not participating in life’s function – but the small active part of the genome lets us humans appear and evolve with our brains that attempt to understand all of existence. How many populations perish, how many families have no descendents, how many people finish in unknown misery, how many are totally forgotten only 100 years after they lived? But a small percentage of humans drive the evolution of our civilizations and cultures forward, for better or worse, to ever higher pinnacles or to catastrophes.
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It is a special miracle of existence that the essence of evolution in our universe includes its finality – against which it always struggles to the end. All evolution is interrupted by random destructive events, great catastrophes, and extinctions. More importantly, all evolution will be un-done in the final end of the universe, in the final consumption of all energy in the universe, a new collapse, concentration in black holes, or dissipation in ever-expanding and cooling radiation. Will at least the “information” of all that was passed be retained in whatever is left (as postulated by a principle of theoretical physics)? What was all existence for after it vanished again – except to have been “for the pleasure” of the transcendental essence of Creation?
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What is the content of truth of the analysis of evolution presented in this essay? Can all the above be stated objectively, and as universally valid? We should not be overly assured that our present level of knowledge and understanding of the universe and evolution truly covers all aspects of that evolution of the world we live in. As Newton’s understanding of nature was correct, but was exceeded by relativity theory, our understanding may provide a true understanding of existence, but an even deeper understanding of truth may be possible in the future or to a more developed extraterrestrial intelligence.
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In the end, what does the view of “evolution” of the universe, of life, of the human mind, and of human civilization mean to us? Mainly, there remains the admiration of the grandiose intellectuality and beauty of the dynamically evolving Creation, its energy, its interwoven laws, its finely tuned constants, its openness in quantum probabilities, its wonderful multi-level diversification of phenomena and appearance of ever new dimensions of existence – and the recognition of the finality of their existence.
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Are there any consequences for our lives? What remains as a role for humanity in this universe, for us personally? What direction or actions could give our lives meaning – in spite of its own finality?
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If there is no afterlife, no reincarnation, and no life of a “soul” after death, then we had better concentrate on this life, the only one we have, and on this Earth, our only home. Nature expects us to take care of our most basic needs of survival, food, shelter, procreation, family, minimal social contact, and decorative embellishment of our surroundings. For most humans that is all they can do in their restricted and often very difficult lives. Beyond that, we must struggle for additional security – if not some freedom and some dignity – and means for further help or action. But too often, we just strive for the vain goals of wealth, recognition, power, and entertainment. We learn from the observation of evolution that we had better use our extra resources in life to flourish as best we can – for the “pleasure of the Creator”, as Christians say, – to caringly contribute to this world as best we can – in dedicated service to family, society, and the environment in our culture’s and religions’ best tradition, – to enjoy the immense beauty available to our perception – and, most importantly, to help mitigate the suffering of fellow beings, and to open better opportunities for all to render their lives more meaningful in a morally and emotionally humane, sound, strong yet free society and world [116].
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* * *
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The mental voyage through existence comes to an end –
from the vastness of the universe to submicroscopic molecular life,
the virtual phenomena of the mind, and unfolding civilizations –
from an origin in the distant past to an expected end in the distant future.
This essay shall be closed in an expression of admiration for existence –
and in even deeper admiration for the essence from where existence came.
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* * *
Appendix of Open or Inadequately Resolved Questions:
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- Starting conditions of the universe:
o Source of energy
o Source of forces
o Source of natural laws and constants
o Source of time and its rate
o Asymmetry of matter and anti-matter
o Dark matter
o Dark energy
o Density distribution variations
o Unified theory, supersymmetry, string theory results
- Discussion of Quantum Chromodynamics
- Conservation of Information in the universe:
o Would time reversal be single track (no branches)?
o Does it apply to thought?
- Distribution of galaxy sizes and rates of rotation
- Why were there nor sub-galaxies formed in the dust disk of very large galaxies?
