living things; in other word, in this instance, the continuous creation which was responsible for the creation of the universe has decided to draw a new parallel universe of itself. At one point, aided by the right organic nutrients such as calcium, phosphate and nitrogen, algae or other form of moss was produced. Even a humble grocer as myself is aware of the role phosphate can play in creating algae. (At one time phosphate was used in great portions in detergent - it is now banned as a result of many scientific blind studies that proved the connection between this substance and the uncontrollable propagation of algae on the shores of lakes and seas). This may not seem to be the origin of such a complex species as ours, but when one considers how biological evolution works; it becomes very clear and logical. This is only one scenario of how life could have begun. Different elements could have also produced bacteria. Other unknown substances could also have been part of the primordial mix. The point is that primordial life is somehow able to emerge from the interaction of different substances. In fact, many scientists believe that the early earth had an atmosphere made of methane and carbon dioxide, which along with the right radiation from the sun, happen to form the initial components of life on earth. Interestingly, an experiment conducted by Melissa Trainer (not sure of the name), a scientist, from the university of Colorado, gave this theory some credit. In essence, the origin of biological life was very similar in nature to what you get when you mix different elements together. In the initial stages of biological life, there were no independent cells or beings, only systems were created. Moss, algae, sponge and fungi are among the systems that managed to survive to this date. For billions of years, reproduction was confined to splitting. To this date, our own cells still get rejuvenated by this method. By being able to reproduce, micro-organisms have triggered a mechanism which over the years has acquired such sophistication to a degree where we cannot fully comprehend. But this should not come as a surprise to us, not when we realize that the history of evolutionary biology is measured in billions of years. For instance there are hundreds of specialists working to understand the anatomy of the human body, let alone the rest of the species. Yet, all living things share a humble beginning: all of them, including us, are the creation of tiny bacteria; and all of them happened to be shaped by molecules that are made from tiny yet very distinct genes. To evolve from a tiny infinitesimal bacterium may seem to be unreal if not the imagination of science fiction writers, yet this is what has been established by the real world of science. This is the easy part, finding out how a species like ours was able to journey beyond its biological existence by acquiring the ability to think in abstract terms is the real puzzle. In the next pages, I shall make an attempt to provide some answers to this puzzle. Also, I shall try to explain why the leap to intelligence and inventiveness must have had to occur on a different planet, if not several ones, where I happen to believe our race had its early origin.
Most living things have developed a mechanism to evolve physiologically, in that they let their bodies find better ways to help them survive. However, this is not entirely accurate. A handful of modern scientists believe that most insects and lower life forms are capable of developing an aggregate mind or swarm intelligence. Some of them may go as far as to say that even plants and trees are also able to develop an aggregate mind. Although, this theory is hard to prove, it definitely has its merits. Just think of any fruit or plant. For instance, how did fruits evolve to be tasty so animals are encouraged to eat them and in the process spread the seeds which will give birth to more trees? On the other hand, the monarch butterfly is one example of how such a collective mind might be helping millions of these insects migrate in a timely and orderly fashion. Migrating birds are another indication of the existence of such a mind. The cyclical contraction and surge in the numbers of some pests could also be attributed to the controlling power of such an over encompassing mind. The presence of such a mind or swarm intelligence is prevalent to such a degree where one might be correct in thinking that even bacteria and germs are somewhat capable of developing their own aggregate mind as well. In light of these new findings, one has to view evolution as a transformation of both - body and mind. To us intelligence is connected to the brain, whereas to other living things, intelligence may be connected to something more sophisticated and advanced to the point where we are unable to comprehend. For instance most insects communicate through chemicals such as pheromones. Many others have developed something called swarm intelligence. It seems as if they share a brain that is the sum of certain neuron cells that are invisible to us which can be located in different area of the body as opposed to the head. Through these neurons, they can send and receive all types of subtle signals and messages which deal with issues relating to every day survival. As single individuals, birds may not have an impressive brain. However, once we become aware of a fragmented brain which can be shared among all the flock, we would be admiring those winged creatures for their amazing ingenuity. For us having a brain of a bird may refer to ignorance, for birds it is evolution in the highest order. Flying and weight do not go well together, and who would know that better than birds. A brain is too heavy. Birds realized that inventing a fragmented net of a brain which acts as a brain wave, each individual would be able to access this collective brain without having to carry a heavy one around. Turn out that birds have much more brain power than we had ever thought. In fact, this is what enables migrating birds to navigate thousands of miles around the globe, reaching their destination without being lost, yet unaided with any devices. Furthermore, particularly after the invention of digital computing, one may be tempted to suggest that the universe itself has some sort of a mind. The abstract universe has definitely evolved long before human intelligence. Bacteria are no different than any other living form; they want to be immortal in their own way. They consciously and deliberately evolved into creative beings called humans for a good reason: colonizing other planets. More on this topic later. Scientists are not going to take a serious look at this theory unless future generations discover more about aggregate intelligence. According to astrophysicists, our galaxies and perhaps our universe is controlled or in the grip of mysterious forces called dark energy and dark matter. Modern telescopes clearly show how an entire galaxy measuring millions of years in distance is surrounded by huge mysterious glowing haze. Things may not be that much different in the biological universe. Swarm or aggregate intelligence could be another mysterious force that has us and all other living things into its grip. In fact, in the future, the progress in fighting cancerous cells and germs such as flesh eating bacteria may come from studying how bacteria think and behave. Perhaps, one way to stop the spread of such diseases would be in tricking the bacteria into thinking that the whole infected body is of the same species. This could be done by mimicking an odor or electrical charges or something. This is not a joke. There are dogs that can identify a person stricken by cancer, and dogs are known for their strong sense of smell.
Of course any religious person would disagree with any nonconforming theory. For according to faith, the creation of any life form requires some sort of evolutionary planning, therefore in addition to the biological aspect of life, there is a need for a guiding mind to help accomplish the formation of any particular life form, be it a plant, an insect, a fish, a bird, a reptile or a mammal. It is fine to believe in this sort of thinking, however, as a realistic person, I saw no sign of any intelligent planning in creating the universe, nor do I see a sign of it in life. All I see is a jungle where every species struggle to survive, where every individual is at risk, not only from the element and other species but also from being harmed by his or her own kind. How can anyone convince me that this world we live in- where chaos reigns supreme, where murder, hunger, disease and war bring tragedy to billions on daily basis; where no one is immune to suffering and pain; where luck -or the lack of it- is sometime everything; where the forces of nature can bring death to millions at random- how can such cruel world be the creation of any guiding mind or spirit. Moreover, if there ever were an intelligent designer, he or she would have never allowed greedy, heartless, murderous, selfish and egocentric people to exist. The reason is simple: those individuals with their lack of conscience, combined with their apathy to others pause, a great danger to the survival of their own race, simply put an intelligent designer who allows these anomalies to occur cannot be intelligent., Forgive me for sounding combative, but, after so many wars and conflicts, we still fall into the same trap. Here we are in the age of space exploration, at the dawn of major discoveries in stem cell engineering, at the cusp of introducing artificial intelligence… still facing the grim possibility of being killed by terrorists or murderers. May be I am starting this chapter by writing its conclusion. Regardless, I must say that very little has
