An Ecology of MInd (20 page)

"The next question that becomes glaringly obvious to me, is, whether this behavior which we label instinct, is encoded into the DNA by an organism
performing the behavior and from there onto future generations? Alternatively, is it already in the DNA and transmitted from the DNA to an organism. These
are two distinct scenarios with very different implications."

"Ah, I see by the look on some faces that you did not all follow that. This is a situation similar in some ways to our earlier flat map and globe scenario.
You had all seen globes and the lines representing longitude. You had all seen how they converge on a globe to the poles, but you did not notice the
implications on a flat map. In this case, you are probably assuming that instinct is the result of organisms that was more successful passing on behaviors,
they have learned to future generations of their species."

"The problem is, no analysis or experiment to date has noted any systematic change to the DNA of a living organism. The DNA that an existing organism is
born with seems unchanging except for the random mutations or by sexual combination with that of another organism. Most of you know this but never noticed
the implications with respect to behavior that we refer to as instinct. The behavior that we call instinctual is not encoded by the individual onto their
own DNA and then passed on, it is pre-existing."

"If it was there already, how did it get there? Even though we have managed to map the sequencing of human DNA in its entirety, only about ten percent of
that DNA has been identified as genes. The other ninety percent has been labeled as "Junk DNA." Researchers don't know what it is, so they label it junk.
It seems like an arrogant assumption."

"We've also seen what happens with labels. The questions tend to stop. Much of this ninety percent has been labeled as having belonged to viruses and other
alterations to the DNA but the researchers then go on to say it performs no function. Think about this. DNA, the programming and machine that creates and
shapes all life as we know it has ninety percent of its function unknown, and we label it as junk and of no relevance. We also have no explanation of a
method of transmitting instinctive behavior either. It seems at least reasonable that the mechanism for DNA controlling some aspects of behavior, or what
we are calling instinct, is located within that ninety percent."

"How it works or is organized, we don't know. It could be organized as discrete packets of complete behavior, organized similar to other genes, like the
one for blue eyes. It could also be located in a number of small parts in different areas of the chromosome that interact together. "

"We don't even know everything that is in our behavior that might fall under the category of instinctual behavior in humans.

"What I'm going to do next is to paint a picture of reality and the world with respect to how we fit within the ecosystem. It may be a bit different than
how you have looked at it in the past. It may only be a relatively slight shifting in thinking, but one that I think is important to having a more
realistic view of the world around you."

"DNA is literally at the core of all life as we know it. It is the information that tells the cells what to do. The commands work both at the level of
controlling processes for individual cells to obtain nourishment to survive, and at the level of telling the cell to make many more cells and make a
giraffe, a cat or a human being."

"DNA is a programming language for the cell. It is also the machine as it can make more copies of itself and manufacture things other than the cell that
contains it."

"DNA also changes. Things such as cosmic rays, radiation, and chemicals can alter DNA. It is most susceptible to being altered during the replication
phase. When the DNA is altered, it can create a different organism. Changes to the DNA can be large or small. Changes are seen as being random and most new
mutations of organisms do not even survive until birth, but some do."

"Evolution is seen as the combination of these changes or mutations along with a mechanism to eliminate organisms that are less efficient or effective at
functioning within their environment. The mechanism to do this is "natural selection."

"The idea of natural selection is that random mutations will have different characteristics. Those characteristics that give an organism an advantage will
make it more probable to survive and pass its DNA on to the next generation. Those that give it a disadvantage will make it more likely to die and
therefore, not pass on its DNA to the subsequent generation. What may or may not be an advantage can vary with given conditions."

"One famous example showed a population of moth in England that was predominantly lighter in color with the occasional dark-colored moth. The darker
colored moth was more noticeable against the light-colored bark of the trees where they tended to live. Birds saw them easier than the lighter type of moth
of the same species and ate more of them."

"With the Industrial Revolution in England the increased air pollution caused the trees the moths tended to live on to be darker in color. This made the
lighter colored moths easier to pick out and the darker ones blended in better. The birds now ate more of the lighter colored moths. The darker colored
variety of this particular species of moth became the one that was much more prevalent, and the lighter variety became the rarer mutation."

"You probably do not fully fathom how powerful a mechanism natural selection is. In our current society most of us are extremely shielded from the whole
process of killing to survive in nature. Meat is that pre-cut item that you purchase at the grocery store on little styrofoam serving trays wrapped in
cellophane. "

"We are the top predator on the planet and most of us live in civilizations where tasks are divided, and we don't personally have to kill to eat. For most
of the organisms inhabiting the planet, natural selection is ever present and extremely brutal. Ninety-nine percent of all living things on this planet die
by being eaten alive. This is a reality that many humans sheltered behind the walls of their civilizations tend to be unaware of, or ignore."

"Evolution does seem at times to be more than just random. There are times in the past such as when the dinosaurs disappeared, and mammals went from a
small number of minor species in terms of the overall ecosystem to the incredibly diverse group of mammal species we see today."

"There is even some research that raises the possibility that there is some mechanism within the DNA to alter the entire ecosystem as needed. The
alteration seems to be to the extent of causing the altering of a species or number of species to fill open niches within the ecosystem."

"Mutation and natural selection could explain the changes in species but sometimes the changes seem almost guided in some way. Changes in an ecosystem can
be relatively rapid and diverse to the point that it seems more than can be explained by the occasional random mutation."