- Spiral arms of galaxies: explanation of origin, shapes, speed of rotation
- Does galaxy rotation slow down (by radiation? Which?)? Will galaxies ultimately collapse into their centers?
- Are very large planets in proximity to their sun in an elliptic orbit properly explained by early disturbance of their accretion disk?
- Why are there no star collisions (whirls in galactic dust disk), as there are galaxy collisions?
- Why do Saturn rings not accrete?
- Origin of Moon: Timing of its accretion, distance and beginning of its lifting, inclination of path, stabilizing effect on Earth axis
- Reference literature for organic compounds on icy comets?
- Why was there never a second RNA or DNA start (at a different age of a mutational start)?
- Why are the branches and twigs on the “phylogenetic tree of living organisms” all singularities?
- What is the diffusion speed of various molecules in cells?
- How many RNA-protein translations take place simultaneously? Their translation speeds?
- Molecule density in a cell, diffusion rates – to ascertain sufficiency of supply for protein expression in translation from RNA
- Timing/speed of natural evolution
- Explanation of very rapid localized evolutions of parts of complex systems (e.g., sensors, the brain) (possibly connected with gene multiplication, gene splicing, and “conscription” of genes?)
- Probabilistic appearance of some first positive mutations (e.g. wishbone in birds)?
- Why are there no three-sided symmetries in animals (but some in plants)?
- Selectivity in natural evolution if many parameters vary at once (fertility vs. dumbness)?
- Justification of the large brain in early humans
- Subconscious decision making
- Further discussion of various theories of consciousness, onset of consciousness in natural evolution
- Is there actually some down-breeding of mankind in a medical sense occurring now?
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02-21-06 * 093009
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[1] An excellent presentation of cosmic and planetary evolution – also covering the origin of life on Earth, going into detail and a depth considerably beyond this essay – is presented in Peter Ulmschneider’s book, “Intelligent Life in the Universe”, published by Springer in 2003/4, ISBN 3-540-43988-9, 250 pages. Additionally, the swift progress of astrophysics and astronomy requires ongoing awareness of the newest leading publications in that field.
[2] See Edward Tryon, City University of New York, 1973.
[3] A theory proposed by Professor Gott of Princeton University.
[4] This theory was proposed by Professor Steinhardt of Princeton University.
[5] This theory evolved from work done by Leonard Susskind and Yoichira Nambu (since 1969), Andrei Linde, Alan Guth, and others (see their publications). A good summary of present scientific thought is provided by Dennis Overbye’s article in the New York Times, Science Times section, September 2, 2003. One must be aware that the progress of such scientific thought is quite fluid and that new interpretations of string theory may occur at any time.
[6] A number of scientists are involved in this discussion, and a final result is not visible at this time.
[7] See the recently presented theories by E. Rebhan, U. Düsseldorf, Germany; and G. Ellis; together with R. Maartens, both at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
[8] Webster’s definition of “transcendental”: “Beyond the reach of common thought or experience”. In scientific terms: not describable in physical terms.
[9] A wide selection of books with diverse perspectives on these subjects are presented and discussed in the journal “Science & Theology News” (see ).
[10] See, for example, the publication “Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology” by the Templeton Foundation ( or under the “science and religion” tab) or this author’s essay, “Science and Religion: Theology, Astrophysics, and the SETI-Project” (posted on the internet under pt/tas/index.html)
[11] Through observation of the structure, spectral emissions, and spectral absorption lines of very distant – and, consequently, very old – cosmic formations.
[12] Except possibly seven or eight more dimensions of minute extension as assumed by string theory.
[13] See the “Theory of Relativity”, proven by observation in this point, but indicating this difference in the flow of time only at very high relative speeds.
[14] The a posteriori development of theories can also be found in the explanation of historic developments, in politics and in economics – even in the private sphere of individual lives. What counts is the reliably predictive value of theories – which far too seldom exists – for there are always new factors or new insights.
