Well, that's what we got from our parents - one set of genes. It's hard to imagine. We all started out as one cell with one set of DNA capable of directing our development. That one set of DNA contains thousands of genes that replicate and turn on and turn off and determine what we grow into. Those genes keep us alive and determine our structure and function. And the really trippy thing is that as we grow, we respond to environmental stimuli. We can learn.
Found something. An organism's physical manifestation of its genes (genotype) - its structure and function - is called its phenotype. An organism's extended phenotype (a term coined by Richard Dawkins) is the stamp the organism makes on the environment, such as beaver dams, bird nests and spider webs. Working from the hypothesis that genes influence their construction, a recent genetic study used mouse burrows as the phenotype. After some cross-breeding and looking at the type of burrows built, the researchers were able to locate the regions on the chromosomes containing the "burrow-building" genes. What is still to be determined is how such a small number of genes control such complicated behaviour. The genes that built a home
Great link @Louanne Learning. The small number of genes needed to control such a complicated structure is fascinating. I’d like to know how much energy is saved (calorie intake) by using gene instinct over neocortex-ing the shit out of the problem? The brain can be smaller and more efficient. The interesting part is the social group, the mice don’t all build individual homes but share. They share in the build. The cross breading with the escape tunnel was brilliant. Can a mouse live on his own? Will he build the same size home structure as a family group? The genes may have a cross check limit to the social group or otherwise our single rodent would live in a mansion... Elon Mouse. MartinM.
Archetypes play an important role. They're the psychological aspect of genes. They're like sets of templates existing in the deep unconscious that lie dormant until one is activated, and then it can influence or even take over your thinking, emotions and attitudes, etc. As an example there's a Rebel archetype that gets strongly activated in some people. To what extent all rebellious types act similarly, that's a reflection of the archetype. They're a lot like complexes, which also can control the way you think, feel and behave, only archetypes are pre-installed and ready to roll from birth, whereas a complex is a sort of snarl or knot in your phsychology. In the specific case of playing fetch, it seems to be an offshot of the hunting instinct that makes cats for instance kill baby birds and moles and lay them on your porch. You throw a stick, something in them activates that says "Chase it, sink teeth in, and bring it back."
What a good question! Not to mention all the angst. But I would think the more neurons you got firing, the more energy is needed. Our brains do a lot of thinking, and that uses energy. I found some research that shows it is better to share. Results show that populations that produce and share extended phenotypes outrun populations that only produce them. There's greater fitness in sharing. The Shared Use of Extended Phenotypes Increases the Fitness of Simulated Populations
This might be helpful when you're looking for the root cause of that emotion in one of your characters. Neurobiologist Jaak Panksepp coined the term affective neurobiology to describe the study of the underlying neurobiology that generates emotional states in the animal (and human) mind. Using electrical stimulation (brain scans), pharmacological challenges and brain lesions of vertebrate brains (mostly mammals), he identified seven ancient primary emotional systems in brains. Much of animal (and human) behavior can be explained by the interaction of these neural systems: Seeking (Expectancy), Lust, Care (Nurturing), Play (Social Joy), Panic (Sadness), Rage (Anger), Fear (Anxiety). (Panksepp concluded that there was insufficient evidence to include Social Dominance as a primary emotion, and he considered it an acquired behavior.) Selected Principles of Pankseppian Affective Neuroscience
Hyperaccumulators are unusual plants that accumulate particular metals or metalloids in their living tissues to levels that may be hundreds or thousands of times greater than is normal for most plants. Photo-remediation is the process of using hyperaccumulating plants to clean up toxic waste and radioactive metals. Sunflowers are hyperaccumulators.
More evidence that nonhuman animals have consciousness. Because if you haven't got consciousness, why would you seek to alter it? Animals That Eat Psychedelics And Enjoy The Trip: From Reindeer On Mushrooms To Jaguars On Yagé Jaguars get high from the ayahuasa from the Yage vine. Reindeer, moose and caribou seek out and trip on shrooms. Mandrills ingest ibogaine from the Iboga shrub for premeditated purposes - to enhance their performance in dominance conflicts.
The power of Nature can be terrifying. Here's a time lapse video of some of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. 15ft Storm Surge Washes Away Homes in Ft. Myers Beach - Hurricane Ian
The 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Svante Pääbo for his discoveries related to human evolution. Pääbo sequenced the Neanderthal genome (in a method he pioneered) using a bone from a Neanderthal that lived 40,000 years ago. He also discovered a completely new hominin entirely – the Denisovans – by analyzing and comparing genome sequences. The Denisovans went extinct about 55,000 years ago. The Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago. Nobel prize awarded for study of human evolution using ancient DNA
Like looking at an alien planet. Just imagine, if you can find this on Earth, what colour palette the rest of the planets in the universe are working with for all manner of organic things. Blue forests with pink apples, purple grass, the variations are endless.
“All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” ― Max Planck
The evolution of lice indicates humans started to wear clothing about 170,000 years ago. Using DNA sequencing, researchers have found that that's when clothing lice first began to diverge from human head lice. UF study of lice DNA shows humans first wore clothes 170,000 years ago
Well, here's my hypothesis: Evidence for the earliest ritualistic behaviour (proto-religion, e.g. ritualistic burial of the dead) dates to about 60,000 - 100,000 years ago. The rise of ritualistic behaviour would be accompanied by the rise of the leaders of the rituals. I think these leaders would have adorned themselves in a particular way to indicate their status within the group. So once we have status, we have differentiated clothing.
My guess is it's likely hunters turned the claws of bears (for instance) into necklaces as powerful 'medicine' at the same time people were beginning to make loincloths and early proto-moccasins. They were probably already decorating themselves with pigments, maybe putting ornaments in their hair. All of this probably began as something like religious ritual, if only informal and spontaneous. And the religious or spiritual purpose was probably as important as any practical purpose.
It seems to me that this is all tied in with the emergence of symbolic thinking. Only with symbolic thinking could the articles of clothing or jewelry take on meaning. The oldest known shell beads date to 142,000 years ago! The discovery pushed back the date for the emergence of symbolic behaviour tens of thousands of years. World's Oldest Known Beads found in Morocco
