03/18/21

Looking at Daniel Turbon’s Article (2020) “…Human Being in Evolution” (Part 7 of 11)

0033 The last blog adds more nuance to the ongoing two-level interscope.

0034 Evolutionary scientists propose adaptations that solve problems in the Pleistocene environment. Human genes somehow allow the phenotypes that carry these adaptations.

One adaptation is the use of Oldewan, then Acheulean, then more sophisticated stone tools. This is not the only adaptation. More on that later.

The body of Turbon’s article provides a litany of adaptations.

0035 In Section 1, hominins become smarter in general, with special intelligences mixed in. So, a person can not only talk (which is smart) but knows a lot about something that is of interest (which is special intelligence).

Surely, both DNA and the environment of evolutionary adaptation, genetics and natural history, are relevant. But, there is something more, as noted later in Turbon’s article, as well as in Comments on Steven Mithen’s Book (1996) Prehistory of Mind.

0035 In Section 2.1, language is an adaptation that increases adaptability.

Here, Turbon refers to “language” as speech-alone talk. Today, many evolutionary scientists acknowledge that it is difficult to formulate how language evolves in the milieu of speech. However, as discussed in Comments on Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky’s book (2016) Why only Us? More likely, “language”, evolves in the milieu of hand talk.I continue Turbon’s list in the next blog.

03/17/21

Looking at Daniel Turbon’s Article (2020) “…Human Being in Evolution” (Part 8 of 11)

0036 Here are the adaptations proposed by Daniel Turbon in sections one and two of his paper, “The Distinctive Character of Human Being in Evolution”.

I continue.

0037 In Section 2.2, Turbon mentions brain reorganization and size increase, over very long periods of time. The parietal and frontal lobes preferentially enlarge. Encephalization increases.

There is more here than meets the eye. The brain not only increases but reorganizes. This is covered in Comments on Steven Mithen’s Book (1996) Prehistory of Mind. The way hominins think changes over many, many generations. So does the brain’s architecture.

In Section 2.3, Turbon attaches importance to the FoxP2 regulatory gene. Mutations in the gene produce impediments to speech and writing. Scientists link the FoxP2 gene to neuro-motor control of rapid recursive and coordinated actions. Neanderthals and humans share identical FoxP2 gene sequences. Turbon associates this gene to speech-alone talk. The gene equally applies to hand talk.

0038 The dyad of the brain [adapts to] talk is covered in Comments on Derek Bickerton’s Book (2014) More Than Nature Needs. Our brain to body ratio is large. It’s so large as to seem to be more than necessary for survival. But, for talking, that is a different matter.

Also, children pick up language with a paucity of clues. More cognitive processing is needed for that. The question is, “How to model linguistic communication, in order to account for how children bootstrap language use.” The answer is wrestled with in Comments on Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky’s Book (2016) Why Only Us?

0039 In section 3.1 and 3.2, Turbon discusses a potential concurrent adaptation in the domestication of fire (starting around 800,000 years ago) and advances in stone tool technologies (starting around 500,000 years ago). There seems to be a transition, here. Why do these two extra-somatic adaptations occur in tandem?

These questions are addressed in Comments on Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar’s Book (2014) Thinking Big. Increasing neocortex size correlates to larger group sizes. Larger group sizes correlate to larger brain size. Do I detect a feedback loop? Does this feedback loop ramp up with the adaptations of cooking and hunting with composite wood and stone tools?

0040 In Sections 4 and 5, Turbon discusses the evolution of the family. Increasing encephalization means bigger heads. In order to fit through the birth canal, big-brained babies are born early. They are helpless infants. Infant helplessness should lead to higher mortality in the dangerous environment of the open savannah. The family is one adaptation that decreases risk for infants and children. So are other social circles, such as the team, the band, and finally, the community.

0041 Finally, in Section 6, Turbon discusses altruism.

03/16/21

Looking at Daniel Turbon’s Article (2020) “…Human Being in Evolution” (Part 9 of 11)

0042 In the previous blog, I considered the adaptations listed by Turbon, in addition to high-level cognition, extra-somatic culture and talk (language).

Here is the list.

0043 All these are adaptations. Adaptations exploit a niche. So, in the ongoing two level interscope, the distinctive character_1b sustaining a noumenal origin of human_2b in the normal context of human intuition_3b, must be the human niche_1b. The human niche_1b, in turn, virtually situates Turbon’s list of adaptations_1a.

Here is the reconfigured interscope.

03/15/21

Looking at Daniel Turbon’s Article (2020) “…Human Being in Evolution” (Part 10 of 11)

0044 What is the human niche_1b?

This is the central claim in the masterwork, The Human Niche.

The human niche_1b is the potential of triadic relations_1b.

0045 Every adaptation_1a detailed by Daniel Turbon exploits triadic relations_1b.

Once the origin of human beings_2b is appreciated in terms of signs, category-based nested forms, judgment and other triadic relations_1b, then our adaptations_1a appear like observable and measurable facets_2a of a single noumenon, the human niche_1b.

