Читать книгу Survival: The Ultimate Mission - Robert M.D. Skaf - Страница 7

THE LEAP TO INTELLIGENCE

(Is it an evolution or a continuous creation? We must belong to a species that has discovered billions of years ago that biological evolution on its own does not suffice to help us survive beyond a certain planet or certain earth.)

It has been established that matter is able to transmute and create forces on its own. Now it becomes relevant to establish how an atom is able to give rise to a living thing. By a living thing we mean anything that is able to self-replicate or reproduce on its own. As in the case of the universe, life must have had a very simple origin. Before we even get started, let me advise you that it would be useful to think in terms of parallels as opposite to angles. (Incidentally, the strands of our DNA happen to be shaped in a parallel configuration which perhaps explains why scientists will one day understand how it functions, whereas in the case of primary matter they may never be determined, for they have no parallel to use as a comparison.) Let me elaborate: you are thinking in angular terms when you are trying very hard to know everything about all facets of everything; on the other hand, you are thinking in parallel terms when you are admitting that it is impossible to think in angular terms for no one is able to know everything about any particular thing. Let me tell you why we are not capable of thinking in angular terms. As we all know an angle is made of two lines that start from one point and shoot into two different directions. Now pretend you are one line and the subject matter is the other line. If one is aiming to know everything about something one must start at the beginning when there was nothing, but one cannot do that for no one can ever be sure that there was a beginning or nothingness. Things get even more incomprehensible as the lines grow more distant. Furthermore, at one point the two lines become lost and completely out of touch with anything where they disappear, in a way no longer exist. Things are different when it comes to parallels. In the case of the universe, it has been established in this discussion that the continuous creation has come to be: there was never a beginning nor will there be an end. What we always had was a creation that endlessly keeps creating a different creation. There is no total death nor is there a complete elimination. But even when one is no longer interested in knowing the beginning, thinking in angular terms will get you nowhere for the lines grow so far apart that it would be impossible to keep them in the same zone. Thinking in parallel terms is much different. Again pretend to be one line and the subject is the other line. No matter how great the lines, the distance separating them is to remain constant. However great the lines, they will always constitute a small segment of two infinite parallels. The subjects may grow extremely complex, yet with parallels, you will always be able to have an anchor, an image or a point of reference, if you will. This is the reality of our condition as human beings. No matter how knowledgeable and advanced we may be, we will never know how things had started nor will we ever know how the future is going to unfold. We are only able to relate to a segment of the line, for we are not able to venture beyond some sort of an anchor or a point of reference. An image can only reflect what is real, like it or not, this is as far as our creative thinking can take us. Pasteur may have been a great genius but it was a simple observation which he used as a point of reference which in turn led him to the introduction of vaccine. His work was focused on treating and curing the sick not on the reasons or the origin of viruses. The Wright brothers spent weeks observing birds flying before they nailed down their successful design for a flying machine. Comparing, copying and repeating are the stepping stones one uses to learn and think. In a way they are all tactics we use to enable us to see things in parallels.

Based on these observations, one would be justified in stating that no one has or will ever have a definitive answer on how life had begun. All we have established so far is that everything that exists has to be in a state of continuous creation. What is being recreated has nothing to do with any planning or purpose. This goes for all elements. On earth: water, soil, light and air happened to come together. We shall discuss how this took place later on, for the time being we will satisfy ourselves by using this mix to help us understand how the interaction of chemical elements and substances can cause them to create something that can duplicate on its own. Observing how fungi, algae and moss manage to grow is a good example of how biology can be the product of interacting chemicals. Of course, on earth, one can never be certain that these elements could be completely free of other ingredients or seeds. However, according to biologists, it is possible for elements on their own to create life. Basically, once amino acids are formed, protein and life become the natural emerging by-products. In principle, one may be compelled to believe that pure chemistry was alone responsible for primordial life. After all, our own bodies discharge chemicals that are very similar to the ones responsible for the genesis of life. According to experiments conducted by many scientists, ammonia (NH3), methane(CH4), water vapor(H2O), and hydrogen(H2) mixed together along with an electrical charge result in the creation of amino acids and some biological compounds, the process is called chemosynthesis. Personally, I find this theory very credible for a simple reason: through our bodily function we discharge the same chemicals responsible for the creation of life. Urine is ammonia and water, the gas passed through flatulence is methane, heat must be connected to hydrogen, and our body generates electricity on its own. Still, despite all what has been said, one can never establish that earth is the origin of life as we know it or otherwise - let alone the origin of our species. Of course, this is not to say that life needed a creator of some sort to come to be. In essence, all I am saying is that since earth was never completely free of foreign objects, life on earth could very well be of an alien origin; and based on this observation, life would predate earth. Furthermore, one may even argue that life has been around for as long as the universe itself. It may not have looked the same as the life we know on earth but it was there. What I am trying to say is that one cannot isolate earth from the rest of the universe. Anything on earth must have started on a cosmic scale. Ingredients needed to establish life could have been several cosmic systems that came together to give birth to a cosmic size pot of soup. For instance a whole cosmic system could have been made up of water; another one could have been composed of amino acid...and so forth. In fact, a collision of a planet made exclusively of ice could be the reason earth has so much water; (actually, water only amounts to a tiny fraction of the earth mass, 1.52% to be exact, whereas the oceans cover over 70% of its surface.) This is not hard to prove. Our own solar system contains planets that are completely made of one type of material. In fact, these tiny planets or meteors may still be responsible for many freak storms that occur on occasion in various part of the globe. Other planets are exclusively made of one element, for instance, Venus is a ball of iron, and Jupiter is a globe composed of hydrogen. It takes the combined collisions of several cosmic bodies to form a planet like ours. Some geologists are convinced that most of the metals found on earth have an alien origin. Having said that, one may also be allowed to imagine other scenarios for the genesis of life on earth. One of them would be to credit an intelligent species with the whole process. Suppose that long ago, long before bacteria appeared on earth or evolved, an intelligent species was able to land on earth. In that case, even if that particular species failed to survive, its own bacteria contaminated remains would have introduced life to earth. This possibility is far-fetched particularly when it is impossible to find any evidence to support the occurrence of such an event. Nonetheless, it cannot be ruled out. Interestingly, in this case, the future may be the key to the past. In that, future generations who will be able to survive for a very long time may be able to find the keys which would unlock the secrets of the past.

At this point, one might ask why life was created in the first place. The answer is simple: for the same reason every force in the universe was created. This is how the matter stays alive; this is why everything that exists is destined to remain in a state of continuous creation - including our own race. Simply put, at one point in time, a force must have altered certain molecules whereby they became biological cells capable of self-replicating and staying alive by feeding on other chemicals and thus life was begun. We have seen how fusion can bind matter into atoms, how atoms join different ones to form molecules which in turn create elements and substances. For example, water is an element that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, air is oxygen that is mixed with nitrogen, salt is chlorine and sodium and so on. For anyone of us, the sight of the sea is captivating. Just the sheer size is suggestive of an awesome power. However, unlike the forces resulting from negative and positive charges in massive particles, unlike extreme heat, that cause atoms to be created; the force of water is no longer working or no longer able to create new matters. Still, based on the theory of continuous creation which stipulates that things must stay in motion, transmute, fuse or divide, water has no choice but to comply with the law of continuous creation. If water and soil are not able to fuse or transmute as elements, they found a way to transform themselves into 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 been learned from past tragic events for one reason: many of us have not evolved to think beyond biological survival and self-preservation. And as we shall discover, nothing is going to change until we all know the difference between a biological survivor and a true human survivor, between self-preservation and the survival of the species. Only and only then do we realize that our conditions will start to improve as a result of our own efforts and planning. In essence, our lives and the lives of future generations will greatly depend on the universe we create on our own. The goal of this essay is to offer a few suggestions on how this task can be accomplished. Early on, we have talked in the first chapter about a force I called the continuous creation. This force never leaves us and is prevalent everywhere. It did not allow matter or particles to stay inactive; it does not allow living things to stagnate neither. Like it or not this is the way things are. Biologists tell us that species evolve in such a manner where survival is foremost on their mind. This may be true at a certain time of the life of a particular species. But, the initial stage of evolution is triggered by the same force that created this universe. Let me give you a simple proof: bacteria are more resilient than any other living things known to us; they did not have to evolve, yet they did, and they are still around and perhaps will be able to survive forever. The same goes for plant biology, from a survival perspective, plants are a lot safer in or under water, yet they are everywhere, even in the desert. The reason: staying nothing but a bacterium or a moss implies stagnation! As in the case of physical existence; stagnation is not allowed in the biological world either. Simply put: matter is forced to transmute, split or fuse; biological forms are forced to evolve. One more thing: according to the theories of evolution, species should become better adapted at survival as they evolve; in most cases the opposite happens. You know what I am talking about when you observe how hundreds if not thousands of species had died off since the evolution began on this planet, where on the other hand, many insects and bacteria which did not evolve; nonetheless, are still with us today. Note that the majority of the extinctions took place long before humans began to impact the environment. Contrary to evolutionary beliefs, evolution does not ensure survival; nor does it introduce law and order. I suppose one could propose that there are two sorts of evolution. One happened to be entirely related to an all-encompassing force which we called the continuous creation. The other is more tangible and completely connected with the way a particular species evolves to improve its chances for survival. The former has nothing to do with survival and is only interested in creating different images, different experiences through different beings. In fact one may be tempted to call this type of evolution: creative biology. It is only meant to create a new world, or a different universe, which is capable of introducing beauty, joy, happiness, fun and pleasure to a rather dull, harsh and brutal environment. We as a species are the perfect example of how a species that aspires to transcend beyond biology may evolve. It is so amazing to see how simple biology is able to transform itself and evolve beyond stagnation - owing this astonishing feat to the ultimate force of continuous creation. What is more astounding is to note how all this action takes place while the focus of the latter mechanism is to keep the species alive. One can clearly deduce that the dual personality of every human being, the struggle between beauty and brutality, the fight between creativity and destruction, the dispute between right and wrong and all other contradictions experienced by every individual, if not every living form, go back to the beginning of times. Indeed, they are not the products of any particular race, culture or era. Regretfully, one may also deduce that no species, humanity in particular, is going to be free of this never ending dilemma.

