Last universal common ancestor of all living things our trillionth great grandmother LUCA did not have a brain. She was a single celled organism which interacted with her environment through a collection of chemically coded algorithms. These chemically coded algorithms allowed her to respond to food by eating it and to respond to the subsequent growth by reproducing herself. The collective IQ of the planet was zero. Neurons from which nervous systems and brains are made of had not even evolved at this time. Organisms that do not have brains have very limited range of ways they can respond to changes in their environment.
It wasn't until our 100 billionth great grand parents the early animals that neurons and nervous systems come into use. These early nervous systems were used to coordinate muscles to move. The ways in which our ancestors could respond to changes in their environment had increase. In addition to eating and reproducing they could also move their bodies. The number of chemically coded algorithms available for our ancestors use had increased. Yet their were still not a brain in the world and the collective IQ of our planet was still zero.
It wasn't until our worm-like billionth great grandparents emerged that their was a brain on the planet. Now their brain may have been a clump of a few hundred neurons, but it was enough to possibly have sensations and learning. The possible ways our worm-like ancestors could respond to the environment had increased tenfold. Their brains can provide them rewards when they achieve a biological imperative and punishments for failing to achieve a biological imperative. Though their brain power was little they could remember and learn that when in a situation that produced rewards in the past to repeat the behavior that preceded the reward last time. This increased the odds of receiving that reward.
For our early 700 millionth early fish-like great grand parents evolutionarily invested in the advantages of learning and also included some fixed action patterns to help navigate their hostile environments and increase their reproduction. These ancestors had a definite brain organ as a opposed to a clump of neurons of their previous ancestors. They also had a skull to protect their brain and a spinal cord to organize their ever increasing in complexity nervous system. They could respond to adverse situations by fighting, fleeing or freezing in addition to the existing repertoire of feeding and breeding.
Not only had this evolutionary investment into increasing brain power and thus increasing the number of ways they can respond to their environment with the ever increasing number of chemically coded algorithms by the time our mammal-like 100 millionth great grand parents came along the had added another structure to the brain called a neocortex. This structure allowed greater learning and made possible cooperation with members of their family. They could solve problems that our reptile ancestor would never be able to solve. With increased cooperation and socialality they established and negotiated dominance hierarchies which required being able to inhibit unproductive behaviors for some less obvious but more productive behaviors which led to more group synergies and results.
This trend was taken to another level with our monkey-like 50 millionth great grandparents. Unlike their earlier ancestors which had litters of multiple young to pass their skills and experience onto, our monkey-like ancestors had but a single child at a time. This allowed one on one teaching and mentoring of offspring. Their brains had also expanded in complexity with an expansion of possible behaviors. Dominance hierarchies have become a complicated political arena. With coalitions, alliances and feuds. Individuals had reputations of behavior and were able to consider the consequences of actions further out in time then any other animal.
The next big leap was with our homo habilis ancestor who are our 150 thousandth great grand parents. They have been bipedal for thousands of generations prior which had freed up their hands to manufacture stone tools. These stone tools were most likely used to butcher carcasses. This new source of calories will be essential in fueling future brain development. Brains at this time were about the size of our distant cousin the chimpanzee. Technological innovation as a survival specialty in our species may have been established with these ancestors.
In the coming 75 thousand generations some really profound changes to our 75 thousand great grand parents brains will have been on the scene. These ancestors are called homo ergaster. Not only do these ancestors have a brain that is 75% the size of modern humans they also were able to master the use of fire. This massive enlargement of the brain was facilitated by cooking food. For previous generations a brains growth is limited by skull size which is also used to attach the jaw muscles. The tougher food is to chew the more jaw muscles require which means more of the skull is used to mount them and less for housing brains. They also took parental investment to another level through the practice of monogamy. Prior to this it was our grandmothers that were caring, feeding and teaching the children. With monogamy and the pair bond (marriage) fathers also made larger investments in the raising of the children in a degree that was larger than the defense of a home territory as in previous generations. This also allowed for more cooperation among our grandfathers since more of them had greater opportunities to make grandchildren of their own.
Our 3000th great grand parents are anatomically modern human beings. The have been for the last 10 thousand generations. What is significant about these ancestors is that they were the first to exhibit what is called behavioral modernity. Not only has their technological products significantly increased, their is evidence that they were contemplating on existential matters as well. Prior this our ancestors decisions and attention were focused an timescales of up to maybe a year. They likely never gave much thought to what happens after they die. They also were thinking about their origins and what came before them. The timescale which they considered their decisions had significantly increased. This is the time which the earliest religions began to emerge. Brains capable of complex technologies to solve problems of survival also had a by product of minds which were capable of a level of inquiry that is unprecedented in the whole history of life on Earth. These new technological products is what enabled these ancestors to expand to nearly every continent of the planet. Their religions for a time will satisfy the curiosity they had for their origins, their post death existence and provide explanations of phenomenon that impact their survival. Technology will continue to advance and our 350 great grand parents will have begun using the technology of agriculture. This is a profound development. With this new stable food source eventually governments, armies and religious professionals will emerge. It is only with the surpluses from agriculture that these groups would be able to have greater specialization and new synergies.
Our 10th great grand parents fought in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in Britain which led to the Bill of Rights 1689 which attempted to ensure economic freedom and political freedom for our ancestors and their descendants. It also paved the way to limit the abuses by monarchs and prevent totalitarianism by subordinating them to a legal document. Aided by these legal and cultural foundations, a pioneering/entrepreneurial spirit combined with capitalism and the scientific method drove the industrial revolution which began with our British ancestors. The industrial revolution raised the level of technological innovation which raised the standard of living while increasing the population. This surplus population of our ancestors with a pioneering spirit then went on to settle in North America. We owe our existence as Canadians to these ancestors. Constitutionally protected economic and political freedom, capitalism, scientific method and a pioneering/entrepreneurial spirit led to the industrial revolution to begin with our British ancestors which without, the nations and descendants of the Anglo-sphere would not have the cultural, economic and military dominance it has today.
It wasn't until our 100 billionth great grand parents the early animals that neurons and nervous systems come into use. These early nervous systems were used to coordinate muscles to move. The ways in which our ancestors could respond to changes in their environment had increase. In addition to eating and reproducing they could also move their bodies. The number of chemically coded algorithms available for our ancestors use had increased. Yet their were still not a brain in the world and the collective IQ of our planet was still zero.
It wasn't until our worm-like billionth great grandparents emerged that their was a brain on the planet. Now their brain may have been a clump of a few hundred neurons, but it was enough to possibly have sensations and learning. The possible ways our worm-like ancestors could respond to the environment had increased tenfold. Their brains can provide them rewards when they achieve a biological imperative and punishments for failing to achieve a biological imperative. Though their brain power was little they could remember and learn that when in a situation that produced rewards in the past to repeat the behavior that preceded the reward last time. This increased the odds of receiving that reward.
For our early 700 millionth early fish-like great grand parents evolutionarily invested in the advantages of learning and also included some fixed action patterns to help navigate their hostile environments and increase their reproduction. These ancestors had a definite brain organ as a opposed to a clump of neurons of their previous ancestors. They also had a skull to protect their brain and a spinal cord to organize their ever increasing in complexity nervous system. They could respond to adverse situations by fighting, fleeing or freezing in addition to the existing repertoire of feeding and breeding.
Not only had this evolutionary investment into increasing brain power and thus increasing the number of ways they can respond to their environment with the ever increasing number of chemically coded algorithms by the time our mammal-like 100 millionth great grand parents came along the had added another structure to the brain called a neocortex. This structure allowed greater learning and made possible cooperation with members of their family. They could solve problems that our reptile ancestor would never be able to solve. With increased cooperation and socialality they established and negotiated dominance hierarchies which required being able to inhibit unproductive behaviors for some less obvious but more productive behaviors which led to more group synergies and results.
This trend was taken to another level with our monkey-like 50 millionth great grandparents. Unlike their earlier ancestors which had litters of multiple young to pass their skills and experience onto, our monkey-like ancestors had but a single child at a time. This allowed one on one teaching and mentoring of offspring. Their brains had also expanded in complexity with an expansion of possible behaviors. Dominance hierarchies have become a complicated political arena. With coalitions, alliances and feuds. Individuals had reputations of behavior and were able to consider the consequences of actions further out in time then any other animal.
The next big leap was with our homo habilis ancestor who are our 150 thousandth great grand parents. They have been bipedal for thousands of generations prior which had freed up their hands to manufacture stone tools. These stone tools were most likely used to butcher carcasses. This new source of calories will be essential in fueling future brain development. Brains at this time were about the size of our distant cousin the chimpanzee. Technological innovation as a survival specialty in our species may have been established with these ancestors.
