Posted on 12/29/2004 9:14:28 AM PST by aculeus
Emergence of society may have spurred growth
The sophistication of the human brain is not simply the result of steady evolution, according to new research. Instead, humans are truly privileged animals with brains that have developed in a type of extraordinarily fast evolution that is unique to the species.
"Simply put, evolution has been working very hard to produce us humans," said Bruce Lahn, an assistant professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
"Our study offers the first genetic evidence that humans occupy a unique position in the tree of life."
Professor Lahn's research, published this week in the journal Cell, suggests that humans evolved their cognitive abilities not owing to a few sporadic and accidental genetic mutations - as is the usual way with traits in living things - but rather from an enormous number of mutations in a short period of time, acquired though an intense selection process favouring complex cognitive abilities.
Evolutionary biologists generally argue that humans have evolved in much the same way as all other life on Earth. Mutations in genes from one generation to the next sometimes give rise to new adaptations to a creature's environment.
Those best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation.
The evolution of a large brain in humans, then, can be seen as similar to the process that leads to longer tusks or bigger antlers. In general terms, and after scaling for body size, brains get bigger and more complex as animals get bigger.
But with humans, the relative size of the brain does not fit the trend - our brains are disproportionately big, much bigger even than the brains of other non-human primates, including our closest relatives, chimpanzees.
Prof Lahn's team examined the DNA of 214 genes involved in brain development in humans, macaques, rats and mice.
By comparing mutations that had no effect on the function of the genes with those mutations that did, they came up with a measure of the pressure of natural selection on those genes.
The scientists found that the human brain's genes had gone through an intense amount of evolution in a short amount of time - a process that far outstripped the evolution of the genes of other animals.
"We've proven that there is a big distinction," Prof Lahn said. "Human evolution is, in fact, a privileged process because it involves a large number of mutations in a large number of genes.
"To accomplish so much in so little evolutionary time - a few tens of millions of years - requires a selective process that is perhaps categorically different from the typical processes of acquiring new biological traits."
As for how all of this happened, the professor suggests that the development of human society may be the reason.
In an increasingly social environment, greater cognitive abilities probably became more of an advantage.
"As humans become more social, differences in intelligence will translate into much greater differences in fitness, because you can manipulate your social structure to your advantage," he said.
"Even devoid of the social context, as humans become more intelligent, it might create a situation where being a little smarter matters a lot.
"The making of the large human brain is not just the neurological equivalent of making a large antler. Rather, it required a level of selection that's unprecedented."
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
That is the beauty of science, and why it is called a "theory". A "theory" is basically the best guess that fits the facts at hand. As we discover more facts, or learn different things about old ones, the theories can and do need revision from time to time. The better-known theories tend to last a long time, but the odds are good that they will need to be changed someday.
And, by the way, you fail to note that theologians do the exact same thing. Editing Scripture, voting on which books do and do not belong in the "official" Bible, revising terms to better fit our understanding of the world... but not before the glorious Church spends a few solid decades slaughtering some of the world's greatest scientific minds for heresy before they figure out the earth is round. Or did that not happen, because it isn't in the current King James version?
MM
What's that? Like the Tel Aviv marathon or something?
How does DNA indicate evidence of creation? I can tell you that my belief in a Creator does not conflict in the slightest with what I consider to be a very good understanding of evolution and physical processes. G-d does not require physical tokens to make Himself real.
I do believe that there is an 'afterlife' of some sort. What determines ones fate in said 'afterlife' is a question I can not answer. I belive that as long as I treat people with the respect they deserve and don't deny someone their life or liberty through fraud or unjustified force that I will be OK.
>> There is, of course, no evidence for this belief whatsoever.<<
...to you.
Look around you.
Look at history.
Remember, not all learning comes from books.
(I'm being lazy and not reading the rest of the thread so forgive me if this has been answered before)
Do you ever write computer programs? Have you ever reused a piece of code?
DNA is merely the biological program that assembles proteins etc to perform chemical functions in the body. Once this function is designed and the code is written then why not use the same (efficient) code to do the same function in a different application?
God's smart enough to reuse code. The presence of the same code doing the same function in totally unrelated applications (man, dog, pig, whale, lizard etc) is no evidence that those applications are related, just that they had the same programmer.
In fact, due to the randomness of mutations, commonality of DNA is more of an evidence for Intelligent Design than against it
The Khmer Rouge followed a harsh brand of communism, killing nearly two million people in their bid to return Cambodia to Year Zero. Now they have a new faith: evangelical Christianity.
At least 2,000 of those who followed Pol Pot, the guerrillas' former leader who died six years ago, now worship Jesus.
