BIG BRAINS MARCH ON - (Part 3)
This was going to be PART TWO of the BIG BRAIN series, but it got sidesiped by a question from the balcony. I did not get o complete it but will post it now, and ammend it later. (Because now my brain wnats to work on a different series). This is now PART THREE.
Did you know that your left hand can accidentally push the wrong keys and so your entire LJ post page gets deleted?..
Poisonal: I was again ill enough to be fully disabled yesterday. But I was able to do 2 or three naps. (The need for extra sleep time also counts as disability, since you can;t do anything while asleep, except dream and maybe heal a bit). Those naps helped, but I ended staying up late. I discovered a new Reggae show on WORT, by a hot female host, which begins at 10:pm, real human time. I checked it out. This week was international stuff, but nowhere near the dub stylie I was expecting. Maybe next time.
So, I woke up two hours late this morning, but feeling not as ill. I am now doing decaf mocha and listening to Big Foot in the background. I should be able to get something done today. In addition to the extra post I expect to write now. Here is the incomplete PART TWO of the BIG BRAIN series, (written before Part Two). Big Brain, Big Foot, what's the difference?
Looks like we have a series going on here. It's is mainly tangents. Title is just a ribbon on it.
When I say I am, "Pure Irish," I am being paradoxical, if not tongue-in-cheek. Nobody is pure anything. Even the pigmies, the Kho-San, the Australian Aboriginals, the "undiscovered" tribes in the Amazon, the NAZIs, etc., are closely related to everyone else. Someone who really thinks he or she is 100% Irish is only going back a few hundred years, or a few thousand years, or 8,000 years, tops. Most pure Irish are actually: Irish, Iberian, Scandanavian, Anglo, Persian, Jewish, Black, German, Russian, French, Neandertal, Denisovan, Erectus, and so on. It doesn't mean there is not, generally, some degree of difference between Irish people and most other people, in general. Most of those difference arise from culture, politics, religion, historical memory, economic situation, national identity, past wars or oppressions, and so on. Very, very little has to do with any kind of genetic difference. But - a very tiny bit does! Generally.
If you go back far enough, compared to extraterrestrials, an Irishman is almost exactly identical to a squid, genetically. The main difference being that the Irishman and the squid do not occupy the same point in space and time. And this difference is about the same degree to which human beings differ from each other genetically. We are almost the same person, except that we are in different places, ergo, different bodies. But - it is a difference. Some have black hair, some blonde, some have big noses, some small, some this are this, some are that. And some have very tiny differences in brain structure, chemistry and/or composition. And, sometimes, size. This comes with being different entities. There HAS to be some difference. It's a natural imperative. A physical law. Again, the differences pale in comparison to the similarities. Like whitie in the jungle.
Skin colour takes only a thousand years, or less, to switch from black to white, or the reverse. So, skin colour is a bad measure of difference between human beings - except for the fact that social pressures, or racism, tend to make people of different skin colours more different to each other, socially, economically, etc. Everyone in (sub-Saharan) Africa was black, before the Europeans came, but the genetic diversity in Africa was, and is, greater than on any other continent on Earth. The oldest lineages remaining there now tend to actually be related to our ancestors who travelled OUT of Africa, many tens of thousands of years ago. There are Kenyans with larger brains, are there are people in the Congo and Seychelles Cameroon who appear to have had relatively recent affairs with other primates. Similarly, humans in Europe were trading off each other for Sapiens, for Denisovans, for Neandertals, and for other primate-human species that existed there, which I have yet to get around to writing about(!) And, they probably had sex with Giants, and Big Foot, and Yeti, and who knows what else. Whether any of those relations ever resulted in viable descendants, who knows? Sometimes, it happens. Which brings us to this discussion:
What IS a species? The conventional science has it that a species can produce offspring within itself, but not with other species. That is generally the rule, but not always true. Two species can have sex and produce sterile offspring. Two species can mate and produce viable offspring, but contaminated by genetic problems. It is possible that two species could produce some strange offspring, which mates with another strange offspring, which leads to a new line of evolution - a new species or subspecies. It's tricky. They once called epigenetic coding, "Junk DNA." they once thought there was no plasticity in the adult brain. every time we establish some truth ins science, something comes along to qualify it. So, when we define one group as a species, as opposed to another group, we are merely judging things one order above judgement based upon morphology. Which was an order above mythology. Which was an order above magical thinking. Presently, most scientists are convinced that global warming is due to manmade causes, and they vehemently criticize those who believe differently. Such judgement can be helpful, in allowing the funding and study of one vector of research. But at the cost of excluding information which may be relevant from, e.g., cosmic factors. The galactic plane. Internal nuclear processes in the sun, etc. These may not be THE cause of global warming, but they may be PERTINANT TO global warming. Similarly, science progressively moved "god" out of the centre of creation, which was a huge help to our understanding of the universe. But at the cost of distancing our understanding of other possible forces at play in existence, which quantum physics has luckilly helped to reintroduce us to. Sorry for the dangling participle. I try hard do that not to.
