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Darwin's Computer
Just think how different the theory of evolution might be if Charles Darwin had used a computer. It's not that he needed to crunch a lot of numbers to check out his theory, it is just that he was operating without the benefit of many basic concepts that the computer represents. For one, he had no concept of a code driven system. He had no idea that his theory of evolution depended on such a system to function. Nor did he have any concept of DNA, the heart of that system. If he had understood just those two concepts out of the many that have come to light since, his book Origin of the Species probably would have been very different. If he, or any of those individuals who helped define the theory in it's first one hundred years, had understood that biophotons are emitted by DNA in living cells, if they had been aware of Cleve Backster's experiments with living cells and their ability to communicate over great distances, or modern quantum physics, or holistic/holographic principles, or Gaia, or information theory, our present version theory of evolution might be entirely different.
The Digital Revolution
You know how it works; once a document has been converted to a string of code(digitized), the code can be modified, resulting in corresponding changes in future copies of that document. You use your computer to read or modify the document by changing the code. That is great for documents, but it was found that the same principle applied to any manufactured object. In an assembly line run by digital computers, changes in code can be reflected in immediate changes in the manufactured product. That's a big deal.
Furthermore, the digitized virtual object can be tested in a virtual environment and improved without having to build one. Many other things can be done with this virtual object, like ordering materials and designing the packaging or calculating shipping weight/cost, without ever having a real object. Computers have revolutionized the manufacturing process. It is easy to take that for granted these days, but just a few years ago, people used their brains to do the very same thing. Yes, believe it or not, people would build virtual models in their heads and test them to see how they would do.
Besides just the discovery of the DNA molecule itself, the big deal was to realize that DNA also functions like a string of code. Changes in the DNA result in corresponding changes in the bio-manufactured product.
Code Driven System
Once you understand the basics of a code driven system, it is obvious that random mutation cannot be the source of change in biological organisms. That is, the changing of one bit by random mutation compromises the code, maybe even breaks it. Coherent change can only occur when a viable string of code is added or replaced. It is like in a written language, the changing of a letter here and there doesn't usually affect the meaning except in cases where changing one letter actually changes one word into another. Even then, the new word must fit into the old context to work. So these single errors are easily spotted and corrected and the overall meaning remains intact. In order to significantly change a passage, many letters and words must be changed or rearranged. It is the same with DNA code; random mutation breaks the code, meaningful change happens when larger strings of code are added or replaced.
It has already been established that genetic material is fairly mobile in the environment. Fragments of genetic code are carried around by viruses and such. So we have a proven mechanism that can easily replace random mutation as the source of change in evolution. This is not a new theory, at all. The old theory is known as panspermia. A more modern version, Cosmic Ancestry contends that spore born organisms carry bits of DNA that are incorporated into the DNA of other species to produce change. Dr. Fred Hoyle has been telling us for years that spores are well adapted to travel in space. So, DNA arriving from space and being incorporated into terrestrial DNA could explain a lot of things that don't presently make a lot of sense.
This would account for the some of the strange findings of the Human Genome Project like finding identical strings of DNA in humans and coral, for example. If the DNA evolves in place, identical strings of code in these two totally different animals doesn't seem very likely. But it makes sense if genetic material moves around like packets in a network. Time to update our thinking in this area.
What's holding up the paradigm shift? Once one starts down this path, it becomes a slippery slope that threatens to collapse the whole of western science. Recent discoveries in bio-electrics and quantum physics back up what the mystics, seers and sages(not to mention witchdoctors, hippies and new age cult leaders) have said all along... that the universe we live in is intelligent, willful and has a memory, as do all of the creatures that inhabit it with us.
This changes everything!!!
Take symbiotic relationships for example: In order for the complex arrangements and physical changes that we find taking place in some of these symbiotic relationships, there HAS TO BE sophisticated modeling and planning involved. And it involves modifying a string of code with forethought and intent, to achieve concrete goals in the future.
Addiction: psychological dependence on a drug
That's the accepted simple definition, but the phenomenon is not simple at all. Just going thru the alternate definitions one can find, points out the depth of the concept. Addiction is referred to as a disease, a brain disorder, a compulsion and in some cases, refers to a habitual action rather than a drug. Like being addicted to the internet. That's looking at addiction from the human perspective, but what function does addiction serve in the larger picture? We know that other animals, besides we humans, regularly inebriate themselves. Why?
Symbiosis
Science has documented countless symbiotic relationships in our environment. Evolutionary theory would like us to believe that all of these elaborate cooperative agreements are just very fortunate accidents. This is one of the areas of science that gets turned on it's head with the acceptance of a holistic model of a living biosphere. This model contends that symbiotic agreements are negotiated and maintained between intelligent entities within the system by constant communication via messenger molecules.
Like the molecule produced by the moth when she lays her eggs, so that the fig tree delays the ripening of its fruit to allow the moth larvae time to mature. Or the molecule in the nectar or pollen that keeps the insects coming back. The molecules that cause addiction for the most part are copies of molecules that are produced naturally in the body. In an intelligent universe, plants produce these drugs for a purpose.
