Beit Gamaliel

The confluence of knowledge and faith

Evolved Beyond Our Genes

Evolved Beyond Our Genes

Recently I have been involved in a course on human cognition. The human brain is almost unbelievably amazing. In short, the lobes of the brain work in concert to interpret physical, emotional, sensory, visual, auditory, and olfactory senses and respond or react, or block the signal based upon prior experience, or innate reflex. The brain does this in a blazing speed of 250 ms to 2500 ms. And, beyond the ability of a computer, the human brain has the capacity to sense, reflect, and respond to sensory input in a manner that computers are not capable.

What is clear from researchers is that we have barely scratched the surface of the power of the human brain, and, more significantly, the manner in which it develops and connects. It is clear we understand some important rudimentary ideas of the brain, but from a purely evolutionary process, the formation of the infant brain, the development of dendrons, the brain stem and nervous system are not fully understood. Check out Derek Paravicini to see what we DO NOT know about the human brain: https://youtu.be/fibZudrZUto

As I am reflecting on all of this it occurs to me that we are making a huge assumption about the evolution of mankind when we consider that we have evolved beyond our cognitive ability to understand ourselves. This assumes that our DNA, at some level, contains the necessary building blocks to produce advanced biological products that lack the cognition to comprehend our own complexity. This places DNA in the driver’s seat to predict the future and to chart a path of evolutionary development that, in the hopes of all humanity, will prove to have been a winning combination 2 billion years from now once that evolutionary change has been implemented. The adverse of this would be self-selected extinction.

Now at the pinnacle of human development we can look back and see that our DNA and “Mother Nature” have worked together to guide us to this point of biological and cognitive superiority (over other lower vertebrates) that we ourselves cannot even comprehend and we are to embrace that through chance and circumstance we ended up on the top of the heap, rather than eliminated from earth’s landscape. And why wouldn’t we believe this? Where are Neanderthal and Australopithecus? GONE– collateral of self-elimination.

But let’s consider a different example. The rainbow mussel lives in rivers and streams in the US. What makes this mussel unique is that it has evolved to mimic a crayfish in looks and movement so that it can disburse its larvae into the gill rakes of fish that attack the faux crayfish. Similarly, there are mussels that mimic the minnow in motion and shape, right down to the eyespot. You can learn more at National Geographic: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/animals-parasites-mussels-fish-freshwater/ .

This is where evolution derails in my mind. One trait of all invertebrates is that they do not have eyes. They may have some chromatic receptors that detect light, but beyond that, they are slow-moving creatures that cannot comprehend the complexity of life around them. And yet, at some point in the ancient past, they evolved to mimic the biodiversity that surrounded them. We are expected to accept the fact that these clams (and countless other invertebrates) have evolved to emulate creature that they cannot see, or comprehend in any physical way. Maybe it is remotely possible that they captured a minnow and somehow grasped the shape of the minnow through “feeling” it, but how did the clam figure out the colors of the minnow and the color of the eye-spot? Apparently, like humans, clams have evolved WAY beyond their own cognition and genetic ability!

One possible explanation is DNA. If you are not familiar with genetics, I will break it down to this: for a Chinese person to have blue eyes, the ancestors on BOTH mother’s and father’s sides MUST have European decent because blue eyes have been traced back to a SINGLE ancestral source in the region of the Black Sea. ( http://www.arogundade.com/asians-chinese-with-natural-blue-green-eyes-genetics.html ). There are no other possible genetic and scientific means for this to biologically occur. Similarly, for a man (and clams) to evolve to a genetic state that surpasses the organism cognitive ability, the genetic material must be present in the DNA to make this possible. But we evolved from an amoeba, right?

Without the influence of outside, advanced biological source, we MUST embrace that the single-celled ancestors of mankind possessed advanced DNA so these genetic traits would manifest further down the evolutionary line. Unfortunately, science has yet to prove that any single-celled organism has cognition. Therefore, we must deduce that some outside source influenced biological development, diversity, and evolutionary processes.

The ONLY other possibility is that we were created by a superior being (or, more fancifully, a race of beings) that created man (and the clam) to reflect the creator’s DNA. Or, even more probable, the creator uniquely sequenced the DNA strand with all capabilities and traits of what humanity (and clam-hood) might conceive to become. The clam did not have to see the fish. The Creator placed the ability to mimic, and the knowledge of the minnow, into the DNA of the clam, so that the clam obtains this special knowledge innately.

This Independence Day, set your mind free from the ignorance of mankind, who, by rejecting the Creator, have been forced to create absurd suppositions on how man and clams developed over time.

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