0046 Turbon’s appeal in the last sentence of his abstract receives has already been answered.

A Course on the Human Niche is available on the smashwords website. Search the following terms on the internet: human niche course series Razie Mah smashwords. Any reasonable browser will point the reader to the location containing A Course on the Human Niche.

0047 The course begins with a Primer on Natural Signs. The medieval scholastic tradition ends, in the 1600s, and the philosophy of Charles Peirce begins, in the 1800s, with an inquiry into the nature of sign relations. Signs, like all triadic relations, entangle the material world. However, material and instrumental causalities cannot account for triadic relations.

0048 Then, the course offers commentaries on four books by modern thinkers on human evolution. These commentaries are:

Comments on Clive Gamble, John Gowlett and Robin Dunbar’s Book (2014) Thinking Big

Steven Mithen’s Book (1996) Prehistory of Mind

Comments on Derek Bickerton’s Book (2014) More Than Nature Needs

Comments on Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky’s Book (2016) Why Only Us?

0049 The course wraps up with the masterwork, The Human Niche.

0050 In sum, A Course on the Human Niche, offers an approach to the alignment of philosophy and science dwelling in the heart of Turbon’s essay.

03/13/21

Looking at Daniel Turbon’s Article (2020) “…Human Being in Evolution” (Part 11 of 11)

0051 Once human evolution_2a is ordered by an appreciation of how our origins are potentiated by the realness of triadic relations_2b, a very surprising realization occurs.

Human evolution comes with a twist.

0052 What does that mean?

Our current Lebenswelt is not the same as the Lebenswelt that we evolved in.

The realization is dramatized in An Archaeology of the Fall.

The implications are discussed in Comments on Daniel Houck’s Book (2020) “Aquinas, Original Sin and the Challenge of Evolution”, Comments on Five Views in the Book (2020) “Original Sin and Evolution” and Comments on James DeFrancisco’s Essay “Original Sin and Ancestral Sin”. All are available at smashwords.

0053 At this moment, Daniel Turbon does not know.

At this moment, the journal, Scientia and Fides, does not know.

0054 There is something distinctively human in that.

Perhaps, that is what makes the comedy divine.

01/27/21

Evolution and the Fall (Part 1)

0001 In the December 2018 issue of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Amos Yong reviews the compilation, Evolution and the Fall, edited by William T. Cavanaugh and James K. A. Smith (2017, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI, ISBN: 9780802873798).

0002 The book is the product of a three year initiative asking the following if-then question:

(A) If humanity emerges from nonhuman primates, as suggested by genetic, natural historical and archaeological evidence…

(B) …then what are the implications for Christian theology’s traditional account of origins, especially the origin of humanity (B1) and of sin (B2)?

0003 To this question, I attend.

0004 First, the masterwork, The Human Niche, proposes that the ultimate human niche is the potential of triadic relations (B1). Triadic relations are independent of genes and the environment of evolutionary adaptation. Even though these play roles in the actualization of triadic relations, they do not alter the nature of the relations (A).

Triadic relations explain why archaeological evidence exists in the first place (B1, A). Physical evidences are signs of human evolution, to the beholders, that is, ourselves. Obviously, we are adapted to look for and to participate in sign-processes. Signs are one type of triadic relation.

0005 Second, the masterwork, An Archaeology of the Fall, dramatizes the coming to awareness of a recent twist in human evolution (B1 and B2). Our current Lebenswelt is not the Lebenswelt that we evolved in. I call the transition: the first singularity. The first singularity begins around 7821 years ago. It leaves a fairy tale trace.

0006 The hypothesis of the first singularity (B1 and B2) raises novel questions concerning our current living world (B2). What is this the nature of our current Lebenswelt (B2)?

01/26/21

Evolution and the Fall (Part 2)

0007 Ours is a world where we project meanings, presences and messages into our spoken words, then construct artifacts to validate them (B2). The artifact validates our projection, even in the face of unintended consequences. One result is that spoken words, which are at first not deceptive, become deceptive, then wreak havoc until they are reformed.

Does that sound vaguely Biblical?

0008 An example is offered in the masterwork, How to Define the Word “Religion”.

0009 During and after the Reformation, the word, “religion”, labels Christian factions, vying for sovereign power in order to implement their organizational objectives. The factions stand as artifacts that validate the term. The terminology has consequences. Enlightenment constitutions, especially the American, explicitly forbid the federal government from establishing a religion.

0010 The problem?

During the Enlightenment of the 18th century, and during the subsequent two centuries, new social noumena appear, claiming to be “not religious”. The word, “secular”, is coined in the mid-1800s as a label.

What does it mean to identify oneself or one’s institution as “not religious”?

Well, it must mean that the entity does not belong to a Christian faction.

