We humans have proven to be a lot tougher than our own expectations. We adapt to changing environments in a surprising way – we first learn how to alter our behavior to fit the environment. Then we selectively choose new mutations that mimic the results of this learned behavior. DNA studies have traced our genetic history back 30 million years, meaning we, in one form or another, have survived for a very long time. Some of the most respected anthropologists are beginning to refer to all hominid species, from Homo erectus to the Neanderthals as archaic humans and our current form as anatomically modern humans. Because, they are beginning to suspect, we are all the same species. Because we are polymorphic.
In our case, our learned behaviors let us adapt to our environment. From Erectus to modern human, how we look changes to suit our changing habitat,. Our genes, our DNA, morph and mutate, offering multiple choices in blood types, skin shades, brow ridges, eye color – countless new alternatives. The extinct forms were abandoned for the modern form because it was better suited to the modern environment.
The last time the universe threw an extinction event our way, we responded by developing a more organized brain. 780,000 years ago, a 3 to 7 miles-wide asteroid slammed into the earth’s atmosphere. The sudden abnormal rise in temperatures from the firestorm it generated was followed swiftly by another ice age. It also triggered the largest increase in brain size in the history of our species and initiated the accelerated evolution of the our cerebral cortex, a complete neurological reorganization of the brain.
This is the problem. We have not had time to alter our behavior to fit this new cerebral environment. Each of the previous three brains has had hundreds of million of years to integrate with the others. We have had about half a million years to make connections with the older brains we inherited.
Who knows? Maybe our extinction event has already occurred.
Radish the wordsmith over 5 years ago
It was a good ride while it lasted.
Condoreggs Premium Member over 5 years ago
AGW deniers are idiots, period!
Radish the wordsmith over 5 years ago
Greed and ignorance drive them.
Radish the wordsmith over 5 years ago
People don’t want to give up their creature comforts.
Condoreggs Premium Member over 5 years ago
Paul Krugman’s column nails it! https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/opinion/trump-climate-change-deniers-republican.html
Briwnys over 5 years ago
We humans have proven to be a lot tougher than our own expectations. We adapt to changing environments in a surprising way – we first learn how to alter our behavior to fit the environment. Then we selectively choose new mutations that mimic the results of this learned behavior. DNA studies have traced our genetic history back 30 million years, meaning we, in one form or another, have survived for a very long time. Some of the most respected anthropologists are beginning to refer to all hominid species, from Homo erectus to the Neanderthals as archaic humans and our current form as anatomically modern humans. Because, they are beginning to suspect, we are all the same species. Because we are polymorphic.
In our case, our learned behaviors let us adapt to our environment. From Erectus to modern human, how we look changes to suit our changing habitat,. Our genes, our DNA, morph and mutate, offering multiple choices in blood types, skin shades, brow ridges, eye color – countless new alternatives. The extinct forms were abandoned for the modern form because it was better suited to the modern environment.
The last time the universe threw an extinction event our way, we responded by developing a more organized brain. 780,000 years ago, a 3 to 7 miles-wide asteroid slammed into the earth’s atmosphere. The sudden abnormal rise in temperatures from the firestorm it generated was followed swiftly by another ice age. It also triggered the largest increase in brain size in the history of our species and initiated the accelerated evolution of the our cerebral cortex, a complete neurological reorganization of the brain.
This is the problem. We have not had time to alter our behavior to fit this new cerebral environment. Each of the previous three brains has had hundreds of million of years to integrate with the others. We have had about half a million years to make connections with the older brains we inherited.
Who knows? Maybe our extinction event has already occurred.
Condoreggs Premium Member over 5 years ago
An excellent resource for those unconcerned about AGW :The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert.