Neanderthals and Modern Humans: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective
by Clive Finlayson
ISBN:0521820871
Like the purpose of most books, Finlayson’s book is no different than others in its attempt to reveal lessons learned from the past to us living in the modern era. The topic of his book, Neanderthals were primitive people inhabiting Europe and Western/Central Asia beginning between 600,000 and 350,000 years ago. These modern human predecessors then began to disappear around 130,000 years ago and disappeared completely around 30,000 years ago. Why did their evolutionary strand go extinct after hundreds of thousands of years? One view of their extinction was that it was due to the arrival of modern humans and the mixing of the two species. Finlayson’s book provides evidence to the contrary; while he does not dispute the reason for the mixing of the two species, he provides evidence that the Neanderthal extinction may have actually been a result of not adapting fast enough to changing ecological and environmental conditions, thus causing Neanderthal populations to seek adoption into modern human societies. The question Finlayson’s book leaves us with is this, what will the modern human’s response be to the current changing ecological and environmental conditions, and at what pace will our species adapt to these changing conditions. By extension, we need to ask ourselves, will we head the way of the Neanderthals toward extinction and ultimately be locked away in the fossil record buried deep in the stratified sedimentary layers of the earth waiting for future civilizations to figure out what went wrong?
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If we were to align the economic principles and capitalistic philosophy that has guided the United States and the rest of the world over the past few hundred years with a branch of science, they would most likely all fall under the topic of classical (Newtonian) physics. Classical physics and its subsequent linear equations depend highly upon constants in order to be graphed. These constants are what give the graphs their underlying linear, and hence progressive, nature; but are there really constants in nature, or is the impermanence of a cyclical world the only constant in the nature?
Classical, or Newtonian physics is lined with linear representations that describe the natural world. (pun intended) An object’s position, mass, and the force applied to it are of central importance. In a classical world, conclusions can reasonably be drawn based upon assumptions that objects will move linearly along their development continuum; but what about non-linear systems? Those functions involving an infinite number of variables from a multitude of systems that are interlinked and dependent upon each other tend to behave in different ways than Newton predicted.
New developments in quantum physics are beginning to provide better representations of our natural and business worlds. These new developments, in essence, are beginning to call our classical, linear representations of reality into question. Quantum physics states that matter has both particle and wave-like behavior, essentially meaning that everything on earth is interrelated. Reality, then, is more cyclical than it is linear.
We are discovering that matter is made up of more space than it is of substance. The information age that we are embarking upon with the advent of the computer is evidence of this. We are also discovering that subatomic particles do not behave under the assumed principles of classical physics. Therefore, our entire economic system, which is based upon classical physics principles needs an overhaul or it will continue its path toward irrelevance for the existence of life on earth.
Instead of a linear representation based upon constants, it seems that reality is based more upon happenstance, or what philosophers like to call fortuitous evolution. This concept of fortuitous evolution can then be traced through cyclical patterns. Whereas classical physics declares certainties and makes measurements, quantum mechanics suggests probabilities that move in spiraling cycles through the universe. In the business world, what we call evolution is innovation. The habit we have gotten into in the business world of rewarding the big players and the established moguls with larger contracts is contrary to the nature of evolution. Each species in the natural world has established its own niche and evolves accordingly.
Fortuitous evolution is supported by Darwin’s Origin of Species. Living organisms are opportunistic creatures that adapt to environmental influences in order to continue on existing. Countless variables are figured into the equations of evolution every day. No computer or human being can possibly figure with absolute certainty the outcome of the great experiment that makes up life on earth. Of all of the multitudinous possibilities that were offered to the human species, this one, the one we are living now, is the one that has come to pass; but there exists countless alternate possibilities that could have just as easily come to pass had different conditions existed or were chosen. We are being offered an opportunity here to nudge our economic system down the path of evolution.
While the natural world shows an abundance of constants on the surface, the underlying structure of the natural world that we live within does not appear to be linear at all. Measuring, in a quantum universe, brings matter out of its wave-like state into existence. Production makes consumables out of resources. On the surface, it appears that classical economics has all of the tools to help us through the twenty-first century, but the recent tremors throughout the global economy show this to be a false assumption. We are in dire need for more people to begin seeing themselves as part of a living system that is becoming more and more disconnected from the cycles of creation in the universe. Our business world has become stagnant, lacking innovation.