As much as evolutionists and creationists disagree with each other, they both share one thing in common: their goal is to prove that there is law and order in this world, where in fact, chaos rules and disorder prevails. The irony is that in many cases, their effort ends up adding more destruction and atrocity to a place already rife with violence, hardship, injustice, corruption, suppression and oppression - in addition to confusion, insecurity and uncertainty. Nonetheless, biologists are right in one aspect: all living things are committed to staying alive. Humans are no different. The only exception is that at one point in time humans must have realized that to survive they must thing beyond biology. We shall discuss how this took place later on; for now let’s find out how life could have evolved.

The forces of nature such as gravity and electromagnetic, even life itself have been created by coincidence as result of random interaction of certain massive systems or particles or elements or substances, however, the reason these forces do exist happens to be the over encompassing force we have called the Continuous Creation. This force has always been in existence and always will be. In fact, as observed earlier, the entire universe or universes are better identified by giving them the name: Continuous Creation - since everything that exists is always in a state of motion or continuous creation. Whether the big bang took place or not, whether the seeds of life on this planet were carried from a faraway planet and subsequently implanted by a comet or not, whether the entire solar system would one day collapse; the process of creation never stops. Even if one were to believe that all things living were obliterated by the huge explosion caused by the big bang, one cannot rule out the possibility that life somehow could have made its way back to our universe from a faraway zone that is unknown to us which we may call the infinite universe. Once we can establish that there are two universes: ours and the infinite one, we should have no problem deducing that our universe is only a zone of this infinite universe or this Continuous Creation - that is presently unfathomable to us.

Although made of elements, life is completely different from matter. First of all, unlike matter, life does not exist everywhere. Secondly, not only is life fragile, it is as well destructible. Yes, life may have been around forever and will be around forevermore, but unlike matter, it is not immune to destruction. In other words, immortality does not necessarily mean indestructibility.

Left in this precarious situation, intuitively, life had to do more than transmute and stay active. Certainly, not by choice but by necessity, life had to branch out into millions of forms if not billions. The creation of all these forms, we call species, was made possible by the gene’s ability to evolve and transform itself into a completely new forms better equipped to survive all the challenging changes that are always occurring in the environment. This arrangement works extremely well and makes perfect sense. Life on this planet is a perfect example of how effective and clever this strategy is. In every corner of our globe, life is clearly represented by a different species that is able to spread into different territory as soon as an opportunity to do so presents itself. We have species that make the desert their home. There are animals and mammals that enjoy living in the North Pole; where others are comfortable to be in the South Pole. Despite over fishing, the oceans are still teeming with living forms we are yet to discover. There is life even at the deepest of our oceans. Recent discoveries have revealed that some bacteria and fungi are able to stay dormant for thousands of years only to spring back to life at the right conditions. Actually, this was the reason behind the death of many individuals after Howard Carter opened the tomb of King Tutankhamen. Apparently, they were stung by an insect that was able to survive by feeding on a mold that grew on the coffin. Later on, as a result of the insect bites, they developed a deadly infection that medical science of the time was not able to deal with. This discovery and other new ones are proof that life in general terms can be transported from one planet to another whenever it happens to cling to a comet or an asteroid. Not only did life evolve to survive on this planet and other planets, it has also developed the mechanism to survive an interplanetary and galactic journey. Deep in the earth crust one may find a thriving community of microorganism that survives on all sorts of minerals. But life is not only about biological survival. As stated earlier, if this was the case, insects and bacteria would the best suited to stay alive. Indeed, even the most adapted creatures or animals that happen to exist or had ever existed on this planet are no match to these tiny critters when it comes to surviving beyond the confine of this planet. Part of the reason that the human species is interested in colonizing new planets can be easily attributed to survival. Deep in our subconscious mind, we know that this planet and the solar system are going to disappear one day. Our efforts to discover more hospitable planets are perfectly logical. The more planets we colonize, the more chances we create for our survival. In fact, one may argue that in view of our intuitive interest to move beyond this planet and our insatiable desire for adventure and exploration can only be so deeply entrenched in our subconscious mind as a result of previous experience relating to space travel as a mean of survival - in other word the proof for our alien origin lies in the manner by which our brain has evolved to infect us with this intuitive desire to venture beyond our planet. The same cannot be said about millions of other species that won’t be able to survive this test. According to Darwinism, all living things are supposed to develop better mechanisms to survive as they evolve. Definitely, this theory does not hold water when drastic changes are to occur on our planet. In the winter of 2007, thousands of cattle perished as a result of a snow storm in the U.S. One can only imagine the consequences of more extreme conditions. Biological and physiological evolution alone do not ensure survival, dinosaurs are the perfect example of how a powerful species could perish whereas an invisible insect prevail. In fact, one cannot be sure if any life form has a better chance to outlast bacteria even if conditions on this planet were to stay forever the same. If this is the case why any living thing chooses to evolve in the first place? My initial answer would be that in most cases evolution does not take place just for reasons relating to survival. This topic will be discussed at length later on, for the time being let’s just conclude that the theory of evolution, like the big bang theory, is not an exact science. Moreover, Darwinism is only one view of how the evolution process might work. This essay is not intended to deny the fact that all living things evolve, have evolved and continue to evolve. In that respect, as a pioneer, Darwin must command our highest respect and deserve our deepest gratitude for his research and discoveries. However, when living things started to evolve and why is the issue here.

