DOES HUMAN EVOLUTION CONTINUE?

 

We are all black and Africans. 

People seek their genealogy back to notable progenitors, to gain bragging rights or membership in an organization or clan. 

However, tracing our genealogy back to its origins, we find our roots in the continent of Africa.   

Evolutionary difference required isolation, and that is most visible in Australia.   

People, as well as other animal species, were totally dependent on their environment, and variations occurred as a result of their ability to adapt to varying conditions in different parts of the world.

In the past, evolutionary changes occurred over long time periods, almost imperceptible, because environmental changes took eons.

With the ease of world travel, we are moving toward homogenizing culture, but we could also be moving toward a homogeneous race, sometimes in the distant future.

Today, cultural accommodation appears to have a greater impact on biological adaptation than the environment.

Social evolution has become more visible than physical evolution.   People are becoming increasingly distant from each other due to the prevalence of technology.  

Now people are performative. Their interactions consist of comments on their social media page.

  

What will human adaptation look like in the next century?

With humans no longer tied to an agrarian, hunter-gatherer dependency, you might think the physical evolution of humans was a fait accompli – finished. But we are moving into a brave new world of AI and Crispen.  

 What humanoid existence lies in our future?

the Ol’Buzzard

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES PUBLISHED 165 YEARE AGO

 

 

To deny objective truths is to be scientifically illiterate, not to be ideologically principled.

(Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Starry Messenger perspectives on Civilization.)  

 

 

On this day, November 24^th, in 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, which ignited the sometimes violent controversy over the origin of man.

Today, the evolutionary tree of life has been so well documented that scientists consider it an ‘objective truth.’

 

Yet, one hundred and sixty-five years later there are still people, tying their personal beliefs to a two thousand years old book that was the impetus of the Dark Ages, a time of scientific ignorance and religious persecution - and with their banners flying high demand that Creationism be taught to children in school, in place the scientific objective truth of Darwinian Evolution.

Ignorance abides

the Ol’Buzzard

THE FALLACY OF DARWINISM

 

 

Christianity has historically opposed science and never more so than the works of Charles Darwin.

 

Darwin’s master work On the Origin of Species is unrefutable.  The fossil record supported by DNA is obvious to all but the most ignorantly entrenched.

However, Darwin’s The Decent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex is proving to no longer apply to the evolution of species. 

 

Natural selection infers the survival of the fittest, and one could argue that includes the most adaptable to change.

 

Mankind has superseded evolution.   Nature once controlled animal populations, and that includes mankind.   When populations became too large, they were controlled by predation, starvation, and in extreme cases pandemics.   Disease would rip through populations and cull the old, the sick and the stupid, improving the gene pool of the population.

 

Now mankind has taken control of thinning the herd.   We have medicines to counter blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and diseases; and surgeries to correct failing body functions, thereby extend age and life.  These same medical procedures can cure or sustain the sickly, the deformed and the retarded.  Mankind now has the ability to feed the world with genetically produced food, but hasn’t found the profit motive to do so.   As far as the stupid, society protects and supports them, often against their own will.   At present we have people refusing lifesaving vaccinations to protect against a deadly pandemic, and the government will probably have to require a vaccination mandate to finally protect the stupid. 

 

And it is not only the human race that mankind has taken control of.   As an alpha species we have brought most other animal species to the brink of extinction, and have taken management of those animals we wish to preserve.   Throughout the United States we have hunting seasons to control animal population.  We feed deer and other species during extreme weather conditions.   In Alaska they kill the wolves to protect the moose so people can kill the moose.   

 

The only question is: Will Nature eventually win out? 

 

HUMANS ARE FREE FROM THE EVOLUTIONARY CULLING PROCESS

Animals that survived through the evolutionary process were not necessarily the largest, the strongest or the smartest; but those most adaptable to change.   Survival was a competition, and the physically weak, the mentally weak and the stupid were culled from the heard early.  Food, shelter and sex were the priorities for survival, and the ability to adapt was the prerequisite for passing on genetic traits. 

 

Today humans have freed themselves from evolutionary constraints, which accounts for today’s burgeoning population growth.  The physically weak, the mentally deficient and outright stupid people are able to survive in today’s technologically society.

Homo Sapiens had existed for 300,000 years, since they first appeared in Africa; but it was not until 1800 that the population finally topped one-billion.   It took 125 years (from 1800 until 1925) for population to expand to two-billion; thirty-five years later (1960) human population hit three-billion; fourteen years later (1974) four-billion, thirteen years later (1987) five-billion; twelve years later (1999) six billion; twelve years later (2011) seven billion.

 

Today, November 17, 2019 at 10 p.m., the world population stands at 7,744,609,768 (Seven billion, seven hundred forty-four million, six hundred nine thousand, seven hundred sixty-eight) and increasing at the net rate of 204,000 per day. 

So, what does this mean?    I don’t fucking know.

Two interesting web links:

THE DARWIN AWARDS

WORLD POPULATION CLOCK

The Ol’BUzzard

 

I'LL SHOW YOU MINE IF YOU SHOW ME YOURS

THE ARROGANCE OF MANKIND

We are an intelligent species only because we define ourselves as such.  

We invent religions to insure ourselves that we are eternal; that we are made in a GOD’s image, and when we shuffle off this mortal coil we will become immortal demigods in a blissful paradise – that we can defeat death.

Here we sit on the third planet of a minor star in a galaxy of billions of stars in a universe of billions of galaxies declaring ourselves the center of all that exist – the reason for the existence of the universe itself; when in actuality we are no more important to the cosmos than a clam on the beach.   

Man - the accident of evolution -the last human ape

the Ol'Buzzard

HOMO SAPIENS WHO?

Susan blog Phantsythat contains some of the most wonderful water color fantasy painting I have ever seen.  She usually accompanies her paintings with a short story, though the paintings often tell a story in themselves.   If I were talented enough to write a children’s book there is no doubt who I would wish to illustrate it.  

Please check out her blog: Phantsythat

A couple of days ago Susan posted about homo sapiens ability to adjust to change.  If Darwinian Evolution posed anything: it’s not the strongest or the largest that survives, but those most adaptable to change. 

Homo sapiens have proven their ability to adapt to change; but in doing so they have brought the rest of the animal world to the edge of extinction and the earth itself on the brink of catastrophic climate change.   It now holds the power to annihilate its entire species with a push of a button.  

If we think about it, Donald Trump personifies the human race.  We are egocentric; egotistic; we make up stories and believe in them; we are impressed with our own imagined intelligence; we are gluttonous consumers; we are tribal; and we are dangerous to ourselves and others.

·       I did a timeline of the earth with six grade students that extended one hundred yards, representing the 4.7 billion years of earth:

·       One inch equaled 1,250,000 years.

·       The last six inches represented the seven-million-year existence of hominids on earth.

·       One sixth (1/6) of one inch represented the existence of homo sapiens.

We are but a brief anomaly on the face of this planet – the product of chaotic evolution - and the planet will be better off when we are no longer here.

the Ol’Buzzard

ASK A JEW ABOUT THE OLE TESTAMENT

YOU MIGHT ASK A JEW ABOUT  CHRISTIAN  FUNDAMENTALIST BELIEF IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.   HE CAN GIVE YOU AN ANSWER; BUT REMEMBER - IN THE END,  HIS ANSWER WILL STILL BE STEEPED IN RELIGIOUS BULLSHIT. 

I just posted about a letter-to-the-editor I wrote on religion.    It brought this clip to mind.  







The Bible was written as a fable to control people; a story with a moral, for a people who lived in the desert and for whom a wheelbarrow was cutting edge technology.   That there are people today that take it literally is fucking nuts.   Like Black, I can't be gracious. 

Science facts and religion are not compatable.  Either you live in a world of makebelileve, or you live in the real world.
the Ol'Buzzard

A NEW SPECIES IN HUMAN EVOLUTION

A new species, Homo Naledi, found in a cave in South Africa may be the transition from Australopithecus (upright walking ape) to the genus Homo (man.) 

Even more interesting is the manner in which the sight was explored.  

Two cavers found bones in an unexplored, almost inaccessible chamber of a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa.   
 

After traversing from a major chamber to a second chamber through a crawl space so small that it could only be entered with one arm in front of you and one at your side (called the Superman Crawl) the cavers entered what was believed to be the final chamber. 

One of the cavers happened to find a hidden chimney near the ceiling of the cave, barely large enough for his body to fit into.   The chimney dropped forty feet to a small chamber full of what appeared to be human bones.

The access to the chamber was so small that the paleoanthropologist and his usual team could not enter the sight. 