Will the truly repentant Khmer go to Heaven?
Since most of their 2 million victims were not Christian, are they destined for Hell, including the unbaptized children?
Sure, they are all from the Hebrew scriptures, some with multiple mentions. Here is one citation for each:
1. World peace.
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)
2. Return of the all the Jews to Israel.
Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth (Isaiah 43:5-6)
3. Rebuilding of the temple.
I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore. (Ezekiel 37:26-28 -- see also Ezekiel chapters 40-48)
4. Universal knowledge of God.
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
But what do you base that belief on? Is there any evidence at all that this is a reasonable assumption?
MM
I know you believe this to be true. As a Jew, I obviously disagree.
>>How does DNA indicate evidence of creation?<<
It is almost as convincing as a babelfish. But, of course, I'm sure there are ludicrous hypotheses that would pretend to explain it away.
Imagine a non-biological machine, say, a Porsche Boxter, that had, within every molecule of every part, from the paint on a pc board to the soon to be worn off rubber in the tires, a complet instruction set to recreate another duplicate boxter.
Sorry AK, you need a lot of monkeys at a lot of typewriters for a very long time indeed, say 10 to the 3,0000 power multiplied by the estimated age of the universe, to come up with the first coulpe of valid instructions in that program called DNA.
Feel free to throw all the time at it you like though...
Why do we even have different forums if what you say is true? This article is not News about politics or conservatism. It is not Activism about politics or conservatism. Those are the primary reasons for FR existence. Other things or reasons or topics are exactly that...OTHER!
This article is nothing more than an opinion expressed about one of an infinite number of other potential topics that could appear in a newspaper. If that is not General Interest Chat, what is?
Is there some reason you would not read it if was posted elsewhere?
I suggest if this topic is your primary reason for being at FR, then maybe you should consider other forums that specialize in 'science', not conservatism, as does FR.
AKA punctuated equilibrium...... Steve would be proud of this student.
I appreciate the references, sincerely. In the first Isaiah reference, though, 2:2 makes clear that this refers to the "last days." Perhaps the difference is that you believe there will be only a SINGLE coming of the Messiah?
MM
Do you ever write computer programs? Have you ever reused a piece of code?
Naw ... why would I do that?
The incidence of errors is bound to go down ...
Neither do I make use of libraries or 'inheritance'.
DNA is merely the biological program that assembles proteins etc to perform chemical functions in the body.
No kidding. Kinda like a 'build print' of sorts huh?
Once this function is designed and the code is written then why not use the same (efficient) code to do the same function in a different application?God's smart enough to reuse code.
... and through evolution and a process that found the 'design type' that was eventually sturdy enough to stand up to use, and fill those pesky 'design requirements' including self-propagation/pro-creation ....
Next you'll be telling us that dogs aren't indeed made of dog stuff nor people of people stuff but you're still dodging the question of why the charade?
(WHY the charade of an over-aged earth and the mystery of matter and the atom et al.
What is God trying to hide through all this eleborate 'charade'? Shouldn't/couldn't the universe have been made in a more straight-forward manner (you know the drill by now: dogs made of dog-stuff, et cetera).
Well, if you're making a car, you usually use rubber tires, metal body, electronics, a combustion engine, and gas. You use the same thing for motorcycles and go carts. You don't usually use glass for the structural elements or mud for gasoline.
Cows and dogs need eyes, ability to move around, intelligence to do what is needed to survive, a digestive system . . . Why would an intelligent being - like us for the auto and like God for creation - use different materials when it was not necessary. If anything, it shows intelligence that the creatures have many similarities, but are also uniquely suited to their lives - as the three types of vehicles are suited to their functions.
In fact, due to the randomness of mutations, commonality of DNA is more of an evidence for Intelligent Design than against it"Intelligent Design" not, it would seem, in the narrow vein as defined by the creationists, however.
Sooner our later you folks will find yourself back at the start, where a number of us already reside. To wit: you will find it impossible to show those points which indicate a strict "Intelligent Design" and have to instead keep moving that line marker further and further back - until you realize the whole world and matter in it are the result of "Intelligent Design" from the very beginning.
Methinks that some of you may have such fragile faith that contemplating such thought is, right now, heretical.
Just a surely as some of your forefathers thought the world was flat and all the planets revolved around the earth your thinking may be that the earth is no more than 6,000 years old and man has absolutely *no* connection with the animal world ... part of your last post just bridged this last gap ...
Well, if you're making a car, you usually use rubber tires, metal body, electronics, a combustion engine, and gas.... and these things just 'grow' on trees' huh?
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