Whole Dude – Whole Future – Evolution vs Extinction

Man’s Future – Evolution or Extinction?

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

Like all other living creatures of this planet Earth, man is a mortal being. Whosoever had arrived on this planet must also depart. As a biological species, what are man’s chances of survival in the future? Man arrived on planet Earth as a created being and exists as an Individual with Individuality without any choice. Life has always survived several major and minor extinction events and the issue of survival demands the existence of a human population, a mob of individuals with individuality.

Could Man Evolve into a new Species?

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

Man is a member of the order of Primates, which is a part of the class Mammalia. The Anatomically Modern humans belong to the species Homo sapiens which is further identified as subspecies sapiens. Man is the only species in the genus Homo of the family Hominidae that is living today. All other ancestral forms of the genus Homo are extinct. The early Homo sapiens was possibly present in southeastern Europe 350,000 years ago. The numbers and range of early humans has increased about 100,000 years ago.

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

The rate of expansion of human population is related to technological advancements that increase the availability of food, or of major medical advances that reduce the number of deaths. Man not only fully inhabits and utilizes a wide range of environments but also alters these environments to his own ends. With a variety of sophisticated technologies interposed between man and the natural environment, the environment cannot exert pressures on the human species in the same way that it has on other species.

Future of Man: Evolution or Extinction? Expression of Biological Information. DNA & Genetic Information. Operon. Abilities of DNA. Produce polypeptide. Forming new DNA. DNA as genetic material. Gene hypothesis. Protein synthesis. Griffith (1931) Beadle & Tatum (1944) Replication. Avery et. al (1944) Hershey & Chase.

Essentially, the modern synthetic view of evolution could be defined as a change in gene frequency. Evolution could be described as change in the genetic composition of a population through time. For purposes of speciation or separation into new species, we need to demonstrate cumulative and important changes in the population gene pool. In the last 250,000 years there is no evidence to show any important changes in the population gene pool. Practically speaking, man’s evolution into a new species is arrested because of the intervention of culture between man and his environment.

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

The Biological Phenomenon of Extinction

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

In biology, extinction refers to the dying out or termination of a race or species of animals or plants. Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels and all the surviving members perish at the end of their life spans which could be shortened by harsh environmental stresses. The causes of extinction include the following: 1. extra -terrestrial, 2. geological-climatical, and 3. biological. Most extinctions are thought to have resulted from environmental changes. A species could be affected in either of two ways:

1. The doomed species is not able to adapt to the changed environment and would totally perish without descendants;

2. The doomed species may adapt but, in the process, may evolve into a distinctly new species. When this transformation is completed, the doomed species would be identified as an extinct species. It should be noted that this kind of transformation of one species into a new distinct species is not actually observed by any person. The chances of man evolving into a new species is less likely because man has to some extent arrested this process due to the development of his abilities to manipulate nature.

Extinction is an ongoing feature of the Earth’s flora and fauna. The fossil record has served to demonstrate the history of most major groups of animals and plants. The record indicates the occurrence of fairly sudden extinctions of certain groups at certain times, and the fossil record also reveals the occurrence of a number of mass extinctions each involving the demise of vast number of species. A typical species becomes extinct within 10 million years of its first appearance and only one in a thousand species that have existed remain today. Some 99.9 percent of all species that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct. Mass extinctions are ecological disasters but they may also create opportunities by removing once dominant groups.

Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event (K-T EVENT)

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction. CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY EXTINCTION EVENT OR K-T EVENT, ABOUT 65 MILLION YEARS AGO, WIPED OUT APPROXIMATELY 80 PERCENT OF ALL SPECIES OF ANIMALS INCLUDING A GREAT VARIETY OF DINOSAURS .

A drastic example of extinctions is provided by the dinosaurs. About 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period all the major groups of dinosaurs and several forms of marine life became extinct more or less simultaneously. It has great significance because it ended the reign of the dinosaurs and opened the way for mammals to become the dominant land vertebrates. Some biologists conclude that humans owe our present dominance because of this K-T Event that saw the end of the dinosaurs.

Man’s Future – Evolution or Extinction: Dinosaur Extinction.Asteroid strike near Mexico may have caused Major Extinction Event called K-T Event. Impact site 1600km from Central America.

