It seems that as our genome evolves, it allows us to evolve on two levels. A physical level and a spiritual or mental level. It is very curious that our evolution or development as a species seems to be linked to technological discovery, scientific achievements and spiritual maturity. The more we evolve, the more impressive our discoveries. And the more complex the questions we seem to pose, the more challenging the goals we set ourselves. Except for periods like the Dark Ages, when all knowledge was seemingly lost and replaced by oppression, dictatorship and savagery. It seems incredible that the knowledge of the universe, our ability to build breathtaking structures like the pyramids, and broad-minded philosophy all vanished, only to be replaced by an oppressed society during those times. But once again we emerged as a striving species and continued to ask more poignant questions about our origins, discovering electricity, the atom and reaching for the stars. We have theorised about travelling beyond the speed of light, time travel and even meta-universes. We no longer seem so sure of our wisdom, we wonder more curiously where we are heading, but… we still don’t know where we come from. Is our insatiable need to reach the stars a clue to where we might have come from? It is quite possibly so and we will examine ancient evidence which seems to support this theory very persuasively. We cannot place a limit on our mental and spiritual evolution. So if the mental and physical are somehow linked, there should be no boundary to our physical evolution too. Such physical evolution will not necessarily be visible on the outside, but its effects will most certainly be felt on a molecular and cellular level where the genome is most active.
Without most of us realising it or having the background knowledge to comprehend the reasons, our bodies are continually striving for a complete or ‘perfect genome’. One that has reactivated the seemingly endless stretches of ‘Junk’ which line the DNA. This is the fundamental principle of evolution. Our own genome is in a constant state of evolution, a never-ending process of completing itself. Re-computing and re-scanning its own structure and constantly filling in the missing bits. The evolutionary process starts with the genome itself. Just like new computer technology allows us to scan photographs and turn a dull image into a perfectly sharp image, the genome is constantly fixing the dull, inactive bits, unlocking them and reactivating them to perform the specific function for which they were created. Just because the geneticists have not yet figured out what all the dormant stretches of DNA are for, does not mean that evolution is going to stand still and wait for us to figure it out. Slowly but surely we are evolving physically and mentally, as the genome reactivates itself. It is like a rebirth from a long sleep which Humankind is waking up from. A sleep into which we must have been induced by someone or something a long time ago. A sleep of ignorance and forgetfulness. It is often said that less intelligent people seem to be happy with their lot. They don’t question why, they just accept their lot and get on with life without asking too many questions. They place their lives in the hands of their god, whichever god it may be and believe that one day their souls will be saved from the devil. It is truly a great escape for many and a good enough reason to go on regardless. We have however seen small increments of evolutionary evidence in our physical and spiritual forms. The fact that our tonsils cause more trouble than good; our appendixes are removed well before they can possibly kill us by bursting and the fact that the average survival age in the global population has increased dramatically since the Dark and Middle ages. This may have something to do with socioeconomic circumstances, diet and climate, but on the other hand it may not. For every bit of genetic resurrection that occurs in our cells, our bodies and minds evolve in harmony. More and more people around the world now refer to themselves as ‘spiritual’ rather than religious. The past 2,000 years has seen the emergence of countless new religions and more splinter cults, as people are searching for new answers and opening themselves up to new realities.
I predict that in time to come, as we unravel more of this DNA structure, we will discover power and wisdom emanating from the genome, the complexity of which we cannot comprehend today. But we have the capacity to digest science fiction in large doses, so if this is a little too much for you at this moment, just pretend that this is a little science fiction trip and enjoy the ride.
Why would such a perfect part of creation like the DNA, consist of as much as 97% of unintelligible junk? Surely God does not make mistakes! Or is it possible that the inactive genes were purposely switched off, somehow, by someone when modern humans were created, right at the dawn of humanity? Could there have been some group of beings armed with sufficient skill and knowledge, who consciously planned and executed this procedure? They must have had a reason or motive to create a being or possibly even a new species with a drastically stunted genome. In the past two decades scientists have shown conclusively and established with a relatively wide margin for error that both mitochondrial Eve and chromosomal Adam were created between 180,000 to 250,000 years ago. Who would have had such knowledge of genetics 250,000 years ago and what motive did they have to create a lesser evolved and more primitive creature like the human? The answer may be hidden in thousands of ancient texts that have gone unnoticed for centuries. In her book ‘Private Lives of the Pharaohs’ Joyce Tyldesley points out that 200 years ago, the early archaeologists were no more than ‘officially sanctioned treasure hunters’. They knew very little about the science they were involved in, unable to read hieroglyphs or other ancient texts, sometimes not even being able to distinguish between written text and decorative art. Excavators were obsessed with finding giant monumental pieces to impress funders and attract curious people to the museums. The knowledge that was captured on thousands of clay tablets was lost to Humankind for centuries, piled up in the basements of museums of the world. No one could possibly imagine that the primitive people of the ancient past could have had anything of consequence to say. Those who believed such misconceptions would have had those beliefs shattered.
