News Briefs 09-02-2012

Well, what a load of bullsnot.

IF conditions exist on a planet, somewhere, to spawn the [true] miracle of self-replicating “life”, be it first at the proto-cell level, then eventually a full single-cell phenoms, there is no known process that would prevent the cells from competing, from congregating, from coalescing into symbiotic (and thermodynamically more competitive) accretions. Nothing.

MULTICELLULAR life, once single-cellular life evolves, is at its core inevitable.

That said, what is absolutely not inevitable is the rise of high-intelligence life. Like it as not, our incredibly closely-studied biotic world has produced less than a hundred threads of highly intelligent life (I'm willing to expand the sphere of intelligence to include [ ravens, dolphins and whales, elephants, primates, ] and insofar as we know, only one species not just comfortable with abstract object reasoning, but masterful at it. Out of millions, and over historic timescales, maybe even billions of species differentiations, rises, and falls.

Yet the archaelogical findings themselves support, without anthropocentritarian prejudice, the unstoppable succession of species, except when obliterated by dumbass cosmic projectiles from the Heavens. And in the succession, there also appears to be specialization (“niches”), as well as addition. The evolutionary record is remarkably bereft of examples of retrograde evolution, evolution to an older, simpler form.

Perhaps even symbolically-abstract masterhood becomes an inevitable in the evolutionary cycle, given enough time, a planet that supports luxurious bounty, and a peaceful, predictable star to keep the entropic-cascade well powered near an optimal median most of the time.

Yes, the pessimism of this “Scientist” is breathtakingly out of touch with the statistical improbabilities that our own biosphere and its long evolution presents. One almost could imagine that he'd be on the side of “Hand of God did it!” (Not that that is impeachable … just with what we know, laughably archæic.)

G o a t G u y

Red Pill,

Brain development is certainly part of evolution. Many researchers have come to believe that we have come to be the way we are today through a process called hybredization. There are no Neanderthals; but, we have Neanderthal genes. Recent studies have also shown that Neanderthals were our intellectual equals in every sense! We are simply a synthesis of humanoids that came before us!

Note: There are small populations of Mamoths on islands around Alaska and Siberia; but, nobody wants hunters and/or overly curious tourists. And there are probably some Mamoths in isolated areas on the mainland in Alaska and Siberia.

i think a gun like that may make peace with a lot of countries, after all who doesn't like marshmallows?

2012 Peacemaker ;)

Nice one! Now I have the song stuck in my head. I always get the lyrics mixed up and sing the Captain Kirk version. Take me down to Paradigm City, where the girls are green and the grass is pretty...

Ja, I agree Iron Sky ought to be HEILarious! Shirley this must be is a sci-fi comedy haha