New humanity
Sep. 11th, 2014 12:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zeeth_kyrahSo let's talk about pleiotropy.
The basic idea in this comic is exactly right. That pleiotropic gene controls the hormone necessary for formation of gluteal and neocortical tissues. It specifically controls the number of layers of muscle and neurons added to their respective locations.
There is a detail the comic gets wrong. It's not that humans "lied about our ass obsession". It's that a neocortex which is too large causes schizophrenia (which is a data-processing disorder, and may in fact be a class of disorders with similar symptoms) and other processing disorders. See, the neocortical tissue is about relationships and interconnections (a side effect of all that ass-chasing), and enables abstraction and imagination, as well as generalization of experience. So it's always active. If it's more active than the underlying cortex or limbic structures can support, it will start to fire on irrelevant data, causing anxiety (up to and including paranoia), hallucinations, and a "crowded room" effect where anything including nearby symbols as well as the speech or energies of spirit entities might be translated into more data in an effort to feed the data-hungry neocortex. Classic "buffer underrun" error for continuously-processing analog systems. Ancient humans didn't want to have sex with crazy-acting people any more than modern humans do -- which is to say, rarely at best -- so neocortex size stabilized even though most of us still like big butts.
Here is another pleiotropy for the human brain: Cortical density (as opposed to neocortex) is directly related to alveolar density in the lungs by a single gene. And you can only make alveolae so dense before you start getting asthma and need larger lungs. If the lungs are too large, the heart gets smaller or the ribcage gets bigger. You have to pump enough blood to the brain to support its function, and you have to be able to exchange enough oxygen and carbon dioxide to burn the fuel your body takes in. (Note: Chimpanzees have an adequate neocortex, but a less-dense cortex. They get the "buffer underrun" problem, and thus manifest symptoms of autism and schizophrenia when over-stimulated.)
Which brings us to a third pleiotropy for the human brain: Limbic structure density and size are directly related to thickness of the intestinal lining, again by a single gene. That's because in order to have a larger brain, you have to be able to more effectively process your body's fuel. Elephants have incredible limbic systems, as do porpoises and field mice, for this reason -- it's an OLD gene, present in every mammal on Earth. A larger limbic system allows for better body control and proprioception, better spatial awareness, better musical/audio processing, and more effective communication between brain structures (enabling improved logic because your emotions are handled more efficiently, as well as higher psychic ability because you're both more sensitive to energies and processing the signals better). On top of that, you get a stronger immune system (much of the human immune system is built on a foundation of literal intestinal fortitude).
One drawback of a thicker intestinal lining is the increased risk of cancer: exposure to stomach acids can cause this regenerative layer to scar or alter over time, leading to excessive methylation and DNA alteration, while increased thickness means less ablation of polyps and unhealthy cells as well as slower regeneration of lost cells. On top of that, such cancers tend to metastasize. Plus, there is often a greater sensitivity to toxins and problematic proteins during times of physical growth such as early childhood and puberty -- explaining (at least in part) the pattern of my own food allergies. Finally, a thicker gut lining also costs more energy to support, leading to a tradeoff of body size vs energy intake. Until the past hundred years or so, we simply did not have the agricultural systems and nutritional knowledge to easily support such a mutation, though it wouldn't have killed us off, either, unless we were already starving like in Afghanistan. (Note: Bonobos have a stronger limbic system, but the same cortical density as other chimpanzees. This means they work out their stimulus needs via a highly-stimulating limbic behavior: sex. This leads to much better social relationships and less aggression overall, in part because they don't have to worry as much about getting overloaded with irrelevant data or other sensory processing disorders.)
So let's say your cortex gets bigger/denser. If you don't take in the energy to support it, you'll get less intelligent instead of more due to disorganized connection between neurons. So the intestinal lining and/or length will have to improve -- usually lining, though there's a limit on absorption efficiency based on the amount of breakdown required to process one's food.
But guess what? A slight boost in intestinal lining thickness will lead to an improved limbic system for humans. We do now have the necessary food growing and processing systems, as well as the necessary nutritional knowledge and worldwide logistics to bring these nutrients wherever they're needed. For example, turmeric contains a chemical (curcumin) now known to prevent metastasis of colon cancers by blocking the protein responsible for that migration. Do you like yellow mustard or curry? Turmeric is a yellow spice found in both of those foods. But the major exporters of turmeric happen to be in the region of the India subcontinent, particularly Tunisia and India -- if you live in the US or UK, it had to travel half the world to get to your dinner table.