[15] This left an ongoing duality in the universe between particles/matter (discrete) and forces/fields (analog) – with transitions between them due to the original energy character of particles, see Einstein’s equation e = mc2 (the energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light – or the inverse).
[16] With some additional ones having recently been produced artificially, but being of unstable nature.
[17] Lloyd Morgan, in 1923, had already proposed his concept of “Emergent Evolution”, whereby “all properties of matter have emerged from some forerunners …. being effectively related to the systems from which they emerged”, applying this all the way up in evolution, even to human consciousness. The study of “emergence” recently became quite active again, extending also into the study of evolving human consciousness (see James Ogilvy and others).
[18] Evolutionary thrust does not necessarily imply progression to, for example, “higher” forms of life. Some progression is to simpler forms, shedding unnecessary features (see the snakes without limbs or the blindness of organisms in caves, or the evolution of the virus) – keeping in mind that the great cosmic evolution ultimately ends in the extinction of all stars and a cosmic collapse or cosmic dissolution, as discussed later.
[19] Stephen Wolfram, in his book “A New Kind of Science”, follows essentially such a view.
[20] A new theory and observations indicate that such ejecta actually do occur occasionally as black holes “digest” additional material, but possibly perpendicular to the galactic disc.
[21] An ample amount of recent publications can be found at , specifically at:
“”
[22] A very small galaxy, the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, is in the process of being absorbed by the Milky Way.
[23] There is a need for some further explanation of the phenomenon of spiral arms around the core of galaxies in connection with star formation and star movement. Recent theories (or measurements) that the stars circulate the core of the galaxy at twice the rate of the spiral arms. Earth – and stars at the same distance from the center of our galaxy – is assumed to rotate once every 220 million years around the center of our galaxy and happens to be presently in the position of entering one spiral arm. This would indicate that the luminous section of a spiral arm where Earth passes is only about 50 million years of star movement wide. What happens to all the luminous stars within the arms? Do so many of them have such a short life? Also, the spiral arm pattern remains (does not wrap up), while stars closer to the center of a galaxy necessarily circulate faster than distant ones, leading to wrapping. More explanations are needed!
[24] The space between Earth and its neighboring stars in the Milky Way appears very clear. The next star is over 4 light-years distant from Earth. This indicates great emptiness of space around Earth and little probability that another star could be formed nearby. As a matter of fact, it appears surprising that our solar system and the one next to ours could have formed at all with what little gas or dust there was. But there are many dark dust-nebula within our galaxy a few hundred light-years distant from Earth as possible sources of future stars.
[25] Our Sun can be seen as being of medium size in the universe or in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. A large proportion of stars barely reaches ignition of thermonuclear reaction, lighting up for a short time and continuing as “brown dwarfs”. Other stars are larger than the Sun but not as large as those leading to supernova explosions.
[26] At this time, the Andromeda Nebula is still at a distance of more than 2 million light-years from Earth – but that is only some twenty times the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy.
[27] This effect appears to be different in the case of bands in the dust disks around planets of stars; see Saturn. These planetary bands of disks appear to be rather stable. Why bands of dust lead to planets in the case of bands around suns, but do not accrete around planets, is not fully explained.
[28] This implies that the mass of planets resulting from accretion of a band of dust is a matter of probability and could possibly have been much larger or much smaller than what we actually observe in our solar system. What if Earth had resulted to have retained much more or less of the material in its band and had become much larger or much smaller? Would this have led to a different crust with different plate tectonic consequences? Would the atmosphere have been much denser or much thinner with significant consequences for the later origin and evolution of life? Is it another miracle of evolution that Earth turned out to be just the way it now is?
[29] There are other belts of asteroids much further out in the solar system, called the Kuiper and Oort Belts, consisting of small planets and comets, mostly of ice.