In the coming 75 thousand generations some really profound changes to our 75 thousand great grand parents brains will have been on the scene. These ancestors are called homo ergaster. Not only do these ancestors have a brain that is 75% the size of modern humans they also were able to master the use of fire. This massive enlargement of the brain was facilitated by cooking food. For previous generations a brains growth is limited by skull size which is also used to attach the jaw muscles. The tougher food is to chew the more jaw muscles require which means more of the skull is used to mount them and less for housing brains. They also took parental investment to another level through the practice of monogamy. Prior to this it was our grandmothers that were caring, feeding and teaching the children. With monogamy and the pair bond (marriage) fathers also made larger investments in the raising of the children in a degree that was larger than the defense of a home territory as in previous generations. This also allowed for more cooperation among our grandfathers since more of them had greater opportunities to make grandchildren of their own.
Our 3000th great grand parents are anatomically modern human beings. The have been for the last 10 thousand generations. What is significant about these ancestors is that they were the first to exhibit what is called behavioral modernity. Not only has their technological products significantly increased, their is evidence that they were contemplating on existential matters as well. Prior this our ancestors decisions and attention were focused an timescales of up to maybe a year. They likely never gave much thought to what happens after they die. They also were thinking about their origins and what came before them. The timescale which they considered their decisions had significantly increased. This is the time which the earliest religions began to emerge. Brains capable of complex technologies to solve problems of survival also had a by product of minds which were capable of a level of inquiry that is unprecedented in the whole history of life on Earth. These new technological products is what enabled these ancestors to expand to nearly every continent of the planet. Their religions for a time will satisfy the curiosity they had for their origins, their post death existence and provide explanations of phenomenon that impact their survival. Technology will continue to advance and our 350 great grand parents will have begun using the technology of agriculture. This is a profound development. With this new stable food source eventually governments, armies and religious professionals will emerge. It is only with the surpluses from agriculture that these groups would be able to have greater specialization and new synergies.
Our 10th great grand parents fought in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in Britain which led to the Bill of Rights 1689 which attempted to ensure economic freedom and political freedom for our ancestors and their descendants. It also paved the way to limit the abuses by monarchs and prevent totalitarianism by subordinating them to a legal document. Aided by these legal and cultural foundations, a pioneering/entrepreneurial spirit combined with capitalism and the scientific method drove the industrial revolution which began with our British ancestors. The industrial revolution raised the level of technological innovation which raised the standard of living while increasing the population. This surplus population of our ancestors with a pioneering spirit then went on to settle in North America. We owe our existence as Canadians to these ancestors. Constitutionally protected economic and political freedom, capitalism, scientific method and a pioneering/entrepreneurial spirit led to the industrial revolution to begin with our British ancestors which without, the nations and descendants of the Anglo-sphere would not have the cultural, economic and military dominance it has today.
For nearly a billion generations brains have come from a simple clump of of a few thousand neurons to the massively complex problem solving organ with nearly 100 billion neurons. Brains are very costly. Our brains use up to 20% of our caloric needs. That's a big evolutionary investment. An investment that would have never had taken place unless it contributed to our survival and reproduction. So to get an idea of the proper use of a brain I reflected on the ways in which our ancestors of the last billion generations had used their brains to survive and reproduce. Why survival and reproduce? Because any metric used that doesn't include what was necessary for your existence (survival and reproduction of your ancestors) can't be the proper use of a brain. Its my essay and I prefer existing as being of intrinsic value. Existence is good and non-existence is not as good. It is a fact that the utility function of a brain is to make sustainable and generative contributions in our struggles against stagnation and for survival.
The brain is a decision making organ. It is a product of natural selection and the quality of a decision is measured by how it contributes to biological fitness. Quality decisions require reliable information and efficient algorithms.
Brains provide a mental model of reality and our personal capabilities (ego) to test decisions before committing to them. We use fuzzy logic to continuously update our models and make them more predictive. Testing decisions before having to bear their consequences leads to better quality decisions. Misusing of this ability occurs when people believe their mental model of reality or their capabilities trumps actual reality. They dismiss objective evidence or don't value objectivity. Their subjective experience and evaluations is all the evidence they need. They also have a bias for information that reinforced their mental model. Which leads to mistakes and lost opportunities to learn.