So that's what's happening with the human brain right now. We can't chase bigger asses until we have a cortex that can support a bigger neocortex. And that means we need more nutritional value out of our food, which means we get a bigger limbic system.
We've been processing food since the day the first caveman dropped his meat in the watch-fire and ate it anyway, since the day one peeled a banana instead of eating it skin-on. We've continuously gotten more efficient and effective at delivering both calories and nutrients since then. Modern Western diets include foods so processed and packed with fuel that the mere act of eating one item can in fact give the eater a day's calorie requirements (Dairy Queen's Peanut Buster Parfait became infamous for this, at a current value of 730 Calories each, almost a half-day's calorie count for the average human). However, calories alone don't give well-being, and the Western poor person's diet is full of empty calories and outright toxic foods that don't effectively support an average brain, much less a high-powered mutant's. We really need the average person to get smarter, not just the top-end outliers. While quality training can really help, there's more to this; we need better societies, which are enabled by a change in basic brain capabilities (and thus the nature of our social relationships).
So basically what I'm saying is, humans are going to get physically bigger. Not by a whole lot. But bigger enough that we can collectively work out the problems with our societies and resolve our issues more effectively than ever before. Bigger enough that we can out-think the problems coming at us now, and maybe even return to space with intent to stay (yay asteroid mining, yay solar wind harvesting). Because if we went spacebound without those extra smarts, we'd eventually fall apart as a people and make whole new nations to war with each other.
And in order to get bigger, we need to get smarter about how we support each other. Which means right now we need some super-limbic mutants to think better than the rest of us, in order to help the human species restructure its societies and distribute resources more effectively without turning to tyranny to accomplish the goal.
And as Noe'e has told me, I'm one of those. I don't know what sort of difference I can make in the time I have left, but I know I have to try. With the causes of my problems being addressed, we can all now focus on the proper calling I came to live out, or at least what portion of it can be managed. I may not have been the first to be different, but I am still the first of my kind to be activated. How amazing to think that such a thing could happen.
If it doesn't happen before I die (supposed to be many years yet), I want an MRI or CT scan of my brain entered into the public record.
Live and love, everyone.
The basic idea in this comic is exactly right. That pleiotropic gene controls the hormone necessary for formation of gluteal and neocortical tissues. It specifically controls the number of layers of muscle and neurons added to their respective locations.
There is a detail the comic gets wrong. It's not that humans "lied about our ass obsession". It's that a neocortex which is too large causes schizophrenia (which is a data-processing disorder, and may in fact be a class of disorders with similar symptoms) and other processing disorders. See, the neocortical tissue is about relationships and interconnections (a side effect of all that ass-chasing), and enables abstraction and imagination, as well as generalization of experience. So it's always active. If it's more active than the underlying cortex or limbic structures can support, it will start to fire on irrelevant data, causing anxiety (up to and including paranoia), hallucinations, and a "crowded room" effect where anything including nearby symbols as well as the speech or energies of spirit entities might be translated into more data in an effort to feed the data-hungry neocortex. Classic "buffer underrun" error for continuously-processing analog systems. Ancient humans didn't want to have sex with crazy-acting people any more than modern humans do -- which is to say, rarely at best -- so neocortex size stabilized even though most of us still like big butts.
Here is another pleiotropy for the human brain: Cortical density (as opposed to neocortex) is directly related to alveolar density in the lungs by a single gene. And you can only make alveolae so dense before you start getting asthma and need larger lungs. If the lungs are too large, the heart gets smaller or the ribcage gets bigger. You have to pump enough blood to the brain to support its function, and you have to be able to exchange enough oxygen and carbon dioxide to burn the fuel your body takes in. (Note: Chimpanzees have an adequate neocortex, but a less-dense cortex. They get the "buffer underrun" problem, and thus manifest symptoms of autism and schizophrenia when over-stimulated.)
Which brings us to a third pleiotropy for the human brain: Limbic structure density and size are directly related to thickness of the intestinal lining, again by a single gene. That's because in order to have a larger brain, you have to be able to more effectively process your body's fuel. Elephants have incredible limbic systems, as do porpoises and field mice, for this reason -- it's an OLD gene, present in every mammal on Earth. A larger limbic system allows for better body control and proprioception, better spatial awareness, better musical/audio processing, and more effective communication between brain structures (enabling improved logic because your emotions are handled more efficiently, as well as higher psychic ability because you're both more sensitive to energies and processing the signals better). On top of that, you get a stronger immune system (much of the human immune system is built on a foundation of literal intestinal fortitude).