Evidence points to the impact of an asteroid hitting the Earth as the cause of this extinction. An important aspect of such impacts by heavenly objects would be the creation of tremendous amounts of ionizing radiation which has played a devastating role in wiping out the marine life. It is suspected that catastrophic events such as an asteroid impact/radiation may have triggered other mass extinctions as well. In fact, mass extinctions appear to have taken place approximately every 26 million years. Some paleontologists proposed that a cyclical cosmic event cause these periodic die-offs.

The Lessons from Dinosaur Extinction

The history of Dinosaurs: LONG-LASTING VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN DECCAN TRAPS REGION OF INDIA MAY HAVE CAUSED EXTINCTION OF DINOSAURS. EACH DINOSAUR CREATURE LIVED AS INDIVIDUAL WITH INDIVIDUALITY.

The history of dinosaurs upon planet Earth clearly tells us and warns us about the vulnerability of human existence. The structural differentiation and the sophisticated functional organization of man makes him a very complex organism. Such complexity actually places man in a position of disadvantage when a cataclysmic cosmic event actually happens. Organisms that are structurally simple and functionally primitive and those that feed upon dying or decaying organic matter may survive better and ride over the chaos caused by a massive collision.

The theory of evolution would not be able to offer a sense of hope to humanity and just like the dinosaurs, man would be the next doomed species. Life forms have become extinct and yet life continued. A living thing is a composite of form, and substance. We tend to pay attention to the form and disregard the nature of the substance. The living matter or substance has endured all extinction events over period of 3.5 billion years after the first appearance of Life on planet Earth. This living substance survives and displays the quality or the characteristic of being imperishable, immutable, immovable, and eternal. There is hope that the living substance would again survive a future major extinction event.

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

What about the life form that we recognize as man? Man could derive some comfort from the Book of Genesis, chapter 8, verse 22 which promises:

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

“As long as the earth endures,

seed-time and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.”

Man’s Future: Evolution or Extinction?

WHOLE SPIRITUALITY – WHOLE EVOLUTION

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: IN THE DESCENT OF MAN, CHARLES DARWIN SHARED A VIEW OF MAN'S ORIGIN BY A PROCESS OF NATURAL VARIATION FROM AN ANCESTRAL TYPE. WE HAVE YET TO DISCOVER A COMMON ANCESTOR FOR BOTH THE ANTHROPOID APES SUCH AS THE GORILLA AND THE MAN.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: “IN THE DESCENT OF MAN”(1871), CHARLES DARWIN SHARED A VIEW OF MAN’S ORIGIN BY A PROCESS OF NATURAL VARIATION FROM AN ANCESTRAL TYPE. WE HAVE YET TO DISCOVER A COMMON ANCESTOR FOR BOTH THE ANTHROPOID APES SUCH AS THE GORILLA AND THE MAN.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGISTS CLAIM THAT MAN HAS ARRIVED OR DESCENDED FROM AN ANCESTOR WITH 48 CHROMOSOMES AND CLAIM THAT ANCESTOR IS VERY LIKELY TO HAVE A GENOME SIMILAR TO THAT OF APES SUCH AS CHIMPANZEE AND BONBO.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGISTS CLAIM THAT MAN HAS ARRIVED OR DESCENDED FROM AN ANCESTOR WITH 48 CHROMOSOMES AND CLAIM THAT ANCESTOR IS VERY LIKELY TO HAVE A GENOME SIMILAR TO THAT OF APES SUCH AS CHIMPANZEE AND BONOBO.

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution involves the notion of a common ancestor for both man and the anthropoid apes. Both Gorilla and Chimpanzee are natives of Africa and they exist with 48 chromosomes as compared to man’s genome that consists of 46 chromosomes. Human Chromosome #2 attracted a lot of attention for the nearest ape relative bonobo has near identical DNA sequences . But, the problem is that of the separation of these DNA sequences into two chromosomes called #2 a, and #2 b giving the apes a genome with 48 chromosomes.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: Chromosome #2 IS THE SECOND LARGEST HUMAN CHROMOSOME. IT CONTAINS 1,491 GENES AND MILLIONS OF BASE PAIRS.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: Chromosome #2 IS THE SECOND LARGEST HUMAN CHROMOSOME. IT CONTAINS 1,491 GENES AND MILLIONS OF BASE PAIRS.