The brain is a decision making organ. It is a product of natural selection and the quality of a decision is measured by how it contributes to biological fitness. Quality decisions require reliable information and efficient algorithms.
Brains provide a mental model of reality and our personal capabilities (ego) to test decisions before committing to them. We use fuzzy logic to continuously update our models and make them more predictive. Testing decisions before having to bear their consequences leads to better quality decisions. Misusing of this ability occurs when people believe their mental model of reality or their capabilities trumps actual reality. They dismiss objective evidence or don't value objectivity. Their subjective experience and evaluations is all the evidence they need. They also have a bias for information that reinforced their mental model. Which leads to mistakes and lost opportunities to learn.
Moral reasoning and the emotions of morality help guide our behavior to make living in groups more worth our while and to take advantage and find new synergies that group living can provide. Moral values are taught to us by our parents and culture, but they are neurologically reinforced by our brains moral system which is biological and inherited. It evolved to navigate issues like attachment and bonding, cooperation and mutual aid, sympathy and empathy, direct and indirect reciprocity, altruism and reciprocal altruism, conflict resolution and peacemaking, deception and deception detection, community concern and caring about what others think about you, and awareness of and response to the social rules of the group. Misusing this moral system comes in the form of being taught maladaptive moral values which is then reinforced by the brains moral system which results in maladaptive decisions. Maladaptive moral values can even produce self loathing individuals who dislike their ancestors for being more biological competitive than other groups. Another form of misuse is when people place too much value on moral reasoning. They make decisions primarily using moral reasoning. They decide this or that because it is "the right thing to do" regardless of the likely hood that it will result in a loss of biological fitness. They also have a bias for information that reinforces their moral values.
Very similar to moral reasoning is emotional reasoning. Emotions are how our brains motivate certain behaviors to preserve our biological fitness. Fear to appease aggressors and warn of potential threats. Surprise to inform us that something just happened that our mental models failed to predict. Disgust to warn of dangerous foods, behaviors, and ideas. Joy is a reward for when our fitness improves. Sadness is a punishment for when fitness fails to improve. Anger motivates us to dominate or prepare for impending threats. Pride is the reward for when our reputation for competence has increased. Shame/embarrassment is the punishment for when our reputation for competence fails to increase. Love is to attach and bond us to our children/siblings/parents, kin and spouses. This emotional process begins with new information being received, information quickly evaluated against prior experience, the appropriate emotion is triggered, emotion motivates planning and action, situation is reassessed to determine if response is effective or ineffective. Misuses can arise when ever the quality of the information, the evaluation, and the reassessment are out of sync with the objective reality and evidence. We can experience the same fear when in a truly life threatening situation which is appropriate, and in a non life threatening situation which is less appropriate depending on the quality of our evaluation of the information we received. We can feel the same anger at someone intending us harm which is appropriate, as when your server mistakes your order in a restaurant which is less appropriate. We also misuse the emotions our brains produce when we treat the emotions triggered as evidence. Feelings are not facts. Just because you feel angry does not prove that someone has trespassed against you. Your emotions are produced by your brain and they are your responsibility. You are the one that will face the consequences of the behaviors your emotions motivated you to do. Emotions are not excuses either. Another misuse is making decisions primarily using emotional reasoning, because "it feels right" regardless of the likely hood that it will result in a loss of biological fitness. They also have a bias for information that validates their emotional rationales. It is a fact that emotions can be triggered that overreact to the situation, this is one reason we have a rational faculty to regulate emotions from their unproductive extreme into being more productive.
Our brains have also evolved a system of rewards and punishments. Behaviors that coorelate with the achievement of a increased biological fitness are rewarded and those the coorelate with a stagnating or loss of biological fitness are punished. Calorie dense foods, winning, popularity and being attractive are rewarded by our brains. This mechanism is intended to reinforce behavior that coorelate with biological fitness and punish those that do not. This system worked quite well for our stone-age ancestors, but with the affluence our ancestors have achieved since the industrial revolution this isn't necessarily the case. We now have ways of triggering the reward system while lowering our biological fitness. We are now being rewarded by our brains to lead lifestyles that are stagnating, complacent and waste way too many resources on consumption and leisure for consuming and leisure's sake. We over eat, are inactive, procrastinate and waste to much time/resources on conspicuous consumption and leisure. We have not adapted to this affluent environment with knowledge and experience we must bring our lifestyles back into sync with what our biology requires and receive the rewards and the health available to us.