One drawback of a thicker intestinal lining is the increased risk of cancer: exposure to stomach acids can cause this regenerative layer to scar or alter over time, leading to excessive methylation and DNA alteration, while increased thickness means less ablation of polyps and unhealthy cells as well as slower regeneration of lost cells. On top of that, such cancers tend to metastasize. Plus, there is often a greater sensitivity to toxins and problematic proteins during times of physical growth such as early childhood and puberty -- explaining (at least in part) the pattern of my own food allergies. Finally, a thicker gut lining also costs more energy to support, leading to a tradeoff of body size vs energy intake. Until the past hundred years or so, we simply did not have the agricultural systems and nutritional knowledge to easily support such a mutation, though it wouldn't have killed us off, either, unless we were already starving like in Afghanistan. (Note: Bonobos have a stronger limbic system, but the same cortical density as other chimpanzees. This means they work out their stimulus needs via a highly-stimulating limbic behavior: sex. This leads to much better social relationships and less aggression overall, in part because they don't have to worry as much about getting overloaded with irrelevant data or other sensory processing disorders.)
So let's say your cortex gets bigger/denser. If you don't take in the energy to support it, you'll get less intelligent instead of more due to disorganized connection between neurons. So the intestinal lining and/or length will have to improve -- usually lining, though there's a limit on absorption efficiency based on the amount of breakdown required to process one's food.
But guess what? A slight boost in intestinal lining thickness will lead to an improved limbic system for humans. We do now have the necessary food growing and processing systems, as well as the necessary nutritional knowledge and worldwide logistics to bring these nutrients wherever they're needed. For example, turmeric contains a chemical (curcumin) now known to prevent metastasis of colon cancers by blocking the protein responsible for that migration. Do you like yellow mustard or curry? Turmeric is a yellow spice found in both of those foods. But the major exporters of turmeric happen to be in the region of the India subcontinent, particularly Tunisia and India -- if you live in the US or UK, it had to travel half the world to get to your dinner table.
So that's what's happening with the human brain right now. We can't chase bigger asses until we have a cortex that can support a bigger neocortex. And that means we need more nutritional value out of our food, which means we get a bigger limbic system.
We've been processing food since the day the first caveman dropped his meat in the watch-fire and ate it anyway, since the day one peeled a banana instead of eating it skin-on. We've continuously gotten more efficient and effective at delivering both calories and nutrients since then. Modern Western diets include foods so processed and packed with fuel that the mere act of eating one item can in fact give the eater a day's calorie requirements (Dairy Queen's Peanut Buster Parfait became infamous for this, at a current value of 730 Calories each, almost a half-day's calorie count for the average human). However, calories alone don't give well-being, and the Western poor person's diet is full of empty calories and outright toxic foods that don't effectively support an average brain, much less a high-powered mutant's. We really need the average person to get smarter, not just the top-end outliers. While quality training can really help, there's more to this; we need better societies, which are enabled by a change in basic brain capabilities (and thus the nature of our social relationships).
So basically what I'm saying is, humans are going to get physically bigger. Not by a whole lot. But bigger enough that we can collectively work out the problems with our societies and resolve our issues more effectively than ever before. Bigger enough that we can out-think the problems coming at us now, and maybe even return to space with intent to stay (yay asteroid mining, yay solar wind harvesting). Because if we went spacebound without those extra smarts, we'd eventually fall apart as a people and make whole new nations to war with each other.
And in order to get bigger, we need to get smarter about how we support each other. Which means right now we need some super-limbic mutants to think better than the rest of us, in order to help the human species restructure its societies and distribute resources more effectively without turning to tyranny to accomplish the goal.
And as Noe'e has told me, I'm one of those. I don't know what sort of difference I can make in the time I have left, but I know I have to try. With the causes of my problems being addressed, we can all now focus on the proper calling I came to live out, or at least what portion of it can be managed. I may not have been the first to be different, but I am still the first of my kind to be activated. How amazing to think that such a thing could happen.
If it doesn't happen before I die (supposed to be many years yet), I want an MRI or CT scan of my brain entered into the public record.
Live and love, everyone.