It would be very easy to speculate that the Human Chromosome #2 can result from an end to end fusion of two ancestral chromosomes such as the Chromosome #2 a, and Chromosome #2 b.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: IT IS NOT LIKELY TO PRODUCE HUMAN CHROMOSOME #2 FROM FUSION OF CHROMOSOMES #2a and #2b. APES DO NOT HAVE A FUSED CHROMOSOME.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: IT IS NOT LIKELY TO PRODUCE HUMAN CHROMOSOME #2 FROM FUSION OF CHROMOSOMES #2 a and #2 b. APES DO NOT HAVE A FUSED CHROMOSOME.

Man and apes exist with genomes that are almost identical and yet man cannot directly descend from the anthropoid apes. The fusion of Chromosomes #2 a, and #2 b would cause the production of a non-viable mutant or an individual who may not produce any offspring. Firstly, we need a male and a female with this fused chromosome in their gametes; the sperm and the egg to produce an offspring with a unique set of 46 chromosomes; 22 pairs of autosomes and a pair of (XY or XX) of Sex Chromosomes X,Y. It requires two identical, rare, mutant, male and female to produce offspring and to establish an entirely new population. The Theory of Evolution proposes that random, unguided, mutations lead to changes in a Species and eventually lead to its descent as a new Species. If fusion of two, distinct, separate chromosomes such as #2 a, and #2 b is required, the fusion event must happen in a Hominid population about 10,000 years ago and this population would have no relationship with the living apes.

THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN RACES:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EVOLUTION HAS TO DEAL WITH TWO BASIC ISSUES; 1. THE DISCOVERY OF HUMAN ANCESTORS, AND 2. THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN RACES.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EVOLUTION HAS TO DEAL WITH TWO BASIC ISSUES; 1. THE DISCOVERY OF HUMAN ANCESTORS, AND 2. THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN RACES.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: AMONG ANTHROPOLOGISTS THERE ARE TWO VIEWS ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF HUMAN RACES; 1.MONOGENY, AND 2. POLYGENY.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: AMONG ANTHROPOLOGISTS THERE ARE TWO VIEWS ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF HUMAN RACES; 1.MONOGENY, AND 2. POLYGENY.

The term “RACE” describes any of the different varieties or populations of human beings distinguished by physical traits such as hair, eyes, skin color, shape of body and head, facial features, and blood traits. These physical traits or characteristics are transmitted by heredity. However, it must be noted that such traits are highly variable, not every member of a race will exhibit all distinguishing traits. But, it is very clear that Human Races or varieties arose in response to inbreeding and not on account of interbreeding of different subspecies.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: ANTHROPOLOGISTS HAD INITIALLY DESCRIBED THREE PRIMARY DIVISIONS OF PEOPLE; 1. CAUCASOID, 2. MONGOLOID, AND 3. NEGROID. MEMBERS OF HUMAN SPECIES SHARE A COMMON HUMAN NATURE WHILE THERE IS VARIATION IN MORPHOLOGICAL APPEARANCES.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: ANTHROPOLOGISTS HAD INITIALLY DESCRIBED THREE PRIMARY DIVISIONS OF PEOPLE; 1. CAUCASOID, 2. MONGOLOID, AND 3. NEGROID. MEMBERS OF HUMAN SPECIES SHARE A COMMON HUMAN NATURE WHILE THERE IS VARIATION IN MORPHOLOGICAL APPEARANCES.

Anthropologists had initially described three primary divisions of people, 1. Caucasoid, 2. Mongoloid, and 3. Negroid. Thomas Huxley in his paper titled “On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind”(1870), had described racial varieties such as Bushman, Africoid, Negritoes, Melanochroi, Australoids, Xanthochroi, Polynesians, Mongoloids A, B, & C, and Esquimaux.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THOMAS HUXLEY DURING 1870 DESCRIBED THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF VARIOUS RACIAL VARIETIES. JOHANN FRIEDRICH BLUMENBACH(1775/76) DIVIDED MANKIND INTO FIVE GREAT FAMILIES - CAUCASIAN, MONGOLIAN, MALAYAN, ETHIOPIAN, AND AMERICAN.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THOMAS HUXLEY DURING 1870 DESCRIBED THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF VARIOUS RACIAL VARIETIES. JOHANN FRIEDRICH BLUMENBACH(1775/76) DIVIDED MANKIND INTO FIVE GREAT FAMILIES – CAUCASIAN, MONGOLIAN, MALAYAN, ETHIOPIAN, AND AMERICAN.

