An article in the New Scientist claims microbial species exchange genes horizontally, from one organism to another, and this not the vertical “survival of the fittest” was the most important factor in the early stages of evolution and formation of the genetic code. The evolution of evolution:
“This is all very different from evolution as described by Darwin. Evolution will always be about change as a result of some organisms being more successful at surviving than others. In the Darwinian model, evolutionary change occurs because individuals with genes associated with successful traits are more likely to pass these on to the next generation. In horizontal gene transfer, by contrast, change is not a function of the individual or of changes from generation to generation, but of all the microbes able to share genetic material. Evolution takes place within a complex, dynamic system of many interacting parts, say Woese and Goldenfeld, and understanding it demands a detailed exploration of the self-organising potential of such a system. On the basis of their studies, they argue that horizontal gene transfer had to be a dominant factor in the original form of evolution.”
The best kisser wins… (via kottke.org)
On the subject of reinventing the wheel. The Differential Gear in automobiles solves the fundamental problem of two adjacent wheels traveling at a different speed. Alas there is no device that would allow two parallel individuals or two parallel nations move smoothly together. Inevitably there is a mechanical, or worse, the emotional friction. Take a look at the 1930s video explaining the principles of the gear. ►►►read more
Masha Gessen wrote a book about Grisha Perelman - Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century. I feel certain affinity with the the author and the subject. And I am saddened to read that after Grisha Perelman solved the Poincare conjecture and then rejected the million dollar prize, he became a perfect recluse. Too bad for him, Bobby Fisher, JD Salinger, etc. they all would have been worshiped as holy men just a century ago. But indeed Grisha’s discovery is a breakthrough of an unimaginable genius.
In the article about the Stray Dogs of Moscow there are two interesting observations: the stray dogs develop a similar look and they are in the behavioral process or returning to their wild ancestors, the wolves. There is an equally enlightening article in the Times – The truth dogs reveal about evolution by Richard Dawkins who points to the fact that every single dog on earth evolved from a domesticated wolf. It’s fascinating that in a relatively short period of time the dogs have been bred to be distinctly different not only from their ancestors but also to have little resemblance between the breeds, as if there are different species. To illustrate his point Richard Dawkins describes the foxes breeding experiment by Dimitri Belyaev. Amazing how a similar genetic structure can produce so many variations rapidly.
Russ Roberts’ regular podcast is divided into six minutes increments this week. In the first segment Mike Munger speaks about the scarcity of drinking water, hence the title of the post. Mike’s counter-intuitive conclusion is that to solve the problem there needs to be a change in the treatment of waste and the problem is in the pollution and misuse of the drinking water not the scarcity itself. Econtalk.
National Post – How Wikipedia’s green doctor rewrote 5,428 climate articles:
“William Connolley took control of all things climate in the most used information source the world has ever known – Wikipedia. Starting in February 2003, just when opposition to the claims of the band members were beginning to gel, Connolley set to work on the Wikipedia site. He rewrote Wikipedia’s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling. On Feb. 14, he began to erase the Little Ice Age; on Aug.11, the Medieval Warm Period. In October, he turned his attention to the hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the band. Richard Lindzen and Fred Singer, two of the world’s most distinguished climate scientists, were among his early targets, followed by others that the band especially hated, such as Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, authorities on the Medieval Warm Period.
All told, Connolley created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles. His control over Wikipedia was greater still, however, through the role he obtained at Wikipedia as a website administrator, which allowed him to act with virtual impunity. When Connolley didn’t like the subject of a certain article, he removed it — more than 500 articles of various descriptions disappeared at his hand. When he disapproved of the arguments that others were making, he often had them barred — over 2,000 Wikipedia contributors who ran afoul of him found themselves blocked from making further contributions. Acolytes whose writing conformed to Connolley’s global warming views, in contrast, were rewarded with Wikipedia’s blessings. In these ways, Connolley turned Wikipedia into the missionary wing of the global warming movement.
The Medieval Warm Period disappeared, as did criticism of the global warming orthodoxy. With the release of the Climategate Emails, the disappearing trick has been exposed. The glorious Medieval Warm Period will remain in the history books, perhaps with an asterisk to describe how a band of zealots once tried to make it disappear.”
William Connolley
The reason the Mother Earth movement is a religion is not because people who practice it treat it as a religion but because the high priests of the creed use the familiar religious instruments – silencing of dissent, fabrication of myth, erasure of historical evidence, intimidation of the intellectual opposition. Given the power it will surely morph into a full-blown inquisition.
And do you have any idea what effort is required in authoring and even editing of the 5,428 articles? Each article is at least a 500 -1,000 words plus the research and the references. All for free? Wow, this is only possible with utter and complete religious devotion and dedication.
In general any Wikipedia entry about a religion, and the environmental movement is certainly included, should be distrusted outright. Religion and reason don’t mix and you can’t have an encyclopedia based on anything else other than reason. I regularly get emails about some Wikipedia article subverted by the digital commissars. It goes with the territory.
Prof. Robert Sapolsky grew up orthodox in Brooklyn; he rebelled against the religion when he was 14-15 and went on to become a Professor of Biology, Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Stanford University. He received the MacArthur Fellowship genius grant in 1987. This is the long lecture on religion by Robert Sapolsky delivered at Stanford. Especially interesting is the definition of the Schizotypal personality, the latent variant Schizophrenia and the analogy with Tay-Sachs. The fascinating definition of the Metamagical Thinking. ►►►read more
F. Ernest Jackson, Study of a sleeping cat
Toxoplasmosis or Toxo is a parasite often carried by cats. It’s estimated that 1/3 of humans might be infected. The Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky suggesting in an interview with the Edge that Toxo could drastically alter the human neurology, perhaps even play a part in schizophrenia. Fascinating, especially for people who hang around cats.