[30] There is one more consideration concerning the comets in the solar system. Our Sun is part of a cluster of stars, now dispersed, that formed more or less at the same time out of the same large galactic dust cloud. Any passage of such related stars in the vicinity of our nascent solar system before they dispersed would have resulted in correspondingly significant gravitational impact – and, possibly, the generation of comets from within the nascent system.
[31] The angular-momentum considerations should include the volatile material that was lost from the Moon upon its formation, as indicated above. There may have been volatile material lost from Earth, too. No calculations of this effect could be found in the literature, and no indication whether this would influence the theories.
[32] A good textbook on this subject is “Origin and Evolution of Earth” by Kent Condie and Robert Sloan, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-491820-7.
[33] See Ward and Brownlee, “Rare Earth”, 2000/4, Copernicus, ISBN 0-387-95289-6.
[34] Venus is quite similar to Earth in size and, while closer to the Sun, could still have been a candidate for the development of life, especially while the Sun had lower luminosity in the past. Venus, however, has an atmosphere that now consists mainly of carbon dioxide and a surface temperature of 450 degrees Celsius. It rotates very slowly, requiring 243 Earth days for one Venus day and does so counter-clockwise to Earth. Could one think of an early impact on Venus that vaporized all the water (that once existed there in large quantities, as indicated by the high deuterium-hydrogen ratio in its atmosphere) and almost stopped the rotation? There was an immense outpouring of volcanic basalts on Venus some 500 to 300 million years ago! Could the conditions on Venus be reversed if a large comet composed of ice (as the Halley comet) were to hit it at just the right angle – or would be directed to hit it by future technology? But what could a large impact of one or the other kind do to Earth?
[35] On a more positive note, one could speculate that rogue celestial bodies flying around within nascent solar systems are rather common as the result of collisions upon accretion of the planets. The favorable target area upon hitting another planet in the system like Earth is about 10% to 20%. This would indicate a rather good probability for the origin of another Earth with a life-supportive moon somewhere else in the Milky Way or wider universe.
[36] See the research done by McLean, Virginia Polytech, Jason Morgan, Princeton, New Jersey and Courtillot, Paris, and the book “Evolutionary Catastrophes” by Vincent Courtillot, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 89118 3.
[37] The consideration of extremophile microbes – existing in very hot or very cold environments – would largely extend the habitable zones. But extremophile microbes at hot vents deep under oceans, deep under rock, or under ice and snow are not seen as candidates for higher forms of life.
[38] The “Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence” project, supported by NASA, utilizes large antennas or arrays of multiple antennas to discover radio signals from outer space.
[39] See the excellent book, Rare Earth, by Ward and Brownlee, Copernicus Books, 2000, ISBN 0-387-95289-6.
[40] Amino acids were found in the Murchison meteorite that came down in Australia in 1969.
[41] It is assumed that some 10,000 comets hit Earth during the 50 million years between the appearance of liquid water (oceans) on Earth and the appearance of first life (see the fossils in rocks on Greenland and Iceland).
[42] The high deuterium content of comets indicates interstellar origin. Water on Earth indicates origin within the solar system.
[43] The quinine derivative hemoglobin “heme” contains an iron atom, while chlorophyll replaced the iron atom by magnesium, thereby allowing the absorption of the specific light frequencies of the solar spectrum.
[44] Some very primitive (and, possibly, the oldest) bacteria do not use solar energy as their energy supply, but the transformation of FeS + H2S into FeS2 (Pyrite) + H + energy. The energy can be used to break down the ubiquitous carbon dioxide to provide carbon for the building of organic substances.
[45] De Duve, in 1991 and 1998, offers a more comprehensive, and somewhat complicated, theory of the origin of the first pre-biotic steps leading up to RNA replication, the origin of life – later, the DNA world.
[46] Thoughts about different forms of original life will be discussed in a later chapter on extraterrestrial life, for example, Chapter 3.4.1.
[47] By one estimate, 50 million meteorites of about 1 meter diameter or more had reached early Earth within 8 million years. About half a dozen meteors of 1 pound of weight or more still reach Earth from Mars every year.