It is of no surprise to note the controversy regarding the terms used to identify the varieties of mankind. As such there is no agreement and the word ‘Species’ has no defined meaning. There are two schools of thought to account for the apparent variations among the members of the Human Species. Monogeny describes a view that all human races came from a common ancestor. Polygeny is a view that asserts the separate creation of races.

THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS FOR HUMAN RACES:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE VARIATIONS AMONG MEMBERS OF THE SAME SPECIES AND OF DIFFERENT SPECIES CANNOT BE IGNORED. WHILE ALL LIVING BEINGS ARE FUNDAMENTALLY ALIKE FOR THE LIVING MATTER OR LIVING SUBSTANCE IS THE SAME. THE VARIATIONS IN FORM DEMANDS THE OPERATION OF A MOST CREATIVE PROCESS.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE VARIATIONS AMONG MEMBERS OF THE SAME SPECIES AND OF DIFFERENT SPECIES CANNOT BE IGNORED. WHILE ALL LIVING BEINGS ARE FUNDAMENTALLY ALIKE FOR THE LIVING MATTER OR LIVING SUBSTANCE IS THE SAME. THE VARIATIONS IN FORM DEMANDS THE OPERATION OF A MOST CREATIVE PROCESS.

Today, some anthropologists entirely reject the concept of “RACE.” However, they stress the heterogeneity of world population. In Biology, the term ‘race’ is used to describe a subspecies, or variety, or breed. The search for a common ancestor for the entire Human Species is not yet over. In recent times, the techniques of DNA extraction and genomic sequencing have advanced. Evolutionary geneticists are describing their findings with a degree of boldness by simply studying the DNA and using the finding to predict the behavior and nature of the Homo Species members.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO FLORESIENSIS, ABOUT 3 FEET TALL, DISCOVERED IN LIANG BUA CAVE, ON THE ISLAND FLORES, INDONESIA. THE FLORES MAN HAS A FOSSIL RECORD THAT EXTENDS FROM 38,000 YEARS TO 12,000 YEARS AGO AND MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO FLORESIENSIS, ABOUT 3 FEET TALL, DISCOVERED IN LIANG BUA CAVE, ON THE ISLAND FLORES, INDONESIA. THE FLORES MAN HAS A FOSSIL RECORD THAT EXTENDS FROM 38,000 YEARS TO 12,000 YEARS AGO AND MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO SAPIENS IDALTU HAS BROW RIDGES, PROMINENT JAW AND GLOBULAR HEAD, WITH SLOPING FOREHEAD. THE SKULLS of 160,000 YEARS OLD IDALTU MAN DISCOVERED IN ETHIOPIA.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO SAPIENS IDALTU HAS BROW RIDGES, PROMINENT JAW AND GLOBULAR HEAD, WITH SLOPING FOREHEAD. THE SKULLS of 160,000 YEARS OLD IDALTU MAN DISCOVERED IN ETHIOPIA.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE IDALTU MAN WAS AT THE THRESHOLD OF MODERN HUMAN SPECIES ANATOMY BUT WAS NOT FULLY A MODERN HUMAN BEING.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE IDALTU MAN, ANATOMICALLY SPEAKING  WAS AT THE THRESHOLD OF MODERN HUMAN SPECIES  BUT WAS NOT FULLY A MODERN HUMAN BEING.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THIS REPLICA MAY REPRESENT A DENISOVAN GIRL WHOSE FINGER BONE CALLED PHALANX WAS DISCOVERED IN DENISOVA CAVE, ALTAI MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHERN SIBERIA. THE DENISOVA WAS MORE SIMILAR TO NEANDERTALS THAN TO MODERN HUMANS.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THIS REPLICA MAY REPRESENT A DENISOVAN GIRL WHOSE FINGER BONE CALLED PHALANX WAS DISCOVERED IN DENISOVA CAVE, ALTAI MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHERN SIBERIA. THE DENISOVA WAS MORE SIMILAR TO NEANDERTALS THAN TO MODERN HUMANS.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO SAPIENS RED DEER DISCOVERED IN MALUDONG OR RED DEER CAVE, YUNNAN PROVINCE, SOUTHERN CHINA HAD LIVED FROM 14,500 TO 11,500 YEARS AGO. RED DEER CAVE PEOPLE ARE NOT CLASSIFIED AS MODERN HUMANS.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: HOMO SAPIENS RED DEER DISCOVERED IN MALUDONG OR RED DEER CAVE, YUNNAN PROVINCE, SOUTHERN CHINA HAD LIVED FROM 14,500 TO 11,500 YEARS AGO. RED DEER CAVE PEOPLE ARE NOT CLASSIFIED AS MODERN HUMANS.