"As we have seen, analyzing whether the odds fit within those of random mutation and selection with the human brain is very difficult. There are far more
factors at play than our example of three pistols and reducing them to two and choosing one of them. Finding some sort of mathematical formula to include
all the factors involved would be an immense task. Even discovering what all the factors are would be huge. Any intuitive guess or feeling that it seems
reasonable from a statistical point of view is not reliable on our part and is likely to be very wrong no matter how strongly we think it makes sense.
Remember how adamantly we argued and defended that there was a 50/50 chance of having the loaded gun. Having the odds of something seeming reasonable to
us, is not conclusive."

“Another barrier to reality I would like to touch on is success. It’s an odd one, but important. Success lulls you into thinking that everything you do is
correct and causes you to stop questioning and assessing things around you with the same thoroughness.”

"Humans as a species have been extremely successful. I mentioned that humans were the top predator. We have been for some time now, ever since our
technology allowed us to kill predators that threatened us. As individuals we are usually sheltered from much of the ecosystem, often to the point that we
feel it is no threat to us."

"I think it is important to keep in mind that if we were to take you and drop you naked in the middle of the African savannah, near a pride of lions, you
would very soon discover the lions did not get the memo that you are top predator and master of all you survey. Without our technology, we are a relatively
weak organism within the ecosystem."

"Even when we are fully protected by our technology and our human societies, we are still highly susceptible to at least one type of attack, however. As we
have seen, disease transmitted through bacteria and viruses can be extremely devastating to human populations. The Black Death and what happened to Western
Indian populations are prime examples."

"Ironically, the technology that allows us to prevail against other predators allows the large connected populations that are more susceptible to disease.
If you have small groups of hunter-gatherers living in isolated communities, any extremely virulent or deadly disease will normally kill everyone, leaving
nobody to transmit it to other populations."

"The situation today is much different. We have an extremely large population that transports a sizeable percentage of its members to different areas
within the population on a regular and rapid basis. A disease could pass by way of air travel, ships, cars, trucks, trade goods, and so on, to substantial
portions of the population very quickly."

"We do have our technology, medicine, vaccines and antibiotics to protect us. Unfortunately, viruses and bacteria reproduce at an extremely rapid rate in
comparison to humans. The process of natural selection simply creates organisms that are resistant to medicine's defense mechanisms at a faster rate than
we have been able to create new ones. In fact, some of the most dangerous disease organisms are more highly concentrated in the heart of our biggest
resources to fight them. Hospitals have the highest percentage of infectious diseases that are resistant to our current treatment options."

"An interesting example of natural selection continuing to work on the human race despite our technology is HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The very
creation of AIDS may due to our higher level of technology."

As far as I know it is only a theory so far, but the most logical and intriguing explanation I have seen to date on how AIDS came about is the following."

"AIDS is a new disease for humans. It did not used to exist. There is a very similar virus to HIV called the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus that exists in
monkeys and other primates. It was obvious that the virus had mutated and jumped species. How it did that is unknown. HIV is transmitted primarily by
sexual contact, but it is actually transmitted by fluids."

"The idea of it jumping species by sex with monkeys was raised but never taken seriously but rather as a derogatory joke. It was postulated that SIV was
introduced into a human body and once there, it underwent a mutation into HIV. Once it mutated, it could be transmitted to other humans. One route put
forward as a possible way of the SIV getting into the human body in the first place, was from an SIV infected primate perhaps biting a human."

"The chances of this happening were seen as rare, but it was the only explanation raised at the time."

"The exact time that HIV showed up was in question as well. People don’t die from AIDS directly. Instead, AIDS destroys the immune system, and they die
from some other disease. HIV itself was not recognized as the hidden culprit until 1981. Examination of the tissue from earlier suspicious deaths has since
showed that HIV existed as far back as the 1950s."

“The disease Polio used to be a disease of major concern up until a vaccine for it was discovered in 1952. There are different types of vaccines, but the
first Polio vaccine was made by using a Polio virus that had been killed. This allowed the vaccinated person to develop antibodies but not catch the
disease. The Polio vaccine was seen as a major breakthrough and as the conquering of a terrifying disease."

"It was a shining example of modern medicine's ability to successfully defeat the diseases that plagued humanity. It and other newer versions, were rapidly
used to vaccinate people around the world and have managed to eliminate Polio in most countries and reduce its incidence overall."

"Why am I talking about Polio when I was talking about HIV? Well, among the vaccinations done with the earlier killed polio virus vaccine were millions
that were done in Africa. The pharmaceutical company that made most of the vaccine for Africa grew the Polio virus in monkeys and then as we said, killed
the Polio virus.”

“So far this is all well documented commonly known information. The theory portion is this: Since the serum from monkeys was used, there were other viruses
present in the vaccine. Since they were monkey viruses they were not seen as a risk and were ignored. To separate them was seen as an unnecessary
additional expense, especially if the vaccine was destined for use in Africa where chances of recovering the expenses of a higher-cost product were few. At
the time, the risk of a virus mutating and jumping species was not fully recognized."

"Again, so far this is only a theory. However, the more viruses transferred into a human host, the greater the chance that one virus would mutate into HIV.
Which explanation gives you more viruses introduced to people, the occasional monkey bite, or contaminated injections into several million people? While
not proven, it provides the most plausible explanation I have seen to date, and it was our own medical science and our technology that made it possible, or
at least more likely."

"Natural selection is a system which can allow a simple source of DNA to create a complex ecosystem teeming with a vast array of life. On Earth, we have
gone from single cell organisms to the myriad of species we know today. The system of mutation and natural selection does not stand still.”