[48] By one estimate, about 40,000 tons of dust and debris from outer space is still falling on Earth every year, and much more arrived during the early history of Earth. Up to 10% may be proto-organic material (see the ER2 project). Large comets or meteors, with more than 1 km diameter, rarely from outer space beyond the solar system, still hit Earth in the average of one every 300,000 years, but mainly contain rocky or metallic material besides water.
[49] See Richard Lathe, Fast Tidal Cycling and the Origin of Life, University of Edinburgh, 2003.
[50] The first traces of former life were found in the 3.8 billion-year-old Isua rocks of southwestern Greenland.
[51] As a comparison: There are only ten numerals (from 0 to 9) in our number system, but this allows the formation of all the numbers one can think of, in the trillions and beyond, through the “splicing” of these numerals into chains.
[52] Just recently (in 1986 and 2002) two more amino acids, Selenocystein and Pyrrolysin, were found to exist, but only in some exotic bacteria.
[53] Beyond these 20 amino acids contributing to the formation of proteins, 150 others have been found to exist.
[54] A quote from Cell and Molecular Biology, by Gerald Karp, ISBN 0-471-19279-1, Chap. 2.5, concerning the array of functions proteins have in a cell: “As enzymes, proteins vastly accelerate the rate of metabolic reactions; as structural cables, proteins provide structural support …. as hormones, growth factors, and gene activators, proteins perform .. regulatory functions; as membrane receptors and transporters, proteins determine what a cell reacts to and what types of substances enter or leave the cell; as contractile elements, proteins constitute the machinery for biological movements; … in other functions, proteins act as antibodies, serve as toxins, form blood clots, absorb or reflect light, and transport substances”. “The explanation (for their varied functions) resides in the virtually unlimited shapes that proteins, as a group, can assume”.
[55] Sheep and some other animals use certain bacteria in their guts to provide an enzyme that can break down cellulose.
[56] See Joseph Kirschvink, California Institute of Technology, 1992 and 1998, explaining the appearance of eukaryotic cells about 2.1 billion years ago at the end of a severe glaciation period
[57] An excellent overview is provided by the textbook, Cell and Molecular Biology by Gerald Karp, published by John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-19279-1.
[58] A bacterium that would have entered that cell would be about 2 feet long in this comparison, a virus only 0.1 inch.
[59] The linear progress of an individual molecule in Brownian movement is a random event. Consequently, diffusion rates are seen as statistical averages. In other words, some ATP molecules emanating from the mitochondria may arrive at the opposite side of the cell in a small fraction of a second, while others may linger for minutes. The need for ATP at a specific site may be satisfied by the first molecules arriving there – if there were not enough already from prior distribution densities.
[60] A major computational effort was announced on November 16, 2004, by IBM in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and the United Nations to use a vast grid of possibly millions of private computers by way of the Internet (as the SETI project already does) to accelerate proteome research, attempting to identify all proteins and their folding into specific shapes in the human body and their function.
[61] Some additional nucleotides may have been derived from variations in the original DNA between a multitude of such possible formations and subsequent attachment of dissimilar DNA variants to each other. Even later in evolution, primitive bacteria were still able to transfer whole sections of their small genomes into the genome of another cell, thereby generating a new form of life.
[62] Another explanation indicates that the remnants of virus infections could have left a large portion of those extra nucleotides in the human genome.
[63] The term “epigenetics” appeared some hundred years ago. The above indicated research within molecular biology, however, gained focus and momentum after about 2000.
[64] Best known these days is the action of “oxidants”, radical variants of molecules leading to unfavorable cell metabolism, countered by certain anti-oxidant food supplements.
[65] An exotic scientist once calculated that, of a horse that was killed in one of Caesar’s battles, now each European may have over a hundred atoms in his or her own body.
