Homo Futuris Options

[shivani]

I was watching a program , which suggests that Apes evolved into Homo Sapiens, not only because of adaption, but also that the process was driven by some genes inside us. We remembered what we have to become, and that memory helped us become human.

But the process is not yet over. We are still evolving.
Most of the information available is in french though .

Any other info on same??

MJ ???

[shivani]

Following text is a collection of edited quoted material from my evolution resources. I've tried to simplify the text and remove technical jaron to the extent possible.

Bibhas
Thanks a lot.
I understand this is a text compiled by you from different sources? Can you please post the links to those if they are available online. ( I can search, but there is so much out there and makes it difficult to select the material).

I'd like to see their scientific rationale behind that conclusion! Genetic "memory" is nothing but DNA, which is present in every single cell of your body, all over the body

That was my understanding as well.. so the doubt. I am sorry, would not be available to provide more information on it as yet. As I said all the sites are french.

Why does the brain have no sensation like other parts of the body?

Au Contraire, Brain has all the sensation and there would be no sense of sensation without the brain! When Bhabhiji holds your hand on valentine's day, how do you know that ? The sensory nerve terminals on your palm are sending electrical impulses to your brain which interprets them, decodes them and then tells you via return impulses through the motor nerve that controls your hand muscles to return the gesture by pressing on her hand gently. If your brain did not exist, then there would be nothing but a few microamperes running through your body!

mmm.. Brain does control all the nervous system, but what I remember is Brain tissue itself does not feel pain as such. Is it true or am I illusioned by Dr. Lector


MJ & Bibhas

Both of you agree that homo sapiens are still evolving. What makes you say so? and in which manner /direction ?

[bibhas]

Bibhas
Thanks a lot.
I understand this is a text compiled by you from different sources? Can you please post the links to those if they are available online. ( I can search, but there is so much out there and makes it difficult to select the material).

Shivani, you're very welcome. Couple of years ago, I was at the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience and participated in a panel discussion on the evolution of the brain. There were some folks from a Natural History museum somewhere here in the U.S. and they distributed some easy to read material (about the same level as Hawking's Brief History of Time would be to a non-physicist). A while ago, a friend of mine wanted some ape-to-human evolution material and I put together some stuff based on my general understanding of the process but I had used a lot of the text from these museum guys. While responding to MJ's post, I took the easy route and pasted the email I had sent to my friend. Give me some time to lookup their whereabouts and maybe they have a website with the information. Meanwhile, do me a favor and tell me if you thought my post was comprehensible. If it was, then it'll be worth your while reading the material I refer to, otherwise it'll be too technical and I'd much rather try and find a different source for you in that case.

mmm.. Brain does control all the nervous system, but what I remember is Brain tissue itself does not feel pain as such. Is it true or am I illusioned by Dr. Lector

True Shivani, brain doesn't feel most of the senses directly like the skin does. But that doesn't mean it doesn't feel pain, after all people do get headaches, right? It is the brain that's feeling that pain!

MJ & Bibhas

Both of you agree that homo sapiens are still evolving. What makes you say so? and in which manner /direction ?

I'll take a route different from MJ's because that in itself is an entire topic that merits a separate discussion. The reason I say we are still evolving is because we are constantly undergoing genetic changes through generations. True we haven't seen any significant changes in our physical traits in the last 25000 years but the fact is 25000 is a very small number in evolutionary timescales (refer to the post directly above this). When there is no major selection pressure resulting from major environmental change, then a species is said to have successfully adapted to the environment and lives successfully until the next period of change. Think of Dinosaurs, they had adapted successfully and ruled the planet until the environment changed drastically. Same is true of Proconsul, the ancestor of humans and apes. It thrived well for several million years before things got uncomfortable. So things will change for us too, it's not even been a million years since we became our current selves. However, the biggest evolutionary change has been in the brain and we have become very adept at using it to control our environment and food supply. Nobody has to fend for himself or herself all alone, we live in societies that take care of each other, so we don't find the need to grow a long neck or nimble feet to reach food on the highest branch of the tallest tree.
This is not within the scope of evolution but would you agree that we have grown intellectually over the past few hundred years alone? If that trend continues consistently for a lot longer, it will qualify to contest for a berth in the book of evolution.

Shivani, I also urge to see my posts-one and two-on evolution in your Determinism thread where I have explained why I think we are still evolving.

As for the knowledge that our ancestors mentioned in the epics possessed, if we assume it to be factual, the reasons for its loss are probably more social and less biological.