For now, let us return to the possibility of a perfect genome and let us imagine for a moment what capabilities we may possess if our genetic structure was complete and fully functional, if large parts of our genome were not switched off. Let us examine some of the common problems in our physical anomalies which we would overcome with our DNA intact. The list is very long and touches every single aspect of our being. On this list would be all forms of disease; cancer; the simple process of healing; organ failure; mutation and the ability to adapt swiftly to severe external conditions; eyesight; hearing; deformities and other physical imperfections and obviously also ageing and death. These are just some of the complex physical benefits Humankind will reap with a complete genome. By logical deduction, there will be genes which control all these characteristics in our bodies, and we will be able to manipulate these genes in any way we choose to. Curiously enough, I have mentioned the topics which have already received much attention from scientists. Have you ever tried to catch an ordinary garden lizard and its tail comes off in your fingers? Or while you dig a hole for the plant you received as a present from your mother, and you accidentally chop an earthworm in half? Well, the lizard’s tail will grow back rather quickly and the worm will not die, it will grow to its full size again. The fact that such primitive creatures have the capacity to re-grow lost limbs or other vital parts of their anatomy, should unquestionably allow us, a far more advanced species, to do the same, if we could only reactivate certain parts of our genome. The other, more complicated characteristics deal with the spiritual and mental parts of our psyche. The concept of being born with all the memories and knowledge of our parents has been debated for decades. The power to interact with others through ESP or reading someone’s thoughts have been touted as a function of higher evolved beings. Thought materialisation and teleportation linked to the materialisation of the physical around the spiritual, would allow us to travel though time and the universe. In a nutshell, we would become super-humans who live forever. But this kind of evolved state of existence will h
ave certain prerequisites. The physical and the spiritual parts must evolve in tandem and in perfect harmony with each other. The one cannot overtake the other. A kind of ‘yin yang’ coexistence between physical and spiritual needs to be accomplished. If the one should evolve faster or slower than the other, we will have an imbalance between the two characteristics, which will manifest in a variety of unpredictable effects, behavioural patterns of instability, violent and dramatic antisocial behaviour, and who knows what else. In fact, it is exactly the kind of behaviour we have grown accustomed to on this planet. This must be the reason why we as a species are so volatile. The reason for our instability can be ascribed to the turbulent clash of our current disparate pace of evolution between the physical and spiritual parts of our being. The fact that some people may be evolving faster than others is a possible cause for conflict, aggression and misunderstanding.
The fact that our genome is evolving towards a complete genome could also be evident from the way in which our bodies cope with certain diseases, which in the past would have killed us and yet today are controlled by our boosted immune system. On the spiritual side it is heralded by the more complex questions we ask about our origins, God and the universe. With the advances in astronomy we marvel at the vastness of the universe and many people are coming to terms with the fact that we may not be the only intelligent life out there. In 1990, astronomers were still of the opinion that planets were not commonly distributed in the universe. A few years later, after some more startling discoveries, they estimated that a small fraction of the stars may have some planets that formed around them during their own birth. And only a few years later they reached the conclusion that the formation of planets and the existence of solar systems is an integral part of what happens when Nebulae give birth to new stars and galaxies. Suddenly, filled with this new wisdom, astronomers started discovering many new solar systems with planets and they continue to do so today.
When Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe reintroduced the ancient Greek concept of Panspermia in the early '70s, and suggested that life arrived here on Earth from space, as it probably did on countless other planets in the universe, most of us were unaware of other planets, and this theory was laughed off as ludicrous by most scholars. Today, Panspermia is accepted by the majority of scholars. These two celebrated scientists have proved beyond any doubt that life has in the past arrived on Earth from space and still does so every day, in the form of viruses, bacteria, spores and other microscopic organisms. While these may have played the leading role in the origin of life on Earth some 3,5 billion years ago, they also played a pivotal part in the great leaps of evolution of species. Furthermore, Fred Hoyle has presented evidence which supports the theory of evolution happening in jumps, as opposed to the great Darwinian propaganda that ‘evolution does not happen in jumps’. So what has this got to do with our quest for our own identity? … Everything!
It holds up the argument that Humankind is not the final link of an evolutionary process which started with so-called ‘apes’, and grew into primitive hominids, who in turn grew into intelligent humans. It goes a long way in supporting the argument that the ‘Adam’ or first man was created by a conscious act of medical science some 200,000 years ago. This has been supported by tracking the Y chromosome in the male population and arriving at a similar date. Is it a coincidence that this scientifically determined prehistoric date is in turn supported by the 1994 announcement by scientists, that tracing mitochondrial DNA in females, has placed the first ‘Eve’ around the same time? These scientific discoveries have gone a long way in supporting the evidence which suggests that Adam was created and when he was lonely, a female partner was created for him from his ‘essence’. It sounds like a great fairytale which we read in the Bible, but it is also written exactly like this in Sumerian clay tablets, which predate the Bible by as much as 3,000 years. So where did the authors of the Bible get all their inspiration from? As we unravel the ancient times of Humankind, we will expose the origins of many of the stories from the Old Testament, clearly captured for eternity on thousands of cuneiform clay tablets, long before a single word of the Bible was first jotted down. Furthermore, we are able to draw such conclusions and begin to make sense of it all, because of the incredible discoveries in biological science that have exposed the power of the DNA, all held together in the human cell.