Let’s look at weather systems as an example of a non-linear complex system. The atmosphere is a dynamic system driven by a number of interrelated factors; in a way it appears to behave based more upon the principles of quantum mechanics rather than on the laws of classical physics. When viewed from above through the use of satellite images, weather systems appear to move from one point to another in the form of spiraling waves; when measured from below, they are quantified in the form of matter. While classical physics models and mathematical formulas are regularly applied to weather forecasting, the overall structure of weather systems exhibits the interrelatedness of global patterns. The reason weather forecasts are so often not accurate is because they rely so heavily upon classical physics. (This representation drawn here simply serves as a visual interpretation of the dual nature of reality; matter is but a resting point in an infinite progression of wave-like motion.)
Predicting the weather three days out is an arduous task because of the nature of the number of variables that need to be considered. Predicting the weather three decades from now is an impossible endeavor, right? What about one-hundred years from now?
What scientists are doing regarding long-term climate prediction is an indication of where we are headed in the evolution of our species. Scientists are running computer programs that take into account countless variables, and they are repeating the process millions of times. What they are ending up with is a graph of numerous possibilities grouped around a trend. What they are realizing from these trends is that, because the natural world is intimately linked together, certain environmental events are destabilizing to the entire ecosystem and ultimately shape every event after it occurs. For example, the melting of Greenland’s glaciers can be seen as a climatic tipping point. Events such as this can be referred to as a tipping point because it tends to tip the results in a certain direction and is irreversible.
When we run these same kinds of non-linear models using our current economic structure, we discover quite early on that our current capitalistic system is unsustainable.
The Neanderthals (or the Maya or the Ancestral Puebloans or the Roman Empire, for that matter) passed a tipping point when they neglected to adapt to the changing environmental conditions of their era. We are being asked to interpret certain sets of data in the present in order to change our current economic course and halt our linear progression toward an environmental tipping point swiftly approaching us from the not-so-distant horizon.
The modern human is heading away from certainties based upon linear calculations, and we are moving toward a future based upon quantum mechanics. If we continue to interrupt the wave-like progression of natural systems through the use of economics for environmental exploitation, we risk bringing to a halt all life on earth (at least until the energetic systems can recover).
While linear representations may have described, quite well, trends over time in the past when human populations were smaller, their use in describing action in the present is limited because of the sheer volume of human beings. In the past, there simply was not enough of us on the planet to interrupt the natural global patterns of renewal. We are being asked to develop a deeper understanding of the human condition because there are more of us living here; one where we see ourselves as part of a continual loop that is based upon probabilities and possibilities rather than on certainties. We are being asked to recognize that our economic system falls within the non-linear, cyclical systems of the natural world.
It is becoming apparent to more and more people in this world that economic principles are appropriately grouped under biological concepts like growth, adaptation, evolution, and interdependence, all of which have their base in the quantum mechanical view of the universe. These kinds of terms are generally expressed in non-linear relationships that operate more cyclically than linearly. They are based upon concepts of interdependence where each organism depends upon the others for its own survival. Competition exists but not in the modern human’s sense of global dominance.
The fact that capitalism, in its essence, is based upon biological principles rather than simple linear mathematical concepts is a relatively recent advancement in the evolution of the human species. It is only through the population explosion of the last century that we came to this realization; it was a fortuitous development in our evolution only if we are able to implement our scientific findings into our business strategies. If we fail to enter the implementation phase, then our survival as a species will have just been one possibility of the infinite number of possibilities that could have come to pass. Like the Neanderthals who were relegated to the fossils of the past, modern humans will have failed to adapt to the changing environment around them.
It goes without question that the business world is heavily tied to the natural world through the extraction, manufacturing, use, and ultimate disposal of the planet’s resources. To bring consumer goods into existence requires energy and resources. Our current business models incorporate linear mathematical formulas to accomplish these tasks that have no place in a world based upon quantum mechanics. In fact, linear thinking is what has caused us to stand of the brink of our own extinction.
Business would benefit in the long-term from adapting to more non-linear practices like closed-loop production systems and zero waste principles. Redefining our growth expectations and incorporating social and environmental concerns into the bottom line of corporate spreadsheets will go a long way in bringing the human condition back into line with the natural world.
The renewable energy and sustainable business movement is the ultimate form of life-systems thinking. Renewable energy taps into the wave-like structure of the universe for power. Capturing it allows us to capitalize upon an endless source of energy. Fossil fuels are based upon dead organic matter being converted into chemicals spewed into the air we breathe; no wonder the earth and all of its creatures are dying off in one of the largest mass extinctions on record. We are interrupting the natural flow of energy in order to bring consumer goods into existence, and this is not sustainable. It is not the consumer goods that are bad in and of themselves, it is the process by which they are brought into existence that needs to be changed.
