Evolution of Humankind: Is it Over?
By J. Ajith Kumar
As we enter the third millennium in the current phase of human civilization, grand experiments are afoot to unravel the "mother of all secrets," i.e. the origin of life. In the past 50 years or so, a series of our most brilliant people have been struggling to postulate a universally acceptable theory about origin of life, but all in vain. A clear-cut hypothesis about the "first form of life" - let me call it fifol – still eludes us. In spite of our best efforts, we have been unable to recreate that first spark of life, just as we unable to put forward a convincing alternative theory.
A Different Perspective
If we take a broad look at all the happenings in this universe, we can
find three aspects standing out – logic, symmetry and repetition
(cyclic). All said and done, there is a definite logic in all that is
happening around us, be it an earthquake in Turkey or a NATO bombing in
Kosovo. As each of them happens, we feel sad and disillusioned. But when
historically put together, we find all such events do fall in place and
the overall picture looks logical. There is always a certain direction;
quite often we fail to identify it at the moment, but realize it historically.
All these years, we have believed that a freak lightning kindled the first spark of life in a peculiar organic mixture millions of years ago. However, all our efforts in redoing it have proved unsuccessful so far. All this while, one theory that gained universal acceptance in the mind of all literate men the world over is Darwin’s theory about evolution of mankind. Save for the fundamentalists, almost the entire world has come to accept it as the truth. Quite interestingly, the oldest surviving religion, viz. Hinduism, covers it well in its various scriptures and beliefs. The ten incarnations (avatars) of the lord, starting from fish and close friendships of Lord Rama with monkey clans (in the epic Ramayana) in the not-so-distant past are just glimpses of this.
Being logical in all its designs, it is not prudent to believe that "fifol" presented itself due to lightning when the evolution theory postulates an underwater beginning for life. Also, in keeping with the symmetrical nature of all creations, it is quite possible that "fifol" must have been bisexual, which later on split up into "Adam" and "Eve" as it evolved, probably in the shores of Yemen. If life started in this planet, it would be more logical to believe that an underwater phenomenon in the Mariana Trench produced the "fifol" at about –40 deg C and 10,000 bar. Over the ages, a few of the fittest "fifols" would have ventured up the ocean and developed the physiological capabilities to survive at higher temperatures and rarer atmospheres. They must have eventually got on the ground and advanced into homo sapiens. Incidentally, it is quite possible that some of those "fifols" are still left and our marine biologists should be able to locate one with all the modern gadgets and resources available now.
Evolution
Evolution of life so far has been highly logical and it is well documented.
It leaves very little room for any doubts or disbelief. A whole lot of
living things have since evolved, and the full spectrum is truly mind
boggling. But what we need to look at now, as members of humankind, is
our evolution at least in the last two millennia. It is very important
to do so because of three reasons:
- Have we evolved in a desirable direction so far?
- Who is at the forefront of the evolution chain right now?
- Where do we go from here?
Opinions will vary among social scientists about all these aspects, but
it is most significant to identify who is "leading the evolutionary
chain" at this point of time. This is very important because a whole
lot depends on these "evolutionary" leaders (not revolutionary)
as to where we are headed. If we are sure that Americans are leading,
then we are headed in one direction and if Iraqis are the leaders, it
is another. Individually also, it matters as to who is the most evolved?
We need to point out the role models to our children.
Years ago, some of our doctors identified "heredity" – common characteristics of a herd - as a parameter closely identified with cancer. The tendency of all of us humans to follow the crowd (especially in this information age when tendencies can be highly contagious) indicating common characteristics is some thing that will decide the future of humankind. Unless we identify the most evolved human being(s) and follow their lead, the consequences can be disastrous. If we are following the wrong lead it is most likely that the evolutionary chain will terminate sooner and it will be time again for the next "fifol."
Reason for Hope
In the prevailing air of acute pessimism, we can always expect that Mother Nature will eventually throw up yet another logical phenomenon by which the ideal lot at the forefront of evolution will be identified. This phenomenon can take any form, viz. a massive earthquake or epidemic or crashing into a black hole. As it has always been proven, only the fittest will survive and the fittest need not necessarily be the mightiest, as some of us believe. Instead of waiting for that eventual intervention of mother nature, perhaps it is worthwhile now for another Darwin to identify the best amongst us and guide humankind in the right direction. There is definitely much reason for hope in our world-wide scientific community, who have already evolved as international citizens.