November 1996 Notebook Entries

Nov. 24th, 1996....notebook note. Expanding Natural Selection: a speculative theory of bio-chemical evolution. (also see Jan. 13th, 97 entry)

I was pondering the female genitalia the other night. Not from the lustful male obsession of my youth, but from the view as a natural selection anomaly as seen by a maturing independent scholar. The question that arose in my mind that won’t go away was: if we evolved through natural selection from the chimpanzee family, how did the female chimpanzee move her sexual opening to a less revealing location to one that is concealed; stopped her outer lips from swelling when at maximum estrus, and at the same time stopped the bright red coloration of her genitalia if there are no male traits involved in the new design process? And what about pheromones? We know that the male chimpanzee is always sticking his finger or nose into the female's private parts to see if she is "ready." Does toady's modern female emit an odor that attracts the ever ready male? It's sort of a -- "what came first" question -- like the chicken or the egg? The scenario that doesn't make sense is the female walking up the male and saying: "Hey sailor, I can tell by your great upper body strength that you will make my vagina move to a less conspicuous location -- wanna mix our DNA?" A moment of improbable humor perhaps, but it raises a legitimate question. If natural selection is the mixture of male and female traits, then where did the new human female genitalia traits come from? I can see a female selecting a male for his strength and stamina based on the visual knowledge of his great accumulation of hunting prizes, which would translate into a perceived acceptance of the male as a good provider, which would help her children to better survive and hence advance the species. But where are his female genitalia moving traits? They certainly did not come from the female’s side as natural selection rejected the old physical structure.

It is my speculation that when we are faced with unacceptable conditions that we have no control over, (in this case, the females rejection of the current mating mechanism in place), the brain creates a negative chemical state which we call angst. I feel that the brain then attempts to correct that negative state by attempting new mechanisms to correct the unacceptable condition. These new mechanisms, if successful, involve the creation of new brain nerve highways, which, in themselves create new brain chemistry. It is my speculation that the female genitalia changed through a combination of natural selection and these biochemical mutations. The following is a quick numbered series of events of the theory.

1). First and foremost, remember that evolution is the adaptation to local environments.

2). We must assume that our ancestral chimpanzees evolved into woodland primates, and then into Homo sapiens.

3). Assume that our female chimpanzee ancestors evolved into the woodland apes and then became distraught and filled with angst over the constant frenzy and battles of males attempting to mate with her.

4). Angst is negative brain chemistry.

5). Negative brain chemistry produces attempts to return to non angst-like brain chemistry. The brain attempts, on a biological basis, to be in balance. If the species finds itself in a situation that seems unresolvable through physical means, the brain desires the situation to be in balance. This of course presupposes that the species in question has the capability of higher conscious thought to conceptualize on options. These options are problem- solving thought processes.

6). Over long periods of time, the new brain chemical hybrids produce mutations in the DNA, which translate into the correct trait, which would produce brain chemistry that would be in balance. The new traits, of course, are passed via natural selection. Wrong mutations perish.

The results, as I speculate, produced the female genitalia of today. By not knowing when the female was in estrus, the new changes increased the commitment of the male to longer-term child rearing, which of course meant more resources spent on the children of the bond, and that of course benefited the species. Another benefit also stopped the multi-male sexual coercion mechanisms of the other males, as one male increased his defense of the female. The evolutionary change did not affect males as they still aggressively seek copulation with the female by any method possible.

muse....Nov. 24, 1996

The speculative origin of consciousness.

Consciousness: The re-configuration in the brain of stored memory smells, sightings, sounds, touches, and tastes into an image or series of events as an attempt to solve problems, challenges, or opportunities facing the individual.

Consciousness is generally thought as the conceptual planning that precedes physical motion of the body of the individual. However, conscious planning is possible while in motion, but generally requires a high degree of focus and occurs in conjunction with learned experience. i.e. driving an automobile.

Consciousness fluctuates depending on the immediate survival situation of the species. Those not concerned with safety can contemplate non-survival situations or mechanisms at length. A college professor with tenure is more likely to be free to contemplate quantum physics than a beginning high school math teacher concerned with next month’s car payment.

These planning images or series of events evolved from our need to solve problems. Our ability to solve problems allowed us to leapfrog over our primate ancestors. This is the function of the newest part of our brains, the cerebral cortex.

All conceptual images, or series of events, draw upon the eight itelligences of Harvard’s Howard Garner: 1). Linguistic; 2). Logical; 3). Musical; 4). Spatial; 5). Kinesthetic, (body motion), 6). Intrapersonal; 7). Interpersonal; 8). Naturalist, (environmentalist). Usually we pick the one intelligence in which we excel, and then dip into at least two of the our three levels of memories, (See my essay: Evolutionary Psychology and the Recipe for an Artificial Brain: Add One Cup of Gray Matter and Mix, for an explanation of the three levels of memory). We then add our unique experiences at our CLL (Cultural Longitude and Latitude).

#1...remember that consciousness is non-movement thought before action. This is nurture. This is considered to be the ultimate goal of the human mind. Problem-solving based entirely on learned responses.

#2...remember that action without thought is innate. This is nature. This is considered pure animal reaction.

#3...All humans fall somewhere between #1 and #2. Placement is determined by luck of birth ranking. Generally, the safer one is in regards to self-preservation, one is closer to achieving #1; the closer one falls into the pit of the jungle, does the human spirit sink to the origin levels of #2.

This includes the autonomic and limbic systems; the remaining behavioral patterns are controlled by higher conscious thought which is highly influenced by culture. This percentage fluctuates with the  I speculate that the influence of genetic codes upon our behavior patterns is approximately 40%.socioeconomic level and age brackets as the individual adapts to the local culture and environment it is born into.