From Common Ancestry to Now

The fossil record of life on our planet tells us more about this chapter of the Universe Story - how after the extinction of the dinosaur, primates had an opportunity to evolve and the human form of life emerged over millions of years.

The DNA record indicates that every human alive today can trace their ancestry back nearly 200,000 years ago to Africa - when and where the global migration of modern humans appears to have started.

Although we can only continue to look for evidence of human evolving consciousness, we do know that abstract thoughts and means of expressing these thoughts were around some 20,000 years ago based on cave art found in Europe. Acquiring the ability to sketch on the wall of cave the recognizable pattern of an animal that was appearing in the memory of an ancestral artist is a significant event in the evolution of the huamn brain.

The trail of evolving consciousness from then to today where we can show each other expressions of the DNA molecule that traces our history, where we can show each other drawings and computer generated solid models (3D graphics) depicting the precise details of a spacecraft constructed from Earth's materials in a way that is capable of leaving the Earth's gravitational pull and traveling to our Moon, to other planets of the Solar system, and even beyond is upon us.

We have left a historical record of the continued emergence of "tools" created by the human imagination based on need or simple desire to explore yet another niche. History is riddled with extinct human creations ranging from physical contraptions to social constructs. The path is strewn with the remnants of past civilizations that were born, matured and died. Each one contributing to the collective learning that has brought us to today.

Although the Universe seems to favor complexity, perhaps because it is more able to adapt to the ever changing surroundings provided by the ever expanding, cooling, calming Universe as it slowly runs down - increases in entropy / randomness &waste heat, it only favors manageable complexity - emergences held together by relationships that are stable and appear to give the creation something all parts have in common. The parts are always held together by the flow and distribution of energy - when one part of the creation is deprived of its life force / energy, that part withers and dies. The emergence is altered and usually weakened from its original self.

If the emergence is not manageable, it becomes internally chaotic and like a cancer destroys itself from within.

If the emergence turns away from the source of its life giving energy, and live off its stored energy, it will obviously at some point wither and die.

My father used to say, "God did not make garbage." His way of saying that God is good and what God had a hand in creating is also good. I translated this to mean, that the evolution of life leaves us with creations that work well within the niche they inhabit.

Consciousness has continued to increase in complexity with the emerging awareness that Indeed our planet and all of us inhabitants, human and non-human, make up a cohabitating system often referred to as Gaia

The visual images of earth taken from a perspective beyond earth also convey the fact that during the natural evolution of the planet, nature did not construct political boundaries, or barbed wire fences to prevent /restrict movement of its human and non-human population.

The human species occupies a unique place in spectrum of Time and within the context of Space: we get to reflect back on all of it! And a whole new consciousness arises and begins to inform and inspire all areas of human beliefs and behaviors………a process that began in our lifetime!!