To resolve the problems about finding the biological basis for human races, we may have to take the help of the Science called Immunology that deals with man’s ability to defend his own existence by recognizing Self and Non-Self marker proteins(antigens), the protein molecules that cover the surfaces of every cell in the human body.

THE LAW OF CREATION AND INDIVIDUALITY:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX(MHC) IS THE HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN(HLA) GENE CLUSTER ON CHROMOSOME 6. HUMAN ORGANS AND TISSUES CANNOT BE TRANSPLANTED OR GRAFTED INTO THE BODIES OF UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS. HUMAN IDENTITY MUST BE DISCOVERED AT MOLECULAR LEVEL TO ESTABLISH THE AFFINITY BETWEEN TWO HUMAN INDIVIDUALS.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX(MHC) IS THE HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN(HLA) GENE CLUSTER ON CHROMOSOME 6. HUMAN ORGANS AND TISSUES CANNOT BE TRANSPLANTED OR GRAFTED INTO THE BODIES OF UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS. HUMAN IDENTITY MUST BE DISCOVERED AT MOLECULAR LEVEL TO ESTABLISH THE AFFINITY BETWEEN TWO HUMAN INDIVIDUALS.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: HUMAN IDENTITY INVOLVES THE SURFACE MARKER PROTEINS FOUND ON EVERY CELL. TRANSPLANTED ORGANS AND TISSUES COULD BE REJECTED AS FOREIGN(NON-SELF) BY A HOST OR RECIPIENT FOR THE ANTIGENS ARE RECOGNIZED AS NON-SELF.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: HUMAN IDENTITY INVOLVES THE SURFACE MARKER PROTEINS FOUND ON EVERY CELL. TRANSPLANTED ORGANS AND TISSUES COULD BE REJECTED AS FOREIGN(NON-SELF) BY A HOST OR RECIPIENT FOR THE ANTIGENS ARE RECOGNIZED AS NON-SELF. SIMILARLY, INFECTIOUS AGENTS AND PATHOGENS ARE RECOGNIZED GIVING THE BODY THE ABILITY TO RESIST INFECTIONS.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - HUMAN EVOLUTION: HUMAN EXISTENCE DEMANDS THE ABILITY TO DEFEND ONE'S OWN EXISTENCE TO MAINTAIN THE ABILITY TO LIVE AS A SPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL WITH INDIVIDUALITY.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – HUMAN EVOLUTION: HUMAN EXISTENCE DEMANDS THE ABILITY TO DEFEND ONE’S OWN EXISTENCE TO MAINTAIN THE ABILITY TO LIVE AS A SPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL WITH INDIVIDUALITY. THE RECOGNITION OF SELF AND NON-SELF IS THE FUNDAMENTAL BASIS TO MAINTAIN SEPARATE IDENTITY TO ESTABLISH THE EXISTENCE OF THE HUMAN INDIVIDUAL.

The many aspects of immunological recognition is more important than that of the recognition of ancestral Species from which the Human Species may have arrived or descended. The HLA antigens are very remarkable for the extensive degree of genetic polymorphism; that is the variability between individuals is very great and there could be no two identical individuals as unrelated individuals have different HLA antigens. Histocompatibility is a condition of compatibility between the tissues of a graft or transplant and the tissues of the body receiving the graft or transplant. The understanding of histocompatibility is important for the success of organ transplantation and it clearly demonstrates that the Human Species has no choice other than that of existing as Specific Individuals with Individuality. The concept of descent from another Species cannot account for immunological recognition which formulates the basis for histocompatibility and Immunity from infections.