Ever since Darwin had published his book on the origin and survival of the species, scientists have been treating his theory as a modern gospel. This total and absolute acceptance of this theory becomes less convincing once we open the door for the possibility that the origin of intelligent life may have preceded the planet earth. In this case one can argue that animals could be the descendants of an intelligent species, which means that intelligent life has been in existence long before many unintelligent life forms had evolved on earth -including mammals. Once we raise the possibility of the existence of other universes, of other live planets, one may even venture to speculate that intelligent life may have been around even before our universe was formed. This is why I strongly believe that everything in existence must be connected to some sort of a Continuous Creation and must have its root at the beginning of time. But in the infinite universe it would be impossible to have a beginning or an end. Basically, one could argue that life, including intelligent life, predates our current universe and has been around forever. Granted, the earth has been around for billions of years, there are evidence showing life to have existed both in water and on land only for a couple billion years, yet according to my observation, it is very possible that intelligent life has made its way before our species appeared on its surface, the shape of that intelligent species did not have to be in any way or form similar to ours, the reasons it didn’t’t leave any evidence of its existence vary. For instance, this intelligent life form could have ended up in the sea. We know whales originally lived on land. Another possibility could be the fact that it devolved into a non-intelligent species after discovering the beauty of a simple biological life that does not involve the complex rigors of an intelligent society. In fact, only an evolution as such or devolution may explain how a species like lions or chimps is less able to survive in the face of any extreme conditions - let alone an interplanetary journey - whereas a tiny insect might. We as human beings could one day, if everything is offered to us on a silver platter to the point where we no longer need the use of our brain, devolve into non thinking beings as well. In fact, some people in different countries walk on four and they are known as hand walkers. Sure, the reason may be medical, but scientists have not been able to determine the real cause behind this behaviour. This notwithstanding, the point I am trying to make is that intelligent beings or close relatives of ours could be the species that gave rise to chimps not the other way around. This is a possibility that Darwin would be excused not to examine. In his time, space traveling was a fantasy that only existed in the imagination of science fiction writers. Today, we know how real such traveling is, particularly, when there are plans to make a human landing on Mars within a few decades. If our civilization was able to achieve so much in less than a century, it would be reasonable to suggest that other older more advanced alien civilizations could have visited our planet. One of them could have settled millions of years before the first primate appeared on earth. It is very possible that this intelligent species is the one that had decided to devolve into an unintelligent species in the shape of apes. For example, the Neanderthals could have been the species we are talking about. According to experts they were intelligent with large brains; yet, nothing shows they were as creative and inventive as our species. Devolution could be the only reason for them to stop inventing. Anyone who believes in evolution must accept the fact that the brain is no different than any other organ or body parts that get developed or adjusted. Use it or lose it is not just an adage. This evolutionary principle applies to one and all - chimps, gorillas, other primates, Neanderthal and humans. The Neanderthal and perhaps other species - the ancestors of apes in particular - must have found out that it does not take a big brain to survive on planet earth and this is why they must have had decided not to make full use of it. This theory is not only based on mere speculation, just compare the evolution of animals in places like Australia and Madagascar where there was no need for animals to evolve and others in different environment. Furthermore, observe how some of our own species tend to behave. As many of us would attest, intelligent life is not always easy. A complex brain as ours has too many connections and circuits which makes us susceptible to all kinds of trouble every time any one of them breaks down. An intelligent being requires more than food to survive. Without any intellectual interaction, he or she would definitely suffer emotionally and psychologically and in turn becomes disenchanted with life. It takes more than food to satisfy us. This is why, despite a rich materialistic life style, many of us grow tired of being aware and intelligent. Sometime this awareness becomes such a heavy burden which may drive a person to alcohol or drugs and may lead to suicide in extreme cases. This is how our civilization has been dealing with the stress of an intelligent life. A distant civilization could have dealt with stress by trading its brain power for happiness and contentment. Anthropologists have been studying a human like species called the Neanderthal whom they also believe co-existed with our species for some time. If there is evidence of one species, there could be more. The question is: could the Neanderthal be the devolutionary species we are talking about? Let’s face it; our life is much more complicated and demanding than any other living form known to us. It turns out that the adage no brain no pain might have an alien origin. Long time ago a Greek philosopher made an observation that a human has a choice to lead a sad life sad as an intelligent being or happy one as a pig. Watching how much fun rodents, birds, mammals and predators seem to be having just by being alive, brings me to conclude that if they were to experience any suffering at all, it would be the result of biological hardship, such as hunger or illness; whereas in our case, mental anguish, emotional suffering, psychological depression and many other conditions can be triggered by any event. Let’s face it: in purely biological terms, most mammals are more advanced than us. Actually, one may compare the other species to a digital watch and ours to an old mechanical one. We have too many parts and baggage, the fact that other mammals don’t must tell us something. To my thinking, they are the more evolved, more sophisticated version; theoretically, the newer versions are - at least in biological terms. As one can clearly see, it is very possible that we happen to be the older version whereas; they have emerged to be the advanced one. They evolved to live in peace and harmony with nature for a simple reason: this planet is their origin. We never learned to follow in their footsteps because earth happened to be an alien environment to us, because living in harmony with our surrounding was never an option, we come from a back ground where everything around us was artificial and man-made, where a physiological evolution would have been useless. Having evolved such a delicate thin skin is a good indication that we have had experienced living in a controlled atmosphere environment for a long period. This is another proof that the gift of an earth was not provided to us. When we settled on this planet, we were so deeply and irrevocably set in our own ways that we were and still are incapable of becoming more in-tuned with nature. How else can anyone explain our reckless disregard to the environment? How else can anyone justify our abusive treatment of all things natural? Not only did we fail to develop any physiological or biological mechanisms such as hibernation or rumination but our technological and scientific discoveries are all distancing us further from nature. From the beginning we never felt at home in nature. We still have to make an effort to enjoy the outdoors. There is a big difference between our species and all others. In all cases one would find all other living beings adapting to natural conditions. For instance many mammals hibernate. On the other hand, we happen to be the only species that goes to great length in changing the environment to suit our needs. We are the only species that makes use of fire - the most destructive element in the universe. There must be a reason for us to follow this path. The only explanation one can come up with is that we have realized through previous experience that this benign environment does not last forever, that we have no choice but to behave in this way. We evolved to be inventive and creative by necessity not by choice. For that to have had happen, certain conditions would have had to exist. Since none of them could be associated with the planet earth we know, we must have had experienced them on a different dying planet. For many reasons - the least of which is the fear of being ridiculed by other peers - I do not expect this theory to win approval among the scientific community. In fact I do anticipate that most people would discard my views as being the fantasy of a delusional person. However, even a delusional person has the right to ask questions. Firstly I would like the scientific community to explain to me how of all species we happen to be the only one that found a need for fire? Secondly, why would nature or the mother earth allow only one species like ours to evolve in complete contrast to other mammals that either hibernate or ruminate? In terms of efficiency we even rank below cattle. Even without the modern toys we have invented, our way of life would still be taxing on the environment. Simply put, we require more resources than any other species. Without the ability to hibernate or ruminate we require more resources than any other living thing. From clothing to fuel to shelter… you name it. And if this was not enough, we also require an enormous amount of resources for defense and recreation. Think golf courses, stadiums, football fields and many more. Just how much energy a single arena requires? Still, this misfit goes beyond what we do to nature, it is probably better pronounced in the way we behave. Considering the number of people who commit suicide every day in the most affluent of societies, and bearing in mind that one in five people in our society may suffer from one type of mental illness or another, is a clear indication on how our unnatural way of life causes the mind to become totally fixated on self-destruction - even when the physical needs of the body are met. Satisfying the soul requires more than materialistic gratification. We need other functions to stave off sadness, loneliness, emptiness and boredom, all of which, if they persist can lead to suicide. It is a sad fact that in Canada the highest rate of suicide is found in remote regions. We may have been convinced or try to convince ourselves that intelligence is always advantageous to survival; however, the facts have shown this assumption to be false. It is time we recognize that biological intelligence is perhaps more suitable for survival on this planet. Only then would we be willing to consider evolutionary theories other than the ones proposed by evolutionists like Darwin. Looking at evolutionary biology from this perspective helps us understand why it makes sense for an intelligent species to devolve into a non-intelligent one and why apes could be the descendants of an intelligent species. Only utter arrogance makes us belief that evolutionary biology must unfold in a Darwinian fashion. Even though, I happen to believe that we are the descendants of a supreme species, unlike Darwin, I am also convinced that under extreme conditions we are capable of turning into vicious self-destructive beings. Just because we have developed a sophisticated brain does not mean, as a species, we have completely forgotten about our urges and instinctive biological survival methods including cannibalism. Furthermore, I am sure that at the present time we are not better equipped to survive longer than any other unintelligent species. Let’s face it, in purely biological terms; all other species are better equipped than us to survive. Many of them have been around for millions if not billions of years. To be around for this long, we must be very inventive and creative and it all depends on how much preparation we are going to make which will help us cope with the pending dramatic changes in the climate and how successful in fighting diseases. (In my life time, humanity was threatened with extermination by the Hon Kong flu, AIDS, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), the avian flu and lately the swine flu). Failing to deal with pending catastrophes as such would lead to outcomes: a) death and annihilation, b) a more pragmatic and logical solution for any species, intelligent or otherwise, would be to copy the evolution of similar terrestrial species - especially the ones that have successfully developed an effective immunity to viruses. This is exactly what this aforementioned distant intelligent alien species did when it had decided to turn into apes. Not only would this theory explain why our species and the ape species share so many traits and genes in common, while looking completely different from all other species, but it would also propose that apes happen to be the descendants of an alien species. The difference between humans and primates can be demonstrated in the way they deal with nature. Chimps and apes have evolved to blend in with nature, we may look alike, but we are the complete opposite when it comes to nature. We change our natural surroundings to meet our needs. Still, this is not the entire story. Apes and primates have nothing in commons with arthropods, we do. Of all species, we happen to be the only one that is known to practice imprisonment, torture, extortion and genocide. For anyone who believes us to be at pinnacle of civilization, the refined version of a sophisticated evolution, the finest Darwinian extraction, I ask: how can this be the case when we are still capable of committing this sort of atrocious acts? As I was editing this page, the media was reporting the story of an Austrian father (Josef Fritzl) who locked his own daughter in a dungeon for over 24 years while abusing her, sexually, mentally, and psychologically, in the process fathering seven children with her. In my view, this type of behaviour is only encountered among insects. This incident and many more lend more convincing support to my argument about our strong connection to insects. Darwin and most religions are of the view that humans are the finest beings ever created. This, I find very hard to believe. Look at us, there is no other species that comes close to being troubled, insecure, confused and violent like us. Look at how many of us are addicted to chemicals and alcohol. Just compare our conditions to the pure processes of evolutionary biology. For a moment take us out of the picture of a living earth. What do you see? What does nature imply? All around, you see beauty, peace and serenity. In other word you see paradise or in biblical terms a jumbo size Garden of Eden. This is what evolutionary biology was able to create. What did we do with this creation? Not only did we abuse it, but more importantly we failed to realize that this gift is paradise, even worse, we completely ignored the possibility that this earth with all its amazing beauty could be paradise and that we should feel lucky to live on it. If the purpose of evolution is to improve the odds for survival we certainly have a paradox here. On one hand we happen to be well equipped to survive as a species yet we sure manage to make it very miserable to live - for ourselves and all others. Furthermore, if we do not change our habits we may end up destroying everything. This possibility gives me another reason to doubt the theory of us being remotely connected to anything earthly - let alone apes. It simply defies logic to expect this wonderful ecosystem we call nature, which is the creation of evolutionary biology, to give birth to a species like ours which has the potential of destroying it - not on its own free will anyway. In addition to all of that, according to Darwin, and in purely biological terms, all sorts of living forms can be recreated as long as the seeds of life survive, notwithstanding the fact that the new living forms may evolve to be different than their former. Strangely enough, our own body may be the source of new life forms as well. Many insects and worms, in addition to bacteria and viruses, choose to live as parasites by simply attaching themselves to higher forms such as birds, fishes and mammals- which of course include us. It is a fact that the human eye happens to be the host for tiny mites that help it stay moist. On the other hand some worms are able to make their way through our digestive system and survive as parasites without us even noticing their intrusion. So, observing how living forms interact amongst each other’s, one would have to agree with Darwin. Simply put, if our own body can make the perfect host for lower life forms, what is to prevent us from turning them to hosts for us or what is to stop them from playing a host for our birth? If our body and that of all other living forms make an ideal host for all kinds of bacteria and viruses, who is to say they are not in turn the perfect seeds for the birth of new life forms. Despite all of that, nothing human like has been created and why? My only answer is a repeat of what I have been saying all along: we are not the product of earth. This placid planet is not even the origin of the Neanderthals. There is no reason for any earthly species to acquire any type of intelligence. However, that does not mean this may not happen in the future. In so far, and as long as the conditions on earth are so hospitable, no species will evolve to develop a large complex brain like ours. We have seen the products of this planet, they do not include any species that has the same mental capacity or creative mind we happen to have. Earth gives birth to gentle and peaceful mammals. Intelligent, destructive species like ours evolve on a different planet where and extremely harsh and violent environment has been able to prevail for a long time.

The scenario portrayed by evolutionists cannot be applied to us in purely biological terms, let alone intelligent evolution where things turn out to be completely different. It is very simplistic, if not naive, to expect that intelligent life could spring back to existence by the mere reaction of certain chemicals or organic materials. It is a mystery to me why an evolution must go through so many stages to find intelligence. If one was to agree that different life forms may evolve from bacteria, why must we assume that this new life form should first go through a dumb stage in order to reach intelligence? Furthermore, we are told that certain neurons are responsible for the function of the brain, if this is the case, which is to stay that these so called neurons could only form in brains and not in different environments. In fact, recent research proves that even micro-organisms including parasites are able to communicate and coordinate tasks.

