Aug 05 2007
ATAVISM
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By Vi Ransel
8/5/07
Ancient genetic signals can be resurrected after lying
dormant for millions of years, awaiting only the right
trigger to release them.
In the early Carboniferous there arose an organism
with, for the very first time,
more information in its brain than in its genes,
and the brain grew more dominant over time.
The modern brain’s blueprint is a story
of successive accretion and specialization,
which freed us from the hardwired tyranny
of DNA’s monopoly on total information.
The three interconnected parts of the modern brain
correspond to the evolutionary emergence
of reptiles, mammals, primates
- especially humans -
and represent a major burst forward
in overall brain development,
each step adding a new function and a new layer.
And since these were laid down over existing systems,
the preexisting systems had to be accommodated
because making basic change deep within the fabric of life
very frequently turns out to be fatal.
Adding new layers while retaining the old ones
allows major change consistent with survival.
Today’s triune, or three-part brain
consists of the R-complex at its core,
surrounded and surmounted by the limbic system,
which is enveloped by the massive neo-cortex.
The R-complex is the most ancient part,
the dinosaur component of human nature,
seat of reptilian ritual and aggression,
territorial and hierarchical behavior.