A species is a divergence into variation, springing forth from an earlier species, or a species continuing to exist in a different region. I think the name for this is speciation? Once, there was a single species, but part of it stayed long in the cold north, and part stayed long in the warm south and, after some time, the two varieties became so different that mating caused them genetic problems, or they could not reproduce at all. Part of a species stayed in the mountains, part of it stayed in the valleys, and soon they separated into two different species. One species stayed in the wet, one in the east and, eventually, if merely by chance, they two became so different that they became competitors rather than copulators. This is easy enough to comprehend. BUT. How about when a species becomes too similar to itself? Interbreeding. Then, genetic similarity becomes so much that offspring is also not viable. So, if you get too close together, genetically, which is not unrelated to being close in space and in time, then you fail. But, if you get too far apart, which is not unrelated to being far apart in space and in time, you also fail. It's a Bell Curve, (see below). Like the Cheetah, humans are very closely related, genetically. Almost like we are interbred. Therefore, adding more diversity, here and there, can help us evolve, as in grow a bigger brain, although it will also bring the chance of genetic oddities, as well.
Remember the subatomic practical that was observed into fracturing and therefore becoming a wave interference pattern with itself? That's what happens when two things are too close in space and time, but NOT exactly the SAME entity. Usually, if two particles or atoms try to become the same entity, in space and time, there is a massive release of energy, since what is happening here is a violation of a primary physical law - a law fundamental to time itself. When TWO entities are in an interference pattern, that is the beginning of diversity. If there is no noise diluting these signals down, they will eventually be observed to merge as the same, new, sort of entity - just as the squid and the Irishman may appear to be the same thing, in the eyes of some really bizarre extraterrestrial. But, time itself generally prevents that re-mergence from happening. Instead, noise dilutes the signals. At some point, too much noise means too little signal. So, in genetics, too much distance = too much noise, and therefore the inability to produce viable offspring. Too much similarity means too much signal, or not enough diversity, and therefore ALSO a failure to produce viable offspring. If you think about it, the latter is like trying to reproduce yourself, which is a direct contradiction to time itself, right? (Which actually leads me to another thought I had - for later - how one's life "replays" during death...).
Did you know that your left hand can accidentally push the wrong keys and so your entire LJ post page gets deleted?..
Poisonal: I was again ill enough to be fully disabled yesterday. But I was able to do 2 or three naps. (The need for extra sleep time also counts as disability, since you can;t do anything while asleep, except dream and maybe heal a bit). Those naps helped, but I ended staying up late. I discovered a new Reggae show on WORT, by a hot female host, which begins at 10:pm, real human time. I checked it out. This week was international stuff, but nowhere near the dub stylie I was expecting. Maybe next time.
So, I woke up two hours late this morning, but feeling not as ill. I am now doing decaf mocha and listening to Big Foot in the background. I should be able to get something done today. In addition to the extra post I expect to write now. Here is the incomplete PART TWO of the BIG BRAIN series, (written before Part Two). Big Brain, Big Foot, what's the difference?
Looks like we have a series going on here. It's is mainly tangents. Title is just a ribbon on it.
When I say I am, "Pure Irish," I am being paradoxical, if not tongue-in-cheek. Nobody is pure anything. Even the pigmies, the Kho-San, the Australian Aboriginals, the "undiscovered" tribes in the Amazon, the NAZIs, etc., are closely related to everyone else. Someone who really thinks he or she is 100% Irish is only going back a few hundred years, or a few thousand years, or 8,000 years, tops. Most pure Irish are actually: Irish, Iberian, Scandanavian, Anglo, Persian, Jewish, Black, German, Russian, French, Neandertal, Denisovan, Erectus, and so on. It doesn't mean there is not, generally, some degree of difference between Irish people and most other people, in general. Most of those difference arise from culture, politics, religion, historical memory, economic situation, national identity, past wars or oppressions, and so on. Very, very little has to do with any kind of genetic difference. But - a very tiny bit does! Generally.
If you go back far enough, compared to extraterrestrials, an Irishman is almost exactly identical to a squid, genetically. The main difference being that the Irishman and the squid do not occupy the same point in space and time. And this difference is about the same degree to which human beings differ from each other genetically. We are almost the same person, except that we are in different places, ergo, different bodies. But - it is a difference. Some have black hair, some blonde, some have big noses, some small, some this are this, some are that. And some have very tiny differences in brain structure, chemistry and/or composition. And, sometimes, size. This comes with being different entities. There HAS to be some difference. It's a natural imperative. A physical law. Again, the differences pale in comparison to the similarities. Like whitie in the jungle.