My point could be summarized as follows: Darwin may be right in theorizing that species are continuously evolving, however, his theory does not cover all the possibilities that might occur during this process. A species may reach an intelligent state but an intelligent species may also revert to a non-intelligent survival, for the reason stated earlier. Conversely, an insect species, or for that matter a fish species may evolve into an intelligent one, before evolving into a mammal or primate. There are women, even with a degree in medicine who suffer through a depression after giving birth - it is called postpartum syndrome. Some may even commit suicide and kill their own new born at the same time. This type of compulsive behaviour, this strange syndrome is alien to mammals. Insects and fish are known to expire after laying their eggs. Drones (male bees) are so exhausted after mating that they die right after copulating with the bee queen. Most salmons fail to make it back to the ocean after spawning. This so called postpartum syndrome, that inflicts a high percentage of new parents, is and but one indication on how we may be related to insects more so than primates. Later on I will explain how this connection may have played a significant role in the rise of almost every warmonger, from Alexander the great to Hitler. Scientists have not bothered investigating this possibility - perhaps for the fear or becoming the subject of ridicule by their peers. I do not claim to be a scientist - much less an expert on anything in particular- but as long as there is no solid proof that our race has evolved from apes, I would be more inclined to believe that in reality what could have taken place is the opposite; which is to say that the human race or definitely an intelligent race is responsible for the birth of many living forms. Sometime in the distant past - billions of years before our planet had even existed - somewhere in this Continuous Creation an intelligent species became very tired of living with awareness and decided to survive without this heavy burden. Since then, it has given birth to other living forms such as mammals. From a purely biological existence, this type of devolution makes perfect sense. The argument may go this way: suppose an intelligent species comes to the realization that regardless of how high the cultural and technological levels attained, nothing can be done to be saved from dying off as the ultimate catastrophe strikes (examples: the death of a star, or the total pulverization of a planet upon colliding with another one). Furthermore, suppose that this intelligent species was also able to discover that biological life can be recreated without the need of any biological seeds. For a species that has developed this type of reasoning, it would be easy to question the sanity of living with intelligence and all its agonies. Look at our situation, who wants to live with wars, cruelty, torture and violence. This aspect alone of an intelligent life should justify taking a different approach to survival. In this case other mammals would not only be our descendants, but also, prior to choosing a more simple and peaceful sort of evolution, they must have been able to reach higher levels of knowledge and analytical reasoning than the ones known to us. Biologists may have convinced us to see ourselves as the refined version of a long and arduous evolution; however, looking at things from a different perspective, one cannot deny that our species still has a long way to go before being able to live in the same peaceful manners as most mammals do. We may try very hard to convince ourselves that we are the only species with brain power, however, who is to say that other mammals brain works in a way we are yet to decipher. Perhaps they have developed a mind which turns into a force that is able to influence physiology, whereas in our case, we happen to focus outward on mental and intellectual evolution. Our mind is the creative type that is geared to influence what is around us, theirs is the biological type that evolved to focus inward on the physiology of the body. We are definitely from two different planets. We may share many biological features with many earthly species; however, things are much different when one compares our brain to theirs. For instance, scientists have not been able to offer any answers on why so many of us become addicted to a myriad of substances and habits. Even over eating is a puzzle. In my opinion addictions, as many other bizarre human behaviours can only be explained by accepting the fact that our species had evolved on a different planet. Addiction on this planet may be harmful to our survival. At first glance, we may see no reason for a sophisticated brain to allow such a deviancy to develop. However, if one takes a more profound look at writing, composing music, painting, discovering, inventing, exploring and other human activities, one may realize that each and every one of these activities is in many ways a form of addiction. Our brain does not suffer from any deficiency. The chemicals that draw us to addiction are the product of the brain. Here on earth only few among us require these chemicals to become addicted to writing or engaging in any intellectual activities. But the situation would have been completely different on a distant hostile planet where any task would have been much more arduous and meticulous than anything known to us on this planet. This book is the perfect example on how addiction can be helpful in bringing a literary work to fruition. It is even hard for me to believe that if has been over 40 years since the concept of this essay was first conceived. Without this addictive obsession to accomplishment, no commitment could have been sustained for this long. The situation is no different with other artists and scientists. For instance it is not abnormal for a senior scientist to spend a lifetime researching a single topic. It is obsessive addiction that helps sustain our yearning to explore and discover. Unfortunately, a person leading an aimless life is prone to become lost in the wilderness, like a huge idle engine, the brain is activated but has nowhere to go; a case in which keeping it running becomes too expensive for the body and too taxing for the mind. Chemicals such as alcohol, cocaine or even prescription drugs become the only restrains available to subdue this raging beast. But even if this was not the case, just the fact that we are so easily prone to addiction is a clear indication that at one time in our history we needed many drugs to deal with all sorts of ailments with depression and mental illnesses being some of them. Ancient civilizations abused all types of drugs even mercury pills were known to be consumed long before any new drugs became available. Right from the start, we had trouble fitting in the new environment. Surviving on earth does not require the abuse of any drugs. Only in extreme situation of pain do we need to resort to some sort of sedatives. Ancient civilizations had no trouble discovering several natural tranquilizers. That by itself is very helpful to our survival. Suicide would be the alternative. That said the reason that some of us become addicted to chemicals goes back to our outer space experience. Whether they were useful for our survival or not is hard to answer. How else can one explain the proliferation of such scourge into our lives? There must be a reason for this self-destructive behaviour. Other species don’t have to deal with these problems, they happen to be the products of earth, a gentle and hospitable planet. We are or must be the product of a planet of harsh climate where water was scarce and resources were very limited. Most species found a way to live in peace and harmony with the environment. Most of them lead a simple predictable stable existence. In most cases their serenity and joy of life can be compared to heaven. Biologically and physiologically they are far ahead of our flimsy approach to nature which leaves us susceptible to all sorts of dangers. We incessantly seek new drugs to numb our physical and emotional pain. Some researchers are even introducing a new drug which would help erase any memories associated with trauma and tragedy. We are constantly finding new ways to process our food and protect ourselves from nature. We have not and we will never be able to adapt to this planet because our origin belongs to a different one with extreme conditions. The irony is that it is in such an atmosphere where arts, particularly music, become essential for survival and where science trumps nature. Even to this date, humans can survive on earth without the benefits of arts. It was a different story on another planet. A species like ours found music and arts to be useful for its survival and decided to invent them. Perhaps, this explains why no other species on this planet bothers with arts. Again, one can see why I keep refuting the Darwinian connection between us and any other earthly primate. One may speculate that our evolution is very similar to that of two sub-species of bees. One that evolved in the fertile conditions of Europe and one in the harsh arid desert of Africa. In the late eighties, the so called killer bees of Africa invaded Europe; to everyone’s surprise, the more aggressive African bees ended up destroying all other timid bees. We happened to be the killers’ bees of the animal kingdom. Despite our intellect, we can be cruel, mean, vengeful, vindictive, atrocious and abusive. On the other hand, other living forms may act in a cruel way, yet they never subscribe to the rest of our less attractive uncontrollable urges and behavioural tendencies - abuse and torture in particular. Basically, if it were not for our creativity, it would be very difficult for anyone of us to see any hope for our species to improve its conditions. We shall find out why as this subject comes up again for discussion. Of course to consider this possibility one must be open to the concept that intelligent life was taking shape long before a purely biological living form ever existed on this planet and might even predate our own appearance on it. The way I see it, it makes perfect sense and logic for things to begin in that order. You will see why as this subject comes up again later on in our discussion. For anyone who may be tempted to ridicule my views on this subject let me say this: almost every one of us knows someone or someone who knows of a person with Down syndrome. This is the case when one individual ends up with an extra chromosome. This deviation has been known for a long time, however, who is to say that during our long history some members of our species did not suffer from a lack of chromosomes and somewhat gave birth to a new species. This could have taken place when humans lived in sparse regions in tiny groups never to leave their micro-villages and when in- breeding was common. The other possibility could be connected to conditions that are purely mental, psychological or emotional. We are all aware how demanding, mentally, emotionally and psychologically, an intelligent life could be at times. Knowing how many people may suffer a nervous breakdown when faced with a stressful situation, it is very possible that devolution may present an alternative to mass suicide. It has been known that during wars many fighters forget who they are and stop behaving like intelligent beings. Based on this evidence, and providing that such conditions were to persist for a long period, an unintelligent species may be better able to survive than an intelligent one. As a matter of fact an intelligent species may find the switch to be the only practical solution. “ignorance is a bliss, it is a folly to be wise”, most of us find proverbial expressions such as to be amusing, however, one may never know when in serious cases killing the brain could be the price a species must pay to be spared the higher price which is self-destruction. Devolution of this sort would definitely result into the creation of a new species. Critics who find this theory to be humorous need only look around and observe how many people they know are, depressed, suicidal, alcoholics, dependent on chemicals or addicted to prescription drugs, in another word how many are happy to be brain dead. One should realize that these scenarios would have a minimal impact on a huge population, but the outcome would be of drastic consequences when a tiny group of people is involved and happened to be disconnected from any other tribe or families. It has been established as a proven fact that evolution takes a different shape when it involves a small number of individuals. Humanity went through periods where these conditions had existed, which would make for perfect fertile ground for the devolution I am alluding to. After all, let’s not forget that in this essay, it has been established that there were two types of evolution and one of them was entirely dedicated to creating fun and joy. In fact, one may propose that in most cases people who get in trouble are only interested in having fun and cannot cope with the demands imposed on them by such a complex society and an intelligent life that is so rigorous and demanding.

Later on I will explain why I believe that our race could not have originated on earth and why I find Darwinism to be too simplistic, narrow in scope, based on speculation and superficiality for the most part. Just think of stem cell engineering, a new field that until recently was not even mentioned in science fiction. This interference, this manipulation of genes, by itself can put an end to any evolutionary theory. But even if one is not to take these facts into consideration, one must look at other theories that run contrary to the survival of the fittest. One of them happened to establish that despite the importance of having strong and fit members, evolutionary biology allows for lesser standards for the sake of diversity, or as scientists call it, variability in the species.

Based on the above, one should not rule out the possibility that life does not always evolve with survival as the only thing on its mind. It seems certain that life transcends biology and has several dimensions which, among others, include experiencing new feelings and exploring new frontiers. There is nothing impressive about staying a bacterium or an insect forever. If you were a spirit and that is all you can connect with, boredom alone would destroy you. Of course this observation is going to throw the whole notion of evolution up in the air. Evolutionists may be right in assuming that the rules of nature only allow the fittest of a particular species to survive, however, their theory does not explain the purpose of going through a long term evolution where a species goes into a total transformation to find itself totally unprepared to face harsher conditions brought to bear by elements out of its control. We have seen strong powerful species such as the dinosaurs die off and fail the test of time in the confine of our planet, let alone having to survive an interplanetary journey. On the other hand, many other humble living forms have been able to survive for billions of years. In light of this observation, one could easily propose that the evolutionary mechanism is not always activated for purely biological survival, as a matter of fact, the evolution of lower life forms into new ones such as mammals, fishes and birds could be attributed to several other reasons: definitely survival of the fittest is not one of them. What evolutionists have discovered with respect to the transformation of species into totally new ones is not the subject of dispute in this essay, however, the reason and the timing of this exercise is. When one looks at beautiful animals and birds, one can easily realize that those wonderful creatures are not - at least at the present time - in a position to find the means by which they can safely journey to another planet. The real test for survival is not how to survive on earth; it is in how to move beyond earth. As we can deduce, there are two different types of survival: short term and long term. Most animals are not equipped to survive a catastrophic event such as an earth quake let alone make it to another planet. It is clear to me that animals evolved in such a manner where perpetual survival was never taken into consideration. In that respect, evolutionists missed the point. Darwin established his theories based on observing animals. Mainly due to their individualism, their survival is greatly dependent on their physical abilities. Ours in contrast, is contingent on our mental skills and social collaboration. Animals only care about joy and fun. We care about immortality. It is not going to be easy for me to explain how things got this way. There are so many questions to be answered and so many possibilities to be addressed.

There is no doubt that life with minimal conditions met, is capable of establishing itself anytime, anywhere. Life on earth just happened to be one of many facets of how it could take shape and evolve. Although not proven, life on other planets or celestial bodies may not require oxygen - or water for that matter. It is clear that life on earth is completely dependent on water and oxygen. What is not clear is how out of billions of life forms we alone wound up with such a powerful brain. Not only that, but evidence show that this brain was at work very early in our history on this planet. For instance archaeologists are all sorts of inventions that date back thousands of years. We are talking mechanical computers, complex calendars and clocks, gadgets to track the heavens and so on. For centuries, scientists have been trying to find the answers by looking for clues on earth. In the process they have acquired a great deal of knowledge about the physiology of many living things and their organs - including our brain - however, they have only managed to know very little if anything definite about the mental capacity of the brain and regardless of how far advanced in the future, biologists will never be able to completely decipher how the brain functions. It is clear to me that our brain is greatly influenced by outside factors and elements that at times can be much stronger than intelligence and reason. For instance a little child with a minimal mental capacity can handle a video game remarkably faster and superbly better than an adult just because he or she happened to have a stronger desire to learn the game in contrast to an adult who is interested in earning a living. More importantly, there are skills such as language that happened to be hard wired in the brain that can be acquired without much tutoring - if any. In terms of molecular structure, we all have the same brain, yet why some of us are good at doing certain things such as writing while others are interested in physics or mathematics is a question that is beyond biology for a simple reason: biology does not deal with any forces that are not related to specific and tangible issues. But to understand how our species evolved, we have no choice but to explore all the components - biology aside - that have a great influence on the way we behave, deal with issues of survival and interact with other human beings.

Scientists will be well advised to stop looking for clues about our origin on this planet. The odds of the earth being the origin of our birth are nil. There are several reasons for my theory, but let’s start with this one. The logic behind evolution is to develop the ideal physiology for survival. According to many paleontologists and neurologists, human beings still utilize less than 20% of their brain capacity. This is not a mere speculation; this is the finding of scientific researchers and experts with accreditation. In view of this observation and in view of the fact that the brain has hardly changed since our race surfaced on this planet, one may deduce that early humans did not even need 1% of the brain capacity we have for their survival. In fact, human beings led a very simple life until the introduction of agriculture which in turn saw the establishment of settlement that gave birth to extended clans which eventually saw the introduction of tribes or governments in their simplest forms. Some may argue that humans evolved through different stages and the version we are linked to did not evolve until sixty thousand years ago. But even at that relative recent age, there was no need for all this brain power. Actually, there was no need for a large and sophisticated brain even ten thousand years back - let alone sixty thousands. Still, there must be reasons for any species to acquire such a complex apparatus with such a huge capacity not only to think in the abstract and learn so many skills, but more importantly to be inventive and creative. In fact, some ancient inventions like the mechanical calendar were so complex and sophisticated that even modern scientists are still unable to unlock the secrets behind them. Since those reasons cannot be found on earth we must look at different planets with different environments. Although may be lacking in intelligence, evolution happens to provide all living forms with a highly sophisticated method of adaptation to the environment they live in. Looking at the way we have been treating our environment; observing how cumbersome and complex our social structure has turned out to be ( particularly in the industrialized nations where people can no longer establish true and meaningful relationship, a subject which will be discussed at length later on in this essay ); noticing how torture has been practiced in the past and still goes on even as this essay is being written; seeing how men and women are being raped and used as sex slaves; reflecting on the atrocities perpetrated on the innocents; remembering the holocaust and other genocides; witnessing in shock and disbelieve the senseless killings occurring on daily basis; all this and more leave me no choice but to conclude that our biological and physiological evolution is much inferior to the evolution of other mammal, and perhaps all other living things that happen to make this planet their home. There is no doubt in my mind that all animals are by far kinder, gentler, more civilized and content than humans. They do not torture or commit atrocities. Just by examining the peaceful life of most mammals and the gentle ways they go about their business, one has to wonder how we alone turned out to be the exception. There is but one explanation: we did not evolve on this planet. We have stopped evolving in a biological and physiological fashion some millions if not billions of years ago, back where we lived on a different planet. Long ago our distant ancestors must have realized how ineffective this strategy was when it comes to dealing with the sudden changes brought about by the awesome power of nature. What they had been subjected to in terms of hardship must have exceeded anything we are familiar with on this planet. We are looking at an environment that is completely different from anything we have seen on earth. So severe that climate was that none of the tactics used by any terrestrial species to survive would have been of any use - the Emperor Penguin included. Despite the frigid temperature of Antarctica where the mercury could easily dip below one hundred degrees Celsius, when the wind factor is included, this wonderful bird is able to survive without any artificial shelter for months. Like many other species, this particular Penguin saw no need to evolve beyond biology and physiology. For our species to evolve beyond that one must assume that the conditions we were exposed to must have been by far more atrocious and these hostile conditions could have only been found on another planet. Despite having a tilted axel, extreme weather conditions happen to be the norm at the earth poles. Imagine a planet with a straight axel where extreme conditions prevail on one side where a species had to survive. This species could have been us. This planet could have been located beyond our solar system and our predecessors could have lived on it billions of years before our galaxy was even formed. Actually, if the big bang theory is correct, no living form would have survived after this cosmic explosion. Technically speaking, life could have only restarted by making its journey back to earth from another galaxy if not from another universe. In this case, intelligent life would be much older than our own universe. Our fascination with heavens must indicate something to us. I have never seen any other species interested in the cosmos or praying. Chances are we could have even visited other galaxies before we made it to earth. The origin of astrology may be more scientific than one might thing. Imagine for a moment that intergalactic travel was to become possible, knowing how space is warped and how worm holes can shorten a journey as such would become as important as acquiring the technology to travel beyond any solar system. Ancient civilization must have known something about stars that we still have to discover. What seems to be a superstitious exercise to us today may have been a serious advanced science millennia past? There must be a connection to something far more sophisticated than anything known to us. And who knows, we, ourselves, might have even originated from another universe which could have existed before the big bang and which we are unable to detect at the present time. Where and when did we really originate is and will always remain a mystery. In any case, if the big bang theory is accurate, life should have been wiped out. The only way it could have been restarted would have been from a source originating from another universe. Nevertheless, whenever and wherever we first lived we must have started like any other living form on this planet that store food for a harsh season. However, at some point drastic changes in the weather must have forced us to start growing our own food. Those events must have taken place billions of years earlier, under a climate that is completely different from the one known to us on planet earth. Our own planet was subjected to such extreme weather conditions on several occasions known as the ice ages. So, if our docile planet can suffer such events, imagine what could happen on less hospitable planets. For instance an ice age on such planets may cover the whole globe and might occur quite often. Or a heat wave could last for centuries. Another possibility, the planet we originated from could have turned colder by pulling away from its star or could have gone in the opposite direction and gotten much hotter. The earth tilted axel is responsible for changing the seasons. From what I have learned, it is almost impossible to find two planets with identical axel. A minute inclination in the axel could translate into drastic change in the climate, for instance the planet we are talking about could have a summer that lasted several year in one zone with an equally long harsh winter in another zone. A more extreme scenario would be living on a planet that is being constantly bombarded by asteroids, or could have been subjected to violent storms, or tremors, or tsunamis. In fact, this is where the idea of a structure like the pyramids could have been useful - for although it can’t be proven, this early knowledge in geometry could be the connection between this planet and a distant civilization. In fact, one may be justified in speculating that ancient civilizations had seen signal towers long before they began building pyramids. These signal towers would have been needed to maintain communication between the original planet and the pioneers who first landed on earth. They could have been used for observation as well. Not only that, but as we shall suggest later on, pyramids are the perfect design for a space elevator. I am not an expert on the subject, but the way the Egyptians prepared their monarchs for the afterlife, or even the common people for that matter, implies a connection to an origin or to space travelling that took place in the distant past. In fact the word travel is used often in describing how by following certain steps a deceased could be set on a journey to reach another world. Combine that with all ancient civilizations interest in astronomy and see why this writer strongly believes in humanity descending from an alien origin. There was nothing practical for any of these practices, yet some findings even suggest knowledge about cosmic rays and waves.

Going back to our original topic, one may speculate that as time went by, our distant ancestors ended up losing the knowledge and technology they brought along with them. Their descendant could only duplicate what they did by building these pyramids that look like signal towers. (In a latter part the subject of pyramids will be brought back to illustrate how such a structure may be essential to survive in a world devoid of any sunlight). Regardless of whether one can prove any connection between the pyramids and an alien civilization, my argument was that the reason we are so different than any other species goes back to the fact that our evolution took place on another planet with a different climate where drastic change in the weather would have forced many animals to perish. Under these circumstances it would be very difficult to tell which species would be better prepared to cope with such extreme conditions. Most definitely though, you would have been ahead if you happened to be part of a group that stored food or was able to hibernate. Also, it would have been helpful if you were an omnivore. Migrating would not have been a useful tactic even for species that were equipped to travel very long distances. Our distant ancestors must have realized that brute power alone was not going to be the answer. In nature, bigger and stronger is not always better. Dinosaurs are the perfect example of how flawed this concept is. In the cat family, lions are the strongest yet they starve like any other predators. In harsh conditions their size and power become a liability: there is not enough food to sustain them. On the other hand the smaller cat is better equipped to survive and cope under almost any conditions. It requires a fraction of the meat a lion would consume. Despite the difference in power, the small cat turns out to be the smartest of all predators. Lions may be strong and powerful but the fact is that the small cat’s choice to remain tiny has proven to be a smarter one. In a world running low on resources, we now can see why large size, more power and strength are not always the best approach to securing a better chance of survival. A case in a point is the fact that small cats proved to be more successful than lions that have become an endangered species. Even with lions, the huge male makes a very poor hunter. The smaller female is the real bread winner in the family. She does all the work while the male plays the role of the pride’s protector. The lioness also found a way to gain more power by teaming up with other females. Our ancestors must have seen many powerful predators starve and this is when they must have decided to evolve into a different direction. This is why I believe that the enlargement of the brain took place before we evolved into our present form. The Inuit of North America would make an ideal example of how they would have coped with an extremely cold climate. It is astounding how they were able to develop this fascinating method of building their homes out of snow. To me an igloo is the perfect example of the human ingenuity. Not only that, but think for a moment how much safer our ecological system would be if we, as modern people could somehow develop new methods which would enable us to survive without harming the environment or depleting the planet resources. To this day we haven’t seen any organism that had to face the conditions described earlier. This may be considered a wishful thinking by some, however, knowing what animals are capable of achieving on earth and the way they behave, should shed some light on this theory. In short, there is nothing unusual about animals and birds building nests and digging burrows, collecting food and using simple tools. Some domesticated animals are even able to unlatch a door, manipulate electrical switches and may be able to perform other tasks if trained. Dolphins are known to execute many complex tasks for the military. At first this is how humans must have behaved. They would not have had any problem storing food in caves. Many rodents still do that - although they store theirs underground or in trees. They could have used tools in the same way chimps and other small animals use sticks to get into insect holes or rocks to crack nuts. Digging a snow hut would have been possible as well. As time went by, they started to become more efficient and required enough knowledge to be able to live like the Inuit. From there they kept evolving and expanding their knowledge. Working together should not have been difficult; most predators on earth live together and hunt in groups. They are even able to communicate among each other in their own language. In my opinion if weather conditions were to turn extremely harsh on this planet, one or more species may even start using more brain power just like we did a long time ago - albeit on a different planet. In fact, recently, short of prey, killer whales were caught on film working together as they went about hunting for seals. From what was broadcasted, one could see a few seals lying on a slab of ice. Next, the whole slab starts to shake. Surprisingly, about four of five killer whales were working together to topple the slab of ice which would force the seals in the water where the whales can get to them. Eventually, persistence paid off, and the whales had a feast. This type of operation requires more than a skillful hunter. Killer whales have proven that they have the mental capacity to communicate in order to plan a coordinated effort. In other word, they have a brain and they will use it when there is a need for it. To my thinking animals happened to be very similar to humans. In fact, when it comes to physiology and biology, we happen to be the primitive species. Yet, on the other hand, we were able to develop a great capacity to acquire knowledge, delegate multi tasks, coordinate complex assignments, cooperate various efforts and communicate profound thoughts - all of which are important steps leading to creativity. In addition to this capacity, we were also able to develop our own personality which in turn leads us to become more individualistic and thus able to be analytical and contemplative. The best comparison to understand the difference between animals and humans is to look at the way we play soccer and the way bison and buffaloes team up to repel an attack by predators. In the former case, cooperation and discipline are also enhanced by the contribution of every player - his individuality, his personality, his creativity, his imagination and his strong desire for recognition - all of which play an important role in helping the team achieve victory. In the latter case, the members rely on their memories and their leader. Animals are capable of thinking and cooperating, except they haven’t attained the mental capacity which we as humans have reached long time ago. It is this capacity that allows us to coordinate our collective efforts and help us become cheetahs, lions, bison and eagles all at once, whereas a dog can only be a dog--and a lion cannot go beyond being a lion. The notion of animals thinking may look far-fetched now, but things may be completely different when we start looking beyond the current conditions. Insofar, we have only observed animals behaving in a very hospitable climate, especially when it comes to marine life. Over the years most animals have adapted extremely well to survive on this planet. Unless something drastic takes place they’re not going to change. Things are completely different when it comes to humans. We definitely had to increase our brain power to cope with a relentless environment that is completely different than anything we might have experienced on this planet. In fact, intelligence and awareness led us to evolve physiologically into the shape we are in, and not the other way around. In that, our thinking faculty was not something acquired after our physiological evolution, it is something we had developed along the way as a tool to help us communicate with other individuals. Take this observation and compound it with the fact that our physiological evolution did not take place on earth and you come up with a theory that is the opposite of what Darwinism seems to project. Darwin may have his theories, but let’s not forget another important theory which postulates that necessity is the mother of all inventions. Intelligence was invented for there was a need for it. A polar bear is well equipped to survive in the extreme climate of the arctic; however, it resorts to hibernation during the warm season. The climate where such a tactic could be irrelevant may be somewhat similar to the arctic or ant-artic; with one difference: the seasons are much longer. The cold period could last years; and a hot spell could even last longer. Heavy coats, hibernation or any other tactic are not going to be useful. Long before you evolve from low life form such as insects; you begin to develop a large brain that is going to afford you the collaboration of other members of the species. In fact, intelligence among most species would be the norm, and since communication is a crucial element to coordination, most species would have been able to develop some kind of a language at a very early stage of their evolution. Weather conditions on earth give no reason for any species to trade off so much of its physical or physiological faculties for more brain power. An evolution of this sort does not take place under any circumstances known to any terrestrials. You don’t spend millions of years preparing to fight off predators by developing a strong body just to turn into a weaker species. Similarly speaking, you don’t shed a coat that has protected you for millions of years from the ravages of the elements in favour of a useless one, unless, of course, you have acquired the brain power that is going to compensate for the physical loss. The size of the brain has not changed at all ever since the first human appeared on this planet. The demand of survival as a hunter or food gatherer does not require a large brain similar to the one early humans possessed. Clearly for the brain to become larger there had to be a need for more brain power. This only happens when the brain starts to deal with more complex issues other than hunting and food gathering. The fact that the first earthly humans had a much larger brain than needed, and the fact that even now we only utilize on average about 20% of our brain power, lead me to say that any theory linking us to a species that had originated and evolved on earth cannot be convincing. Furthermore, an assumption as such leaves us with too many unanswered questions. First of all, the tools used by early humans on this planet did not require the development of the agile fingers we have. This contradicts what evolution is all about; this is somewhat similar to what I argued about with respect to the brain. The theory of evolution either applies for all aspects of the human evolution or should be discarded altogether as a farce. Secondly, why does it take us so long to become strong enough to live on our own? Could it be because of our brain? Can our brain only grow at a slow pace or are there other factors involved? Yes, our brain is our greatest asset; however, many of us could be long gone before it is fully developed. This kind of evolution clearly seems to be self-defeating and I for one fail to understand the logic of it taking place on earth and it is for this reason that I am going to venture by stating that the fact that it takes our brain all this time to fully develop is the perfect proof that our species did not evolve on this planet. Yet, things could have been much different on another planet. For instance, on such planet the only challenge would have been the climate, children would be kept in a controlled and protected quarters for a long time. How ironic, as beautiful as this planet is, our juveniles are not safe on their own. It almost seems unnatural for us to leave them in the care of someone else, let alone in the open. In fact anytime left in the open on their own or even in the care of parents, safety becomes a serious issue. Chimps on the other hand are by far better adapted at dealing with threats and danger. To begin with, their offspring mature much quicker than ours. Secondly, the way newborns are raised allow parents to keep them protected all the time. Until they are strong enough on their own, baby chimps seem to be glued to their mothers. Not only did our distant ancestors, the ones who struggled to survive the harsh climate of a faraway planet, need a larger brain at the latter stage of their evolution, it is almost certain that they were acquiring such a brain from the beginning of their primitive existence as tiny insects if not right from the time evolutionary biology was born. Think of it this way, the law of survival would never allow any species to take this long to evolve - notwithstanding the fact of how weak we are compared to other species when it comes to physical strength. This observation can be supported by the fact that no other species on this planet remotely takes the time we need to develop as adults - if we ever do. This leads me to conclude that our species had to be the dominant apex predator long before it evolved into mammals. Which means it was able to communicate and be self-aware at the stage of insect which in turns translates into starting to develop a larger brain at this stage as well. (Most biologists believe mammals had evolved from a different branch than insect, but if even on occasion, we behave and act like insects - collectively and individually - we ought to be connected to insects). At any rate, if we had evolved on this planet how did we end up putting ourselves at such a disadvantage? It takes a woman at least fourteen years to become able of bearing children. Our chances of surviving on our own in the wild are very slim even when we reach adulthood. Still, there are more indications to prove that biological evolution does not work this way. There aren't any other species that take so long to fully develop. A wild dog is able to hunt with the pack in one year, as things stand at the present time, none of us can survive on his or her own. Moreover, it takes us twenty years to make a significant contribution to society, worse yet, some of us never do, and actually stay a burden on the species for their entire life. There are no primates on this planet that require more than five years to fully develop. Which brings me to ask Darwinists how could this be, is it not that evolution is supposed to make us stronger? What kind of an evolution is this? Are we not the only exception? Not only did we acquire this large brain on a different planet, but the way this apparatus happens to operate is a clear indication that the species responsible for its development had no predators. Even if one was to dismiss all the previous arguments, our sleeping patterns must say something about our uniqueness, if not about our alien origin. Of all species, or at least of all mammals, we happen to be the only one that is most vulnerable when asleep. Horses, cows, lions, chimps…you name it, stay alert and will sense danger long before it becomes eminent even while they are resting. Their brain is trained to stay alert to predatory attacks while busy processing data which happens to be the time it orders the body to go numb or asleep. The brain never sleeps and is considered to be a very complex apparatus because it is able to perform too many tasks at the same time. The question here is why our brain, despite its huge capacity, is lacking in this respect? Here is in a nut shell why our brain would have been different if we had evolved on this planet. As powerful as our brain is, it does not have the capacity to keep working on things such as observing, analyzing, planning, coordinating, delegating, communicating…the list is very long, while checking on the physical health of the body including every microscopic gene which is a crucial task for a good reason: without a healthy body the brain will not be able to stay alive. I suppose the ancient Greeks knew all along about the importance of this synergy, they even coined the phrase “healthy body, healthy brain”. As it so happens, despite a simpler and less powerful brain, other mammals are able to stay alert at all times, we are not. Had we evolved on this planet, we would have developed a similar brain that is compelled to stay alert at all-time regardless of any operation it is in the process of conducting. Need or the lack of it must be the only reason we ended up with a brain that does not watch out for danger when processing anatomical information. As one can clearly deduce, our brain is not adequate for the planet earth. It must have evolved on a planet where all our predators have either been destroyed or vanished. These conditions have never been known to exist on earth. In fact, despite all the progress we made, we are still most vulnerable during our sleep. Not convinced? Just observe how cats and dogs, possibly other pets as well, stay alert during the night. They even sense movements and actions taking place hundreds of meters away.

These are some of the reasons why I happen to be opposed to the theory connecting us to apes. But more to the point, how about our communicative skills and how long did it take us to develop them? Is it a million years or a billion, or is it a mere thousand? More importantly, how can anyone explain the fact that all of us learn a particular language on their own? According to Norm Chomsky, humans learn to speak and form grammatically correct sentences on their own; their brains seem to be hard-wired for acquiring this knowledge. The fact that at one time humanity acquired tens of thousands of languages, prove this theory. Yet, all these years, no one bothered looking at this phenomenon from an evolutionary perspective. To me, this goes to prove that our species is much older than we had ever speculated, which in turn would lend credence to my theory about having an alien origin. Think of it this way, according to recent statistics, there were over seventy thousand languages in the world, there were much more a century ago. So much more, where one would be correct to conclude that humans are not only able to learn a particular language on their own, but more importantly, they are able of inventing their own language. This ability requires billions of years to perfect, even if one is to agree with modern paleontologists, our presence on earth goes back no more than couple million years. The fact that no other species has been able to develop a complex language like ours must say something about our unique evolution. And if this was not enough to prove how flawed the concept of a primate origin is, we also happened to be the only species on this planet that has ever invented writing.

No one knows exactly when we first appeared on earth, but even if we were to go back fifty thousand years in time - actually with the evidence collected to date, we can only go back thirty thousand years - it would still not be enough for any species to alter a single physical feature - particularly when we consider the fact that it takes most animals millions of years to alter the simplest form of any of their functions. Moreover, DNA evidence shows that we could have started as a species almost 400,000 years ago. The only way this can be explained - since we can’t find anything remotely connected to our species on this planet prior to 50,000 years - is to find an outer space origin to our species. Nevertheless, according to evolutionists, in this short span and for no compelling reason, we were able to branch out from another species; change our posture into an upright form; develop a powerful brain; relinquish our physical strength; shed our thick coat; devise an intelligent language to communicate; and gain two chromosomes in the process.

Only extreme weather conditions could have forced a species to take such great risk and transform itself in such a relatively short time. The only time the planet went through something of that nature goes back to a period known as the ice age. A very recent event in our history - in relative terms of course. But even when exposed for thousands of years to this harsh climate, most species were able to survive and emerge without having to go through any physiological changes - let alone develop a powerful brain.

My observations lead to this conclusion: human kind did not originate on this planet. If we did; how then of all the millions if not billions of species that exist or had existed on this planet, for millions, if not for hundreds of millions of years, we were the only species to evolve in this fashion? Here is something else, life dates back billions of years, how come no intelligent life evolved until we showed up? How is it that we are the only species that was able to develop languages and most importantly acquire the skill of writing which helped ancient civilizations record important historical events dating back to millennia. Other species may be able to communicate, but it takes special one to do the writing. Furthermore if our origin is one of the ape family why we did not develop a family of our own, in that how come we did not grow other branches or subspecies in the same way every other living species on earth tend to evolve? Last but not least, if biology is responsible for the creation of intelligent life, why it has taken so long for our race to evolve? For instance why intelligent life did not appear on earth millions if not billions of years earlier? There are no answers! The only explanation that is logical is that intelligent life had to wait for a species from another planet to establish itself on earth. One more thing, let’s not forget the difference in chromosomes: if we evolved from apes why don’t we have the same number of chromosomes? Actually, the number of our chromosomes is unique to us and we do not share it with any other species. If this does not raise any red flags, here is more: why our eyes are not the same and our sclera is white whereas theirs is dark? Why we can survive without an appendix and they die without it? Also why are we susceptible to all types of pandemics whereas other so called primates happen to be so resilient to them? Is it not only logical to expect a subspecies to have the same immune system as its precursor if not develop a more sophisticated one? In my opinion, viruses were created by bacteria to fight of other predators. Indeed, one might observe that biological warfare is not new. Any particular type of bacteria would be interested in developing it. As a bacterium there is not much else one can do to either defend from predator or conquer others. Some enemies may have even been transported from other planets. The fact that we have suffered so many tragic pandemics through our entire history is one more reason why I believe in our alien origin. It is the only explanation one can provide. Indeed, if we had evolved on this planet we would be no different than any other species, in that, we would have had time and experience to develop the necessary mechanism to fight off all types of viruses and germs. Moreover, all primates have been successful in developing an immune system able to fight common diseases, such as malaria, cholera, Ebola and even AIDS, if we were their descendants it would be very logical to inherit this immune system that is so crucial to survivors. Just think about it, knowing what we know about these inflections, who would want to go through an evolution only to lose such an important defense against such deadly diseases? It does not make any sense. Yet, as everyone knows we are the most vulnerable species when it comes to these diseases and many others. Here is more, of all species, we happen to be the only one that is able to ingest substances which are harmful to our well-being. No one can provide any definitive answers to what caused this anomaly. As far as I am concerned, the only reason we are able to defy nature is because we are aliens to this planet and nothing is natural to us. Simply put, chimps and other primates know better than to touch any of these poisons, if we were their descendants we wouldn’t’t either. Fertility is another example in how we differ from all others. All species tend to restrict procreation or even stop it completely under unfavourable conditions, we don’t. In fact our birth rate improves when facing a tragedy. This is a clear indication that we must have lived for a very long time in a confined area with a very limited resources to the point where our bodies adapted to harsh conditions and started to consider them as normal. This development must have taken place on another planet or else we would be behaving like any other species on earth. Here is more. All living forms fear fire, we embrace it. A cigarette is a mini torch, until I see in my own eyes a chimp addicted to tobacco -let alone sniffing gas or glue - I am going to remain convinced that our origin has nothing to do with any primates on earth. Only if one happened to live in an extremely harsh environment would he or she venture to experiment with such lethal substances. Observe how humans facing famine resort to consuming food that is considered disgusting. Most of us would puke at the thought of eating rats or worms. However, when it comes to survival most of us would be forced to consume anything, some may even resort to cannibalism. Our natural tendency to explore the taste of different foods is a clear indication that we are different than all mammals who are satisfied to adhere to one diet. In my opinion this is behaviour we have acquired after living on another planet with extremely harsh conditions where we were forced to consume anything. Far-fetched you say! Not at all, if you heard the story about some mine workers who were able to survive despite being trapped for weeks by eating charcoal. The ancient Greeks were adding snake poison to their food long before modern medical science discovered its anti-clotting properties. Even having an appendix could be connected to our alien past. Simply one could argue that living under extreme weather conditions, our ancestors acquired this organ to store more food or help the body break down substances that could otherwise be toxic. Our diets, the food we eat do not require any assistance from such an apparatus. According to anthropologists our distant ancestors had tails which were completely eliminated as they became obsolete. If this is how evolution works why are we still hanging on to such a vestige that could cause death? Certainly, chimpanzees do not hang on anything useless, the only reason they still grow such a part because they make use of it. Some insects develop what is known as accessory stomach, since I happen to believe that we have more in common with insects than other mammals, it is possible that this organ is a hold back from our early existence. In a typical human fashion, we are hanging on to it as we do retain so many things from our distant past. We have no idea whether other species develop any body parts that are not needed. What we know is that the appendix is not the only needless thing our body tends to grow. There are the wisdom teeth, the gull bladder and more. Not only are we growing parts we do not need, most importantly we are not growing the parts we do need. For instance, we need tools to cut our hair whereas other species shed theirs naturally and on regular basis. Drinking is another aspect of our inadequate physiology. The fact that our distant ancestors had to invent drinking utensils has a lot to say about evolution. This may appear to be trivial, however, when put into an evolutionary perspective it could provide another point to the argument I am trying to make here. Without tools, we have a serious disadvantage drinking when compared to other species. I have no idea whether any biologist looked at this oddity, but in my opinion, a species evolves to become more efficient and better adapted at survival. Clearly, this is not what happens in our case. Finally, of all the anatomical irregularities we have to face, dealing with the penile foreskin happens to be the most mysterious of all. Thousands of years before the development of medical science, some cultures introduced circumcision to their members. How and why these cultures found it necessary to circumcise their people to the point where the practice was to become a part of a religious ritual will always be a mystery. We are talking about a surgical operation that was done without the benefit of any modern equipment or anaesthetic. My usual question is did this practice start on earth or does it have an alien connection? Did these ancient civilizations know more about our anatomy than we give them credit? What adds to the mystery is the practice of circumcising young females in some culture. While some experts may find some health benefits in circumcision the male penis, no one in the medical community condones the circumcision of females, yet the practice goes on.

