complexity intro
change & stability
prog. complexity
more complexity
homo nobilis
references
discovery story
implications
invitation
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The Advent of Homo nobilis, stellaris |
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Right here, and right now, humanity is in the midst of another major evolutionary quantum leap. We are in the midst of the transition from Homo sapiens, sapiens to Homo nobilis, stellaris - and to a far higher level of awareness and consciousness. |
And while what lies before us is as as unimaginable to us now - as our time is to the first shapers of the first chips of stone - the nature and direction of this evolutionary quantum leap is already clearly apparent.
In order to understand what is happening right now, and what lies ahead of us, we need to understand the laws and forces which generate, drive and govern the process of evolution. Here is a brief consideration of these laws and forces.
Progressive Complexity
The first law and driving force all evolution is the law of Progressive Complexity. This law arises simply, beautifully and elegantly out of the nature of energy - as described by the first law of thermodynamics - and is deeply embedded in the core-root of our universe (see
PROGRESSIVE COMPLEXITY in these pages).
This law drives and governs all physical, chemical, biological, instinctual, psychological, social, technological, cultural and cognitive evolution everywhere in this universe. The law of Progressive Complexity has driven the evolution of this universe from its origin in simple energy to the astronomical complexity of its present state.
It has also generated the emergence of Life - at a sufficiently high level of physical and chemical complexity - and driven its evolution from the first ephemeral bit of self-replicating RNA in the rich chemical soup of the seas, (in our case, and here on this Earth) to the teeming cornucopia of every more complex organisms - and the immense biological and cognitive complexity of of our kind and selves.
Since the law of Progressive Complexity is a fundamental law of this universe, this universe will keep on evolving as long as it exists - and so will all it contains, including our kind and selves.
And instead of coming to a grinding halt, as some believe, evolution has been accelerating. Here is a condensed diagram of the fossil record of the evolution of Life to progressively higher levels of Complexity on this Earth.
condensed diagram of the evolution of life to progressively higher levels of Complexity
Indeed, one could say that the evolution of Life has shifted into high gear within the last 1/2 billion years - or 7/8 of its 4 billion-year span. Fossil evidence of primitive life forms now dates back to about 3.7 billion years, and primitive as the first fossils of Life may be, they have obviously evolved from more primitive precursors.
Some will say that no new taxa have arisen since the emergence and proliferation of marine organisms and mammals. This is true, but this is a different story altogether. The emergence of new taxa and species is driven by, and to some extent dependent upon, available useable energy, and based upon and governed (beautifully and profoundly) by the law of Change and Stability, with long periods of stability punctuated by the sudden change and advent of new and more complex species.
The two massive "explosions" and proliferations of new life forms have arisen upon the advent of two new and relatively stable "platforms" of available energy for Life. The first of these new "platforms" presented itself when sufficient ozone shielding against hard UV radiation from the sun allowed Life to move into the higher ambient energy environment of the surface and near surface waters of the seas.
The second platform presented itself when further ozone shielding against UV radiation allowed Life to move onto the again higher ambient energy environment of the land.
Both of these newly accessible "platforms" of available energy presented vast unoccupied territories, and the opportunity for exploitation by the evolution of suitable organisms in the two well known "explosions" of Life. No such new "platforms" have arisen since then, but I would bet that similar "explosions" of Life will occur whenever new and unoccupied stable "platforms" for Life arise.
Cognitive Evolution
The second driving force is cognitive evolution. Every organism, and no matter how primitive, needs an 'awareness', no matter how rudimentary, of its environment in order to survive. An amoeba which moves towards warmth, for example, has a greater chance of survival than one which doesn't. And a seedling, which bends towards the light has a much greater chance of survival than one which doesn't.
Here too, the law of Progressive Complexity makes it inevitable that primitive neural networks will evolve into progressively more complex brains - and that rudimentary awareness evolves into highly cognitive consciousness. Indeed, sexual selection, a powerful compounding factor, has long selected for high intelligence. Far more than just an indicator of health and fitness, the peacock's tail is first and foremost an indicator of superior wits. To be able to survive in the presence of predators despite extreme conspicuousness, and with an extravagant encumbrance like a peacock's tail
- plus the high exposure in the demands of display - requires no end of wits. And the larger and the more conspicuous the encumbrance, the greater the wits of the owner. Among the bower birds, survival despite the usual high conspicuousness, and long exposure - in the same place - of the males, it is also the fanciest and most elaborate courting bower which is the infallible indicator of superior wits, and proves most attractive to their females.
Consequently, and hand in hand with the evolution of progressively higher levels of biological complexity, rudimentary awareness has evolved to progressively higher and more complex levels of awareness, then instinct, then intelligence, then sentience and eventually but inevitably, highly cognitive consciousness. And this evolution of awareness and sentience to ever higher levels of complexity - within the governing co-context of the law of Change & Stability - has also carried on unabated; to whit, the quantum leap in cognitive evolution of "man the tool maker", which would forever distinguish the human line from its animal antecedents, and again more recently, the advent of Homo sapiens sapiens about 40.000 years ago.
Most remarkably, and without any 'cause' as such, Cro-Magnon man marks the emergence of the modern human brain, a brain far over and above the demands of the environment of Cro-Magnon man, a brain fully capable of engaging in the deep intricacies of quantum theory and understanding the nature of our universe. It also marks the emergence of fully cognitive evolution. To put the current evolutionary cognitive quantum leap of our kind in its evolutionary perspective, we begin with the milestones of the evolution of cognitive consciousness since the shaping of the first flint - which is
next.
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