In order for the paleoanthropologist to document the find he advertised on Facebook for extremely small scientist, unafraid to work in tight spaces.   Of the people that responded he picked six small women, most doctoral candidates.

The bravery of these women and their determination to access and catalog the sight is worth the time to watch.    

This Nova production runs just under two hours, but is fascinating.      The video begins with a first dig near Johannesburg that introduces an earlier find, but after about one hour it focuses on the Naledi cave find.

Human evolution has always fascinated me, so I am including the Youtube video above, and also the link below. 

Dawn of Humanity - Nova 

the Ol’Buzzard

THIS AIN’T ANCESTRY.COM

We are an advanced breed of monkey

on a minor planet

of a very average star.

Stephen Hawking

About 6 to 7 million years ago humans and chimpanzees diverged from an earlier primate ancestor, though we still share about 97% of our DNA with our chimp cousins.

Somewhere around 4 million years ago our pre-human ancestors became bipedal, and about 3.5 million years ago Australopithecus Afarensis became distinctly human. 

There were many evolutionary adaptions that developed and died out, but about 1.8 million years ago Homo erectus became identifiable with present day humans.

It was Homo erectus that left the cradle of Africa and spread through Asia and southern Europe. 

Evolutionary adaptations produced Homo Heidelbergensis and then Neanderthal and finally modern humans.   It is estimated that about 2.5% of the DNA of humans outside of Africa is Neanderthal. 

Human evolution is not only obvious from physical appearance and mobility, but also in brain development.

Over the course of human evolution three distinct brains emerged.   The oldest and most primitive is the brain stem and cerebellum (which turns out to be the main structure of the reptilian brain) which controls autonomic body functions.  The next layer of our brain to develop was the hippocampus and hypothalamus which records memories and experiences.  The final layer is the cerebrum that allows language and abstract thought. 

The brain is not static, but constantly rewires itself to adjust to new experiences and demands.  The human brain is even known to repair itself (rewire itself) to bypass effected neurons in stroke victims.

  

Time on an evolutionary scale is vast, and if we survive there is no reason to believe that ‘we’ are the final product of human evolution.  

The future of humans no longer depend on survival skills, size or wit.   We live in a society that services our needs.  We are less active and less imaginative.  We depend more and more on technology.

So what evolutionary changes in the human animal might we expect as people move from a world of personal interaction, required physical activity and survival demands to a virtual reality world of 24/7 TV, computers and cell phones?

Just wondering

the Ol’Buzzard

EASTER: THE SEED OF CHRISTIANITY - OR HAVE ANOTHER CHOCOLATE RABBIT

Weeks of Christian religious mania has finally culminated with the eating of chocolate bunnies and dyed hard boiled eggs; all because a man died horribly on the cross and then was proclaimed as a god.

 

Getting past the celebration of human sacrifice commemorated by cannibalism (transubstantiation,) or at least token mock cannibalism (communion) if you are protestant, you wonder why sane and rational people would buy into the myth.  

 But sane and rational is on a sliding scale, sliding all the way down to Pentecostals.

You just can’t reason with ignorance.  

the Ol'Buzzard

DNA – YOUR ROOTS – DARWANIAN EVOLUTION

One of the newest and popular programs on PBS follows the genealogy of celebrities – recently Stephen King.

Not long ago my cousin applied to a commercial DNA service to determine her family roots – her countries of origin.    To me (especially since I have no idea of my paternal line,) the idea of following my ‘roots’ means virtually nothing. 

I have always considered the whole process of genealogy research an exercise in vanity.  Our blood lines, are in fact, counted exponentially – doubling with each prior generation; so the idea of following only one line back to a patriarch/matriarch is like picking one number at bingo.  

It is nice to know that my great-great grandfather from Kentucky served in the Union Army and died at Shiloh.  But the fact is, there were eight great-great grandfathers four generations back and I have no idea who, or what the other seven were doing. 

Going back ten generations would produce 1,024 grandparents equally sharing my DNA – 512 tenth generation grandfathers and 512 grandmothers.  

Twenty generations back my and your predecessors numbered 1,046,016 (one million, forty-six thousand and sixteen.)   We share equal DNA from our blood line in that generation – no one outranks another.  It makes you wonder what the world population was twenty generations ago, and to what percentage of that world we would show a direct linage?

And then there is the DNA test.    I had a blood transfusion after a car accident.   I wonder how that effects my DNA – another whole set of unknown line?

At what point are we all kin?

the Ol’Buzzard