Another example of non-linear practices in the business world is shown through the concept of sustainable design, which means figuring all of the costs associated with the life cycle of product. Using life cycle assessment software, companies can figure out the full cost of a given product including emissions from production, availability of resources, and the product’s ultimate disposal. Until we consider the social and environmental impacts of our production processes in addition to financial concerns, we will remain trapped on a linear progression toward the destruction of our own society. When a horde of grasshoppers eats all of the leafy vegetation in a given area, the group then begins dying off until its numbers reach a more sustainable level. We are smarter than grasshoppers; we are smarter than Neanderthals.
There is no way that Adam Smith could have forecast the ways in which the discoveries in science, particularly those of quantum physics, would alter our concept of the earth and of ourselves, and there is no way he calculated how the exploding global population would affect business and the availability of resources. At the time that Adam Smith was postulating his views in his book Wealth of Nations, Newtonian physics was the dominant science of the day; Einstein hadn’t even been invented yet. In his day, America was not defined in terms of its borders, and resources seemed unlimited to him; therefore, growth, in his mind, could go on increasing forever. We are now in the position where we have to redefine the definition of growth. Certain aspects of capitalism have become like weeds that have overrun the garden.
The philosophy of economics outlined by Adam Smith is linear in its conception; as long as resources are unlimited, growth of the economy is unlimited. However, the constant of unlimited resources that Smith assumes is not true. Economic models based upon biological concepts of growth instead of linear growth should become more adopted over the course of the next few decades. If we adopt economic models based upon these kinds of principles, then much like the natural world, our business world will continue to provide ample harvests for as long as they exist. In nature, there is no such thing as waste, and perpetual growth is the norm.
Ecological economics is the idea that we can assign numbers to aspects of the environment in order to understand the complex system better. These formulas that are developed can help us figure out possible courses of actions and probable outcomes. We have a number of scientists and mathematicians all coming together to describe a similar situation; that is, we need to fundamentally change the way in which we do business. There is no ‘away’ anymore; we all live on the same planet. The natural world and the business world are the same world. To destroy one is to destroy the other.
One of the simple principles involved in the calculations of formulas in the field of ecological economics is that clean water, air, and land is important to the foundation of business. Up until now, environmental regulations were seen as limiting factors to growth. Without protecting these basic resources, though, through economic incentives, as well as penalties for polluters so that future generations on earth can sustain themselves, we seek to bankrupt the very system that we have based our entire civilization upon. By incorporating the interdependence of the natural world into the economic principles of Adam Smith, we are able to create a new system of economics that is able to sustain itself and provide future generations with the same sense of wealth experienced by former generations.
Resource consumption based upon sustainable practices and renewable sources is the future of business. Economic dogma will have to be rewritten. Limiting the use of exploitative principles that inflate the unsustainable concept of unlimited growth potential will be commonplace in the future. Legislation will be drafted and the human species will evolve.
Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of past species and ultimately disappear like the Neanderthals? I think not. The modern human will adapt to the information it is being given because we are more evolved than the Neanderthals. We are on the cusp of greatness, just steps away from tapping into the limitless power generated from the waves that created the entire known universe. If only the governments of the world can unhinge themselves from the chains of business as usual and dive whole-heartedly into a period of endless innovation, then capitalism can be saved.
The good news for investors today is that many companies are beginning to spring up that operate under more sustainable practices. These companies adhere to principles that protect the ecosystems where their resources are taken from. These industries seek to limit the production of waste or use it to produce other goods. Whole industries are beginning to spring up around capturing energy from the sun or the wind or from the heat of the earth’s core. We are beginning to take notice of the limits of our global environment and innovate our business strategies to be more in line with natural systems. Nature does not have to be conquered; it needs to be harnessed.
Investing in sustainable economics is a lifelong endeavor, and it is proving to be lucrative for those investors keen enough to ‘get in’ in the early stages of the crossover from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The transition from linear thinking to non-linear thinking will involve a complete metamorphosis of capitalism; but just as a butterfly cannot assume its majesty without first being a caterpillar, next generation technologies will owe a debt of gratitude to all of those industries that came before them.
____________________________web recommendation
What the Bleep Do We Know?
www.whatthebleep.com
This website goes along with the 2004 documentary by the same name. The film was initially not picked up by any distributors so the film makers went ahead and released it themselves. The movie combines a storyline with a multi-media format to introduce and discuss some of the concepts involved in quantum physics. The world that we have come to know through our lives is a diverse place capable of holding multiple dimensions of endless possibilities. Did you know that your life could have an alternate ending if you so wish? Go in and explore a bit.
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