Skin colour takes only a thousand years, or less, to switch from black to white, or the reverse. So, skin colour is a bad measure of difference between human beings - except for the fact that social pressures, or racism, tend to make people of different skin colours more different to each other, socially, economically, etc. Everyone in (sub-Saharan) Africa was black, before the Europeans came, but the genetic diversity in Africa was, and is, greater than on any other continent on Earth. The oldest lineages remaining there now tend to actually be related to our ancestors who travelled OUT of Africa, many tens of thousands of years ago. There are Kenyans with larger brains, are there are people in the Congo and Seychelles Cameroon who appear to have had relatively recent affairs with other primates. Similarly, humans in Europe were trading off each other for Sapiens, for Denisovans, for Neandertals, and for other primate-human species that existed there, which I have yet to get around to writing about(!) And, they probably had sex with Giants, and Big Foot, and Yeti, and who knows what else. Whether any of those relations ever resulted in viable descendants, who knows? Sometimes, it happens. Which brings us to this discussion:
What IS a species? The conventional science has it that a species can produce offspring within itself, but not with other species. That is generally the rule, but not always true. Two species can have sex and produce sterile offspring. Two species can mate and produce viable offspring, but contaminated by genetic problems. It is possible that two species could produce some strange offspring, which mates with another strange offspring, which leads to a new line of evolution - a new species or subspecies. It's tricky. They once called epigenetic coding, "Junk DNA." they once thought there was no plasticity in the adult brain. every time we establish some truth ins science, something comes along to qualify it. So, when we define one group as a species, as opposed to another group, we are merely judging things one order above judgement based upon morphology. Which was an order above mythology. Which was an order above magical thinking. Presently, most scientists are convinced that global warming is due to manmade causes, and they vehemently criticize those who believe differently. Such judgement can be helpful, in allowing the funding and study of one vector of research. But at the cost of excluding information which may be relevant from, e.g., cosmic factors. The galactic plane. Internal nuclear processes in the sun, etc. These may not be THE cause of global warming, but they may be PERTINANT TO global warming. Similarly, science progressively moved "god" out of the centre of creation, which was a huge help to our understanding of the universe. But at the cost of distancing our understanding of other possible forces at play in existence, which quantum physics has luckilly helped to reintroduce us to. Sorry for the dangling participle. I try hard do that not to.
A species is a divergence into variation, springing forth from an earlier species, or a species continuing to exist in a different region. I think the name for this is speciation? Once, there was a single species, but part of it stayed long in the cold north, and part stayed long in the warm south and, after some time, the two varieties became so different that mating caused them genetic problems, or they could not reproduce at all. Part of a species stayed in the mountains, part of it stayed in the valleys, and soon they separated into two different species. One species stayed in the wet, one in the east and, eventually, if merely by chance, they two became so different that they became competitors rather than copulators. This is easy enough to comprehend. BUT. How about when a species becomes too similar to itself? Interbreeding. Then, genetic similarity becomes so much that offspring is also not viable. So, if you get too close together, genetically, which is not unrelated to being close in space and in time, then you fail. But, if you get too far apart, which is not unrelated to being far apart in space and in time, you also fail. It's a Bell Curve, (see below). Like the Cheetah, humans are very closely related, genetically. Almost like we are interbred. Therefore, adding more diversity, here and there, can help us evolve, as in grow a bigger brain, although it will also bring the chance of genetic oddities, as well.
Remember the subatomic practical that was observed into fracturing and therefore becoming a wave interference pattern with itself? That's what happens when two things are too close in space and time, but NOT exactly the SAME entity. Usually, if two particles or atoms try to become the same entity, in space and time, there is a massive release of energy, since what is happening here is a violation of a primary physical law - a law fundamental to time itself. When TWO entities are in an interference pattern, that is the beginning of diversity. If there is no noise diluting these signals down, they will eventually be observed to merge as the same, new, sort of entity - just as the squid and the Irishman may appear to be the same thing, in the eyes of some really bizarre extraterrestrial. But, time itself generally prevents that re-mergence from happening. Instead, noise dilutes the signals. At some point, too much noise means too little signal. So, in genetics, too much distance = too much noise, and therefore the inability to produce viable offspring. Too much similarity means too much signal, or not enough diversity, and therefore ALSO a failure to produce viable offspring. If you think about it, the latter is like trying to reproduce yourself, which is a direct contradiction to time itself, right? (Which actually leads me to another thought I had - for later - how one's life "replays" during death...).