[66] Imagine a wide boulevard in a very populous city. Imagine millions of people walking along this boulevard in a constant stream. In one area of the boulevard, certain obstructions cause the stream of people to form a complex pattern, resulting in smaller whirls on the side and to the confrontation of many people, some then forming temporary groups as they move along, before they leave the perturbation within a short time. The people move on and on. The perturbation stays at the obstruction. Does that perturbation form an “individual” – a living being?
[67] Discovered by the geologist Edson Bastin, University of Chicago, and microbiologist Frank Greer in the 1920s and confirmed only in 1987 through deep boreholes by the U.S. Department of Energy, expanded in South Africa in 1997 to a 3.5 km depth. Those microbes are understood to live on hydrogen and carbon dioxide dissolved in those rocks and are the base of a subsequent microbial food chain.
[68] A very good overview of the evolution of the genome and the diversity of life is presented in Peter Ulmschneider’s book, Intelligent Life in the Universe, published by Springer in 2003/4, ISBN 3-540-43988-9.
[69] Copies of two-dimensional sheets of paper are made by lifting-off of the copy in the third dimension. A copy of a three-dimensional organism would require the extraction in a fourth dimension – hence the ingenuity of doing a copy by having the blueprint for the whole organism in specially produced seed or egg cells and developing copies from there.
[70] The early spinal cord develops in the embryo in a fold of skin. Nerves develop out of the same group of cells in the fetus as the skin.
[71] The consequences for the structure of the human body would have been significant. Smaller dimensions for neurons would have led to smaller heads. This, combined with better neuron conductivity, would have allowed the placement of the brain securely within the chest.
[72] Tethys was a Greek Titan goddess, daughter of Uranos and Gaia, who became the wife of Okeanos.
[73] See “Evolutionary Catastrophes”, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 0-521-89118-3.
[74] It was indicated that Earth is now close to entering a spiral arm, again.
[75] These characteristics led many Europeans in past centuries to settle in America, thereby avoiding wars and political persecutions. It now leads many migrants to the Western nations.
[76] Erect posture and erect walk possibly are of benefit only if the capability to fight with weapons and the need to carry personal possessions exist, and the need to climb trees no longer exists.
[77] The brain of some whales and elephants is larger than the human brain but is used either for complex sonar signal processing only; or it may be large, but much less complex in structure and interconnectivity.
[78] The specialized development or deterioration of the dinosaurs’ arms may have been useful in their specific niche of existence, but it led them into a dead end concerning later development of tool usage or fire-making and the consequent development of intelligence.
[79] Temperatures on Earth during the early Tertiary (that was beginning 66.4 million years ago) were somewhat elevated, having led to an expansion of tropical rain forests – but began cooling as of the Eocene (beginning about 50 million years ago), leading to substantial reductions of the tropical rain forests.
[80] Other tree-dwelling animals may also have gone to bipedal posture on the ground. However, that left them in competition with proto-humans. Only one species, the proto-humans, became the dominant one, suppressing all others, as the dinosaurs had suppressed early mammals, which remained small and insignificant.
[81] Somewhat larger brain sizes occurred in at least eight different sprigs on the evolutionary branch of “apes” – namely, those in Eastern and Western Chimpanzees, Bonobos, Eastern and Western Gorillas, and early hominids from the Australopiths to Homo Sapiens and, finally, Modern Humans – beginning some 20 million years ago.
[82] See the embryonic development of the brain.
[83] Several textbooks present this embryonic development of the brain, for example, “Neuroanatomy” by John H. Martin, Elsevier Science Publishing Co., ISBN 0-444-01331-8.
[84] In the human embryo, the early spinal cord develops in a fold of skin. Nerves develop out of the same group of cells in the fetus as the skin.
[85] The consequences for the structure of the human body would have been significant. Smaller dimensions for neurons would have led to smaller heads. This, combined with faster neuron conductivity, would have allowed the placement of the brain securely within the chest.
[86] Could Google be developed into an artificial brain with better selection of foreground associations and , most importantly, by providing it with guided action potential?
[87] This was already recognized by the earliest thinkers and represented in various sagas, for example, the one about Prometheus bringing fire to mankind.
[88] This is possibly given by the Hippocampus nuclei in the brain that provide for short-term (and long-term) memory and may lead, through signal enhancement and by means of cross-connections within the brain (see the white matter under gray cortex or the Claustrum, as suggested by Crick), to temporary signal suppression from other brain areas. See the essays on “mental creativity” on the website schwab-.
[89] Different definitions of “consciousness” or “awareness” or the confusion between these two terms can lead to different conclusions and, sometimes, to great confusion or to rather unique philosophies. See, for example, Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, ISBN 0-395-32932-9. This confusion also rendered rather ineffective the later work by Francis Crick (co-inventor of the DNA helix, later in La Jolla, California), supported by Christof Koch, Caltech, concentrated on the investigation of “consciousness” (see Koch’s Quest for Consciousness, Roberts & Co., 2004, ISBN 0-9747077-0-8).
[90] The experiments by Benjamin Libet were first published in 1985, more extensively in 1999 in the book, The Volatile Brain, PDC, ISBN 0-907845-11-8, and in 2004 in Mind Time, Harvard Univ. Press, ISBN 0-674-01846-x (presently not yet available). Libet himself does not question “free will”.
[91] On October 19, 2004, the German publication Gehirn und Geist published a “manifest” signed by eleven leading scientists in the field of brain research, including Christof Koch (who had worked with Crick in California), Gerhard Roth, and Wolf Singer. They postulate the anchoring of mind and consciousness in the neural system of the body and their evolution commensurate with it.
[92] Does the observation of the universe allow any conclusions regarding the nature of the Creating Spirit, God? Does the fact that causality is at the root of the functioning of the universe indicate that “time” and order are part of the creating spirit? Does the fact that we sense human love and compassion allow the expectation of love and compassion in the creating spirit – in spite of all the horrible cruelty and senselessness in nature and the history of this world?
[93] Why did the evolution of human thought or culture not move sideways from the Assyrians (and Egyptians) to the Jews or Phoenicians, but jumped over to the Greeks? And later, why did it jump from the Arabs (in southern Spain) to Renaissance Italy and not just sideways to Christian Spain?
[94] As an example of the mechanism of evolution of societies, there is an interesting theory indicating that mountain tribes from the nearby Zagros Mountains had observed and learned to use the benefit of running water, conquered the Mesopotamian plains, and introduced irrigation, laying the foundation for the birth of the Sumerian civilization. There is a similar theory explaining evolution of culture in the origin of the alphabet in the Middle East. An earlier civilization with a language of mono-syllable words, as can be found in the Chinese language, had developed pictorial writing in Sumeria, similar to but preceding the Egyptian hieroglyphs. When another tribe with a language of multi-syllable words, as the Japanese and all Europeans, conquered that area, the conquerors had to compose written words out of several of the available pictograms, each corresponding to the main consonant of a syllable. This became the origin of the first alphabet – with the subsequent enormous influence of reporting, control, literature, philosophy, communication, and the media in societies.
[95] Aristotle already began to collect and compare the descriptions of different constitutions and their evolution in the course of time, mainly of the Greek city-states. He took notes on about 158 in all! Most of these notes are lost by now, with only the very interesting notes on the Athenian constitution and its change through time being preserved.
[96] It is discussed here as a mental phenomenon, not in the sense of the earlier discussed biological or more primitive form of physical dominance as in the overshadowing or toxic repulsion among plants and dominance among animals.
[97] Le Bon, 1841-1931, wrote La Psychologie des Foules (“The Psychology of the Masses”).
[98] This is really not different from the “virtual” value Cowry shells historically had for trade in the South Pacific and beyond.