For thousands of generations our ancestors lived in tribes of people who shared a common language. So it was biological rationale for them to favor their tribe over others, because this in-group favoritism resulted in more productive interactions with others because they could speak with each other. Tribes held sovereignty over a shared territory and working together for its defense was very important.Which ever language provided the most opportunities for our ancestors was the one they learned to speak. In this generation we speak English, because it provides the most opportunities to us. 30 generations ago many of our ancestors spoke Frisian, Gaelic, Norse and Saxon. In-group favoritism also demonstrated towards people that more closely resemble the family members you were raised in. This is also biologically rationale since the people that more closely resembled our relatives will likely share more of our genes. One consequence of in-group favoritism is that everyone not in your in-group (your out-group) has their own in-groups that they favor. This causes in-groups to compete with one another. In the stone-age in-group favoritism was a simpler and easy to understand concept and was universally practiced in the form of an in-group consisting of people defending a shared territory, with a common language and similar genetics. Societies today are magnitudes more complex and diverse. In-groups can be drawn over any number of distinctions with many being superficial. In-groups based on skin color are superficial since for example many African Americans have significant white skinned ancestry and would have more shared genes with a white American than a native African in some cases. In-groups based on religion and lifestyle don't even take shared genes into account. Even in-groups based on shared ancestral geography are becoming less and less relevant in terms of biological fitness, especially if you favor this regions interests over the region in which you are currently raising your family. In-group favoritism according to ethnicity makes very little sense since the increased mobility of people over the last few centuries has pushed what ever may have made them genetically distinct to a smaller and smaller degree. To such a degree that anyone who doesn't share any great great great grandparents with you is genetically indistinguishable from anyone else in that ethnic group or even neighboring ethnic groups. The fact is that in-group favoritism is a product of evolution to serve the interests of your kin group. Your kin group is anyone whom you share a great great great grand parent with. In-group favoritism also makes sense if it allows you to work with others productively which is aided to a greater degree when they are capable of communicating with one another.
We are a very fortunate species and should be grateful to our ancestors. It is our species that has a brain which is capable of multiple levels of happiness. Made possible because of the fact that every single one of our ancestors had at least one child before dying. The lowest and most common level of happiness is what positive psychologists call the "pleasant life." Research into the pleasant life, or the "life of enjoyment", examines how people optimally experience, forecast, and savor the positive feelings and emotions that are part of normal and healthy living (e.g. relationships, hobbies, interests, entertainment, etc.). Despite the attention given the "pleasant life" by the media and society, psychology professor Martin Seligman says this most transient element of happiness likely the least important.
Investigation of the beneficial effects of immersion, absorption, and flow, felt by individuals when optimally engaged with their primary activities, is the study of the Good Life, or the "life of engagement". This is a greater level of happiness than the "pleasant life". Flow is experienced when there is a positive match between a person's strength and their current task, i.e. when one feels confident of accomplishing a chosen or assigned task. Flow is a state where people can let go of their ego and get immersed in the moment, alter their experience of time and achieve virtuosity in their tasks. If you train yourself to focus your attention you can achieve flow in even the most mundane, but necessary tasks. Most tasks can be made into a flow activity. The highest level of happiness however is what is called the Meaningful Life, or "life of affiliation", questions how individuals derive a positive sense of well-being, belonging, meaning, and purpose from being part of and contributing back to something larger and more permanent than themselves. Its is what Erik Erikson called generativity which is a struggle against stagnation that ascends during adulthood. Generativity in the psychosocial sense refers to the concern for establishing and guiding the next generation and is said to stem from a sense of optimism about humanity. Not only does it make the largest contribution to biological fitness, it is the pursuit of spiritual significance which in general, includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all. Unfortunately it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain with in a consumer culture. Our inherent nature of being insatiable wanting machines that focuses on instant gratification causes us to always seek out new forms of consumption and passive entertainment and leisure. Despite the gains in material comforts suicide is a growing and significant killer of our youth. One key to a meaningful life is being grateful for what one has and focusing as much attention as we can generatively. We can tame the monkey mind and we can transcend our egos and experience ourselves as belonging to the universe and experience a "right" relationship with reality and our place and duty in nature and our ancestral lineage.
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