CHAPTER 3
The Brain
So what is this thing called a brain? A lump of gross-looking soft tissue tightly squeezed into our skulls, which allows us to formulate thoughts, contemplate our own being and question our consciousness. We use it to be witty, to bamboozle people, to reason with others and a million other functions that are often too small for us to notice. We abuse it with drugs and alcohol, pushing the limits of our brains to what seems to be the edge at times. The brain is a very fragile organ and that is why it is so well protected by the skull. But the brain also punishes us for abusing our bodies. It gives us headaches and causes us to feel pain of a wide variety. It can even cause us emotional pain when there is no sign of physical trauma. The brain can send mixed messages and cause us to hear voices, imagine demons and drive us to insanity.
The brain is by far the most complex and mysterious organ in our bodies. It is the ultimate marvel of our creation. It has intrigued doctors and scientists for centuries and will possibly continue to do so for centuries more. Unlike the genome, the brain’s activity is impossible to map. The truth is that we know very little about the brain and how it works. Oh, we know all about the chemicals and enzymes involved, what triggers what and where, and what the final effect is, but this is just the visible chain reaction that is easy to follow. What we cannot explain, are the invisible bits. What actually happens in the brain in between the stimulus and response which allows us to formulate an argument or burst into tears, or feel pity and remorse, or such anger that we respond with violence.
Neuroscientists have spent the past few decades studying the brain’s anatomy, function, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, but all that this research has amounted to, is to highlight how little we know about this mysterious organ. Intelligence has always been ascribed to the size of the brain in species. That is why we are said to be the smartest or most evolved species on Earth. And yet, whales have larger brains than humans, so where does that leave them?
Here is a short list of animals, comparing their brain size in grams. It must surely force us to reconsider the idea of ‘larger is smarter’ or is there something more to the bigger brains of several species on Earth?
Average Brain Weight in Grams
Grams Grams
Adult human 1,300 - 1,400 Newborn human 350 - 400
Sperm whale 7,800 Fin whale 6,930
Elephant 6,000 Humpback whale 4,675
Gray whale 4,317 Killer whale 5,620
Bowhead whale 2,738 Pilot whale 2,670
Bottle-nosed dolphin 1,500 - 1,600 Walrus 1,020 - 1,126
Pithecanthropus Man 850 - 1,000 Camel 762
Giraffe 680 Hippopotamus 582
Leopard seal 542 Horse 532
Polar bear 498 Gorilla 465 - 540
Cow 425 - 458 Chimpanzee 420
Orang-utan 370 California sea lion 363
Manatee 360 Tiger 263.5
Lion 240 Grizzly bear 234
Sheep 140 Baboon 137
Source: faculty.washington.edu
Based on the above information, the Bottle-nosed dolphin should be slightly more intelligent than humans, while elephants and whales should be infinitely smarter. For all we know, maybe they are. But for now there are still some countries in the world who allow the barbaric hunting and killing of these highly evolved species. The brain and its major extension, called the medulla oblongata, can be described as a mass of interconnected nerve cells that control all the activities of the entire central nervous system. Between these two structures they control all the voluntary and involuntary activities in our bodies. Involuntary activity would be respiration
, heart rate, blood pressure, muscle activity and all the goings-on in the digestive tract, just to name a few. Voluntary activity is basically every movement or action we engage in by first thinking about it and then doing it. Some of these may seem like involuntary reactions, because our muscles are trained to perform the tasks, like walking, talking or even typing. But there are millions more activities that fall into both the voluntary and involuntary categories. It is estimated that the communication network in your brain can perform several billion connections and calculations per second. There are a number of major players in this network. Neurons or brain cells, which carry the nerve impulses rapidly between the point of stimulation and the affected organ; the neurotransmitter, which allows the message between neurons and organs to be transmitted, and receptors or receptor cells, which receive the message at the site of the affected organ, like the eye.
There are around 100 billion neurons in the brain but there are also an estimated 10 - 50 times as many glial cells in the brain. These perform some sort of supportive and possibly nutritive function to the neurons but their true function is yet unknown. The total estimated length of nerve fibres in the brain is around 160,000 kilometres. To get an idea of how incredibly complex the brain and its entire central nervous system really is, just look at the eye. It sits very closely located to the brain with a five centimetre long optic nerve. In this nerve there are 1.2 million fibres that send and receive messages between the brain and the eye on a constant basis. Even when we sleep the brain controls the eyes through REM or rapid eye movement activity. If you ever have doubts about a supreme creator God, who masterminded all this stuff in the universe, the brain is a good place to start. It is truly the master organ of our anatomy. But the brain also controls activities that are often described as spiritual and are more mysterious by nature, like consciousness, thought, reason, emotion, love, purpose, passion and more. These are the properties of the brain which will challenge us until we are evolved enough to understand them. But for now, we just speculate.
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