[99] “Utility” is graphically described as the value of the outcome of a strategy relative to the financially probable outcome. This graph falls off sharply for negative outcomes and reaches a positive plateau at the level of the planning individual’s “planning horizon”, corresponding to the capability to utilize incremental benefit.
[100] The Mongols prevailed by means of their swift horses, far-shooting bows, and advanced siege machinery. In World War I, the tank contributed to the Allied victory. In World War II, Germany desperately attempted to use rocket power and jet engines to recover superiority, while the atomic bomb ended the war in the Pacific. Now, it is the electronic capability in guided missiles and communication that prevails.
[101] The areas conquered by Alexander became heavily influenced by Greek culture. The Diadochian successor states acquired the culture of their lands. The Mongol khans converted to Tibetan Buddhism. The modern African nations still show the influence of their different, former European masters.
[102] The first written record of communal welfare is from Urukagina, King of Lagash, in Mesopotamia, also called Uru’inimgina, approximately 2,380 bc, establishing social order against abuse and corruption by the once powerful priests and presenting himself as the protector of the weak, the widows, and orphans.
[103] The earliest records of the Gilgamesh Epos date from shortly after 2,000 BC and refer to a king or Uruk who lived shortly after 3,000 BC.
[104] See the excellent books by Eric Hoffer, for example, his The True Believer.
[105] Some years ago, there appeared an odd scientific theory implying that nerves are the evolution of earlier flagellate cells that were symbiotically incorporated into organisms as mitochondria cells actually were, but with a merging of DNA, as it actually occasionally occurred between cells very early in evolution. This theory would imply that these flagellates took over total control of the organisms for their own benefit – implying that the body and all its functions became low-level servants of the occupying nerves and the brain, but with the brain, for good reason, taking good care of its bodily servants.
[106] This leads to the somewhat philosophical question whether viruses are “alive” since they need other organisms for some of the above functions.
[107] This was pointed out by Eva Schwab.
[108] Squirrels and similar animals also lived in tropical trees and began to forage on the ground as the need and opportunity occurred, acquiring considerable memory and motor skills – but did not develop bipedalism, language, or higher intelligence – social predators (e.g., wolves, lions) did not develop those either – possibly having been suppressed by the evolving hominids – as mammals had been by the dinosaurs – and as competition is always the fiercest among those occupying the same niches.
[109] See “Rare Earth” by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, published by Copernicus Books, 2000 and 2004, ISBN 0-387-95289-6.
[110] The famous “Drake” formula presents the combination of all factors related to the existence of extraterrestrial life capable of communicating with us in our own galaxy in the form of a mathematical formula. Some factors in the formula, like the number of possible suitable planets in the universe, assume very large values. Others, like the probability for intelligent life or the duration of extraterrestrial civilizations before they disappear again may assume very small values (in the minds of various researchers), leaving the result of the formula quite undetermined at this time.
[111] Published by Springer, 2003/4, ISBN 3-540-43988-9.
[112] This was proposed most recently, in 2003/4, by Andrei Linde and Renata Kallosh of Stanford University, predicting such in “crunch” in 10 to 20 billion years.
[113] See “Chaos Theory”.
[114] Alfred Russel Wallace, 1823 to 1913, is often overlooked as the co-discoverer, if not original discoverer, of the modern theory of natural evolution. Wallace, as well as Darwin, arrived at their theory (jointly published in 1858) after reading the “Essay on Population” by Thomas R. Malthus, 1766 to 1834.
[115] Unless new assessments of the weight of Brown Dwarfs and smaller stars change lower this percentage.
[116] A post-script:
Can the above direction for our human life be better defined and goals for the development of this world indicated? How should a future world be like? It may be futile to attempt to define what a future world should be like – seen from our present status and cultural limitations in still widespread inadequacy, suffering and constraints. Evolution in the world does not move toward a defined goal, but moves as possible by initial conditions and opportunities and as driven by all participant elements – to always new and surprising dimensions.
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