P.S. This pretty much solves the riddle of women with cats. Are they crazy so they live with three cats or are they crazy because they live with three cats. Might explains the global mishugas emanating from Jerusalem, the city infested with cats.
By seriously, did you notice the nonchalant comment about the “free will” at the opening of the interview? Remember those si-fi films where an alien parasite takes over and controls a human body? This is what Robert Sapolsky is actually saying, shocking.
Image licensed courtesy of Picture Library of the Royal Academy of Arts
Dienekes – German and French newborns cry differently:
“Human fetuses are able to memorize auditory stimuli from the external world by the last trimester of pregnancy, with a particular sensitivity to melody contour in both music and language. Newborns prefer their mother’s voice over other voices and perceive the emotional content of messages conveyed via intonation contours in maternal speech (“motherese”). Their perceptual preference for the surrounding language and their ability to distinguish between prosodically different languages and pitch changes are based on prosodic information, primarily melody. Adult-like processing of pitch intervals allows newborns to appreciate musical melodies and emotional and linguistic prosody. Although prenatal exposure to native-language prosody influences newborns’ perception, the surrounding language affects sound production apparently much later. Here, we analyzed the crying patterns of 30 French and 30 German newborns with respect to their melody and intensity contours. The French group preferentially produced cries with a rising melody contour, whereas the German group preferentially produced falling contours. The data show an influence of the surrounding speech prosody on newborns’ cry melody, possibly via vocal learning based on biological predispositions.”
Sigmund Freud, Vienna, Austria, 1936
This is an interesting photograph of Dr. Freud. I am reading some of his quotes from Totem and Taboo and Moses and Monotheism. Freud indulges in outlandish mythology and generally there is not enough of that. But this got me thinking, there are various predictions about the future, such as anticipation of global warming. But anyone who claims science about the future is automatically disqualified because we know for certain that we can’t tell or know the future. Yet we do use our experience and knowledge to project and predict. Dr. Freud worked in reverse; he used his experience to project and reinvent the past. And really we know as little about the past as we know about the future. Even less, we don’t need to exert any special effort to hide the future but we do evoke our outmost mental and emotional capacities to deceive ourselves and others about the past, at the very least we do make an effort to forget. In this regard Dr. Freud’s attempts to reinvent the past are far more challenging than our attempts to predict the future.
Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. A Farm Team, ca. 1812
In my post about Darwin and Prince Kropotkin I quoted from David Sloan Wilson. This is a new concept for me so I would like to write it down as concisely as I can.
- The classic Darwinian evolutionary idea of survival of the fittest. Self interest trumps the interest of others. Two men went into a ring, one left standing.
- But it’s rather obvious that belonging to a strong group could increase your survival odds and therefore altruism and unselfish giving, required for a functional group structure, is also an evolutionary trait. It seems that this aspect of the evolutionary selection was only alluded by Charles Darwin but deemed a heresy by American scientists in the sixties (a huge subject for another day).
The relentless eternal tension is that self interest contradicts group interest. In fact you must sacrifice, even your life, for the benefit of a group. More often a group or a society would only recognize 1st principle and postulate that the human animal needs protection from selfish inclinations by fear. In comes a dictator whose interest is in cultivating the 1st principle and downplaying the 2nd principle. This is also the root of the eternal cynicism about the human nature, when people even in democratic societies long for another Stalin. So you might have a society when a group acts not only contrary to the altruistic principles but even more selfish than a free roaming Neanderthal. When a group betrays its original charter the human animal prefers a group free existence. But it also deprives a person from the genetic evolutionary trait of being altruistic, being giving, being connected to others unselfishly.
Image licensed courtesy of Picture Library of the Royal Academy of Arts
Finally it’s been clinically proven that a man with half a brain and no emotional apparatus is the happiest creature on earth. There is a paper about a man named Roger from Iowa who lost most of his “limbic system” due to a rare viral lesion, neuroskeptic describes it.
“Limbic system” is an old, vague, but still popular term for a collection of brain structures located deep in the centre of the brain … It’s often thought of as the “primitive”, “emotional” part of the brain, and there is some truth to this. Roger’s limbic system was profoundly damaged on both sides; on the right side, the lesion included the whole temporal lobe and most of the ventral prefrontal cortex as well.”
Remarkably Roger is functional, although he is unable to remember anything that happed since the loss 28 years ago. From the paper:
“He has virtually no episodic memories for any events that have transpired over the past three decades. For example, he has no recollection of 9/11, and when shown pictures of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center he often responds with bewilderment, speculating that Russia must be attacking America.”
Neuroskeptic writes:
“His IQ is above average; his speech and language abilities are excellent; his vision and hearing are normal, although he has no sense of taste or smell. His short term (working) memory, attention, and reasoning abilities are unimpaired. His motor abilities are fine – he is reportedly an excellent bowler – and he is able to improve motor skills through practice. And his recall of things which happened before the infection is largely preserved, although the few years just before the infection are partially lost.”
But most interestingly Roger is actually always happy:
“Roger appears remarkably unconcerned by his condition. He hardly ever complains and, in general, shows little worry for anything in life. Both of his parents and his sister fervently claim that “Roger is always happy,” an observation that is consistent with our own impression. Moreover, based on his family’s report, Roger is paradoxically happier now than he was before his brain damage. … His premorbid disposition of being somewhat reserved and introverted has shifted to being outgoing and extroverted…
Most conversations with Roger involve animated speech that is replete with prosody, gesture, and, often times, laughing. He readily displays signs of positive emotion including happiness, amusement, interest, and excitement. As previously noted, Roger’s positive mood has remained essentially unchanged over nearly three decades.”