Another evolutionary defying aspect is our susceptibility to bacteria such as e-coli that most mammals are well adapted to live with. Again, our ancestors had to invent or reinvent fire to deal with this threat or starve. Primates have no problem at all consuming raw meat. Not only that, pigs, chimps and guerrillas have no trouble consuming their own feces on occasion. This seems to be gross; however, from a survival and ecological perspective, it makes a lot of sense to make use of everything. Logically speaking, if we were the descendants of such species, we should have inherited their immune system. As things stand right now, our metabolism cannot tolerate the least amount of these bacteria. They are lethal in any amount to all of us. These are only some of the discrepancies for there ought to be many more. Perhaps, the most important of which is sex. Our complex and unpredictable sexual behaviour is another lengthy issue which will be discussed later on and which would make us wonder why of all species we happen to be so confused and perplexed about something as simple as procreation. (Of all people, scientists are helping my views. In September, archaeologists have made one of the most important discoveries since Darwin introduced his theory. It seems that the common ancestor of apes and humans happen to be more like us than any other primate. For more details on the subject, read Time Magazine, October 12, 2009. Though, this finding takes us back about 3 million years, new discoveries suggest that another common ancestor may date back 4 million. These are only few discoveries, but who knows, perhaps in the future, scientists may discover fossils that are much older yet much closer than ever to who we are.)

Until someone is able to provide the answers, one is safe to conclude that we had definitely evolved on another planet somewhere in this Continuous Creation. Furthermore, if there is any connection between our species and any other, we would be the primate on this planet. Simply, from a physiological stand, chimps are way ahead of us. As we shall see later on, socially as well. For that reason, they have to be a better version of ourselves, not the other way around. Just look at the high rate of divorce? If we are so smart how on earth we can no longer get two people to live together in harmony. It is an illusion to think of ourselves as the supreme species just because we happen to be intelligent. If you’re not convinced, allow me to leave you with this thought: despite all the progress made by the western world, we are now realizing that the more intelligent we become the less children we want. This newly acquired intelligence is getting us into a lot of trouble. And, things can get extremely dire should the trend in our low birth rate continue. It is time we start to recognize that intelligent life has its draw backs and is not a panacea. It is also time to realize that our level of cooperation is at its best when we are faced with imminent danger. This is the reason our race developed a larger brain and consequently became intelligent. But, intelligence as we saw is a two edged sword. Prior to the advent of space explorations and interplanetary travel, Darwin could not have considered this possibility. This theory would sound even more plausible in the future when it would be possible to travel at the speed of light or faster and geneticists have a better understanding of how our genes work. It took us a mere six decades to reach the moon after the Wright Brothers flew their first airplane, and there is no limit of how far we can go. If we were able to accomplish so much in such a short time, naturally an older more developed civilization would have been able to do better than that. For instance, they would have had to discover a method of powering their ships from substances available in space. A goal, a group of our own scientists is currently trying to achieve. If one thinks of the huge load of fuel required to journey through space, it makes perfect sense to plan future travels around this concept. Actually, this could be the only way to reach beyond our solar system. Other far more advanced techniques than the ones known to us could have been used as well. The civilization we are referring to could have developed a technology which has not even existed even in the imagination of our science fiction writers. Merely a decade after its inception, genetic and stem cell engineering has opened the doors for infinite possibilities. Cloning is another world waiting to be explored! Even before that, scientists were already talking about life in a suspended form, thinking robots and perhaps a reversal of the aging process. We also may be looking at a civilization which had found a way to convert asteroids or even small planets into huge space ships. If one thinks about it, this approach makes a lot of sense. A celestial object with the right materials could provide a great deal more of supplies than anything that might be built. Darwin’s work will always be important and relevant but he was a scientist and would be the first one to understand that these new developments in science cannot be ignored.

We are the descendants of this civilization. A civilization that was able to survive the ultimate catastrophe which is the total collapse of an ecological system by journeying to another planet. Aliens have already visited and settled on this planet, it is us, and you can see them for yourself every time you look in the mirror. Conversely, who is to say that in the last few millennia, different aliens have not made their way to this planet? However, knowing how hostile and superstitious people were and some still are, it is easy to speculate that those visitors faced a violent death. Jesus himself, if he ever existed, could have been an alien. His ideas certainly had no connection to anything earthly and still don’t to this day. It is ironic that the ones who claim to follow his teaching can be the most ignorant of their true meaning. Moreover, in the future, who is to rule out the possibility that a faraway intelligent race would be paying us a visit? They may be more advanced than us in some areas, less advanced in others. Let’s just hope that if they ever do, they won’t be mistaken for menacing enemies by someone monitoring the skies and ordered destroyed by some general in some army. Actually, many people believe an incident as such has already taken place in a remote American town called Roswell.

Developing a powerful brain was not meant to help us survive as supreme species; it was designed to provide us with a valuable instrument to assist us in our endless journey of exploring, discovering and creating. Our race is the perfect example or the proof of how a biological creation could also acquire intellectual and abstract dimensions. One can observe that our race, after being part of the continuous creation, has itself become a sort of a continuous creation. The next chapters shall explain why humanity is destined to explore every possible avenue to stay alive. We shall also point out the many elements and mechanisms that help us achieve immortality. Still for the time being, we should satisfy ourselves with the thought that we belong to a species that has been in existence for billions of years. If the last few decades are an indication, our potential for greater achievements and discoveries are going to be enormous. According to scientists, we have only been using about twenty per cent of our brain capacity. Hence, we definitely have the brain power for more accomplishments. Our obsession with immortality is not incidental. Over the years, we were able to create a true human spirit that’s by far more powerful, intelligent and wonderful than anything we can ever fathom. Thanks to this spirit that is part of each and every one of us, we were able to develop an advanced civilization with much higher standards than anything we have experienced on earth. Our great achievements were not limited to art, science and technology. More importantly - at least in general terms - we were able to evolve into a peaceful species that is socially and culturally more sophisticated than any other on this planet. Billions of years back, we had decided to embark on a journey of discovery. Our spirit longed for something more than just mere subsistence. The question is: if we were the descendants of such a sophisticated and civilized species how can anyone explain firstly, how have we lost touch with our alien ancestors and secondly, how did our existence on earth become mired with violence and tragedy? There are several reasons which could answer the first question. Reason one; knowing how logistically demanding space traveling is; our alien ancestors perhaps were only able to afford very few space ships which were built at the approach of an impending catastrophe. Mars is a perfect example of how a planet could die off. Or, for instance the entire planet was drifting away from its position and heading toward a star or another planet, or a star could have increased in size and swallowed all the planets surrounding it, a scenario many scientists predict the earth will go through six billion years from now. Curiously enough, the old bible is full of references to hellish flames caused by the Armageddon. A collision of two large planets is somewhat similar and might very well be the source of burning in fire found in the bible. Another possibility of incineration, which is as hellish as the first one, is a nuclear warfare. Twice this century humanity came close to facing such a horrific end. Either scenario could offer an explanation of why we have lost touch with our origin. (As a secular person, I do not find anything holy in the bible. Though, I do find in it references to an alien civilization. The Armageddon was one of them. Noah ark is another one. Knowing what we now know about stem cell engineering, it would be possible to save the DNA of many creatures and transport them on a space ship from one planet to another. Actually, the story of Noah is fascinating for another reason. Of all animals, we happen to be the only one that befriend other species and take them in as pets. We are also the only one to tame and train other creatures to serve us. Why other animals did not develop this skill? Is it possible that most of us are animal lovers because we happen to be from another planet and we grew attached to our terrestrial cousins out of curiosity?) The answer for the second question will have to do with what was stated earlier. It seems as if our species has being leading a dual life and has not been able to shake off completely its entomological and arthropodal origin (relating to insects, arachnids…). This is why to this date, as individuals, as small groups, humans do not behave in the same manner as they do when they belong to an advanced civilized society. This is what happened to us when we first landed on this planet. We know what takes place when any state fails in our time; one can only imagine the consequences of a total social collapse. Not only do we need law and order to be civilized, we also need them enforced. As is, many people still turn in monsters. Things are a lot worse when there is no accountability. Even in the most advanced of societies, until recently, most men behaved like little tyrants. Not only did they abuse their wives and children, but even incest was a dark kept secret among many families. Regardless of how advanced and sophisticated, under certain conditions humans are prone to go wild and grow corrupt. What is more alarming is the fact that anyone of us could turn into a tyrant like Hitler or Stalin or Napoleon. Ironically, it is the complexity of our brain that makes us susceptible to insanity. We inflict the most harm to humanity when we are only interested in the self. This is the reason that ego-centrists are the most dangerous to our species. Early humans found themselves in this situation when they first landed on earth. There was no humanity, there was only the self. As their descendants, we copied them for millions of years because we did not know any better. Even in today’s modern word, civility and civilization are still very fluid. In essence, we still have a long way to go before reaching a higher level of civilization - let alone become more sophisticated. This is only part of the answer; yet, this subject shall be examined in details further in this discussion. In the next chapter, I will make an attempt to explain how the conditions of a harsh climate could have been responsible for the evolution of intelligence into an advanced form called vision.