Subconscious Manager
Think of it this way( indulge me for a moment)... our body is like a town or a country or a corporation in that our consciousness, the ol' ego, is like the president/mayor/CEO, in charge and all that, but not the one who deals with the day to day operations. That would be the town or operations manager. They manage things more or less behind the scenes, taking care of the details, as does our subconscious, while the ego fronts for the operation. Like the manager, our subconscious filters out info deemed extraneous and presents the ego with a condensed version of reality and outlines specific options. The body is further managed by a host of departments and committees that each have their own jurisdiction, priorities and methods. You know, the whole triune brain, cognitive dissonance, split-brain, and all... a sort of the internal politics whose behind-the-scenes interaction really culminates in our behavior.
This whole living, holographic universe thing is really saying that that same kind of internal politics extends beyond the boundaries of our skin and includes, at least, the entire range of DNA regulated processes... the whole biosphere.
One of the internal departments under the subconscious is the management of symbiots. Sort of like the city manager's contracts with local businesses to get the city's work done. Like there is the deal we have with the thousands of different microbes in our gut to process our food. Or the deals our ancestors have made with plants that feed us, mind and body, like the agreement made with the fungi that produce alcohol, or of course, the magic mushrooms.
Green Chile
This department also decides what you like and don't like to eat. Say you eat a bowl of green chile. First thing is that it burns the heck out of your mucus membrane. That's enough to keep some critters from eating chile at all, but there are benefits to those who can get past the initial pain. So your subconscious systems manager looks up the fragrance and taste in your internal database and finds that the system recognizes green chile and tells the brain that the pain is a good sign... it's real hot and that equals good stuff. Maybe it is because you regularly eat chile or maybe your great grandfather had a long history of chile abuse. At any rate your system is going for the benefits which include endorphins(feel good) reacting to the pain, increased heartrate, improved circulation, some semblance of control over digestive parasites and such.
So your subconscious decides that chile is a good thing and lobbies for a few chile plants in the back yard, which you plant thinking it is your own very clever idea. Essentially the chile plant has recruited a symbiot, that is: modified the behavior of the individual to insure the propagation of future generations of chile. To accomplish this feat it has manufactured highly complex molecules targeted to specific receptor sites in your nervous system. Now in the current scientific model, featuring a dead universe, all of this is just a fortunate accident for everyone, but in the living universe we see that it is a strategy employed by the chile plant and an agreement made between the plant and the human subconscious involving messenger molecules and learning for both parties.
So we find that the chile plant can influence the behavior of human beings to gain a symbiotic advantage within the environment. In other words, at least some of our human behavior COMES TO US FROM THE OUTSIDE, by way of plant manufactured messenger molecules. What could a really intelligent species with the chemical know-how of our fungus friends cook up to influence the behavior of human beings?
When it all snaps into focus you will see that pain suppression, physical stimulation, healing, addiction and hallucinations are really just different strategies employed by plants to recruit and supervise symbiotic partners. We are bound by the same kind of agreement that the flower has with the insects that pollinate it.
Memory Structure
The reason this is so difficult to grasp seems to be that most people are locked into the hierarchy model of existence. With this model all things must come from a single source. It is exemplified by the chain of command we use in organizations, reflected in our theories of how things work, our religion, and our idea of intelligence. We think the Universe and everything else has to work from the top down. This model is also a very static model, but is the one we use in our heads for almost everything. We western educated people tend to file input on a 4D memory structure, shaped like a directory tree, an outline or a pyramid, with a mythical source at the top. This method organizes the input according to subjective meaning and value. Civilization depends on this kind of thinking.
More *primitive* folks tend to file their info in a structure that mimics the environment. It is spacial, rhythmic and in synch with the cosmos. There is no top, no bottom, no beginning and no end. This organizes the input according to it's environmental reference. It works very well for living in harmony with the environment.
The structure we use in our heads to organize information dictates how we are going to think about certain things. For example, in organized religion the hierarchy structure puts god at the top and his *will* filters down to the lowly worshipers. In the Earth religions, there is no top. The creative force is all of it and the *will* is the act of creation going on everywhere at once, in perfect harmony with ALL of the rhythms, from biophotons to the music of the spheres.
It is very hard to visualize one if you are locked in the other. That is one of the advantages of certain drug experience is that the plant teaches you to see them both. You may recognize that the two different memory structures correspond to the different ways of processing info discussed in split brain theory.
New Age Shift
I think all of this new age stuff refers to this change in the style of thinking from the static triangle/pyramid to the dynamic circle/sphere. There is a new group consciousness developing around more advanced organizational concepts. The thing is, we find our environment doesn't really run on a hierarchy system, but a holistic one. We also find that frequency, vibration and the synchronization are the very stuff of solid matter. The concept that all things are made up of vibrating energy suddenly makes the universe a very different place. The old static models are no longer valid.
Ahh, but the old ways die hard. Darwin's very enlightened, but dated concept has been hardwired into the minds of several generations of "the keepers of knowledge". They have not been able to incorporate these diverse new discoveries into the old paradigm, especially over the last fifty years. It is no surprise; they are not a good fit. What is needed is a clean slate, back to the drawing board approach. That is not likely to happen within the old system.
If Darwin had used a computer, we could just go back into his original document and update the parts that need it and we would all have the new paradigm on our desktop. But alas, our document handling is still evolving.
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References
Cleve Backster's Primary Perception
Science, Spirits, and Core Shamanism
by Michael Harner
More on the Mushroom Detectives
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