0011 The problem?

These “not religious” individuals (thinkers, leaders and supporters), societies (institutions) and movements (widespread affiliations) behave precisely in the same way that Christian factions do after the Reformation. They engage in social construction (meaning). They seek sovereign power in order to implement their organizational objectives (presence). Their righteousness contains inherent contradictions that cannot be resolved (message).

Indeed, modern “secular” individuals, institutions and movements meet the criteria that defines the term, “religion”, according to the above masterwork.

0012 The problem?

The US federal government has established a religion, contrary to the first amendment of its constitution.

It so happens, that the religion is not a “religion” (a Christian faction).

01/25/21

Evolution and the Fall (Part 3)

0013 What does the strange, historic reversal of the term, “religion” imply?

0014 The term is formed, deformed, and now, reformed.

0015 At first, the term is validated by the presence of Christian factions, vying for sovereign power.

Then, the term is exploited by “not religious” individuals, institutions and mass movements. By identifying as “not religious”, theoreticians, organizations and broadcasters find that they can attain sovereign power in order to implement their own organizational objectives. After all, they technically fulfill the Enlightenment mandate that sovereign states should not be in the business of establishing “religions” (Christian factions).

As a bonus, their competitors, Christian factions, cannot compete.

0016 Exploitation deforms the word “religion”, because “not religious” individuals, institutions and movements operate in precisely the same way as Christian factions during and after the Reformation, only with better technology.

0017 The masterwork, How To Define the Word “Religion”, serves as a corrective to this deformation. The current use of the word, “not religious”, is radically deceptive (B2), accounting for the application of the word, “secretive”, as an adjective, to secular individuals, societies and even, mass movements.

Do they know what they are doing?

Most “not religious” participants in mass movements think that their opponents are “religious”. They are. Yet, these same participants cannot recognize that their own stance is deeply religious, as defined by the masterwork. The “not religious” are religious, too. They revel in their own righteousness.

Hence, blatant hypocrisy defines our current times.

0018 In the ancient world, this type of impasse seizes a city or a region and brings it into memetic crisis (see Rene Girard in this regard). The Bible describes the historical arc of Israel in roughly these terms. The question revolves around the nature of God’s covenant with Israel. God’s covenant is formed, deformed then reformed.

Plus, the path is not smooth. God is at work throughout the Bible. So are we.

0019 For two thousand years, Christians contemplate how Adam’s rebellion influences us (B2). The doctrine of Original Sin characterizes a foundational feature of our current Lebenswelt. We are fallen, then we figure out a truth, then we exploit that truth with a deceptive turn, and we fall again. Sometimes, with God’s assistance, we figure out our mistake and reform.

Concupiscence is more than our desire to bathe our own corporeal dispositions with the waters of righteousness. It is also our desire to inflame our spiritual dispositions with the fire of righteousness. The Reformation term, “total depravity”, captures the way that we claim to define what righteousness is, rather than God.

0020 Isn’t that what Eve does, just before she plucks the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

01/23/21

Evolution and the Fall (Part 4)

0021 The Genesis stories of Adam and Eve point to a real recent, prehistoric transition.

The first singularity (B1) initiates cycles of formation, deformation and reformation (or annihilation) (B2).

0022 The contributors to the book, Evolution and the Fall, edited by William T. Cavanaugh and James K. A. Smith (2017, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI, ISBN: 9780802873798), are not aware of the masterworks, The Human Niche, An Archaeology of the Fall and How To Define the Word “Religion”.

As such, they try to adapt traditional Christian theology to an insufficient scientific paradigm.

0023 As noted in Comments on Jacques Maritain’s Book (1935) Natural Philosophy, modern science does not permit metaphysics. Consequently, human evolution must be accounted for by material and instrumental causations, whether in natural history (adaptation) or genetics (phenotype). These are not sufficient, because the human niche is the potential of triadic relations. Triadic relations are real, yet immaterial. They entangle the material, but cannot be explained by it.

0024 Also, the modern paradigm for human evolution does not envision the fact that our current Lebenswelt is not the same as the Lebenswelt that we evolved in. The transition from hand-speech talk to speech-alone talk leaves only one type of archaeological trace, the appearance of trends towards unconstrained social complexity. Why? A change of the semiotic qualities of talk is not a material cause, it is an immaterial cause. Speech-alone talk potentiates unconstrained social complexity.

0025 Finally, some scholars, such as Rene Girard, capture essential features of our current Lebenswelt, and so are ignored by modern gatekeepers. The writers of the past few centuries are often not aware of the materialistic Zeitgeist in which they operate. They wear blinders. They do not see the object that brings all into relation. After all, there is no material or instrumental power greater than sovereign power. Is there?

0026 The three masterworks mentioned above offer novel scientific paradigms that (1) are consistent with current empirical knowledge and (2) transcend the proscription of metaphysics, by considering semiotics to be real. Semiotics entangles the material, but the material cannot explain triadic relations.

0027 The three masterworks offer a new, truly postmodern answer to the questions: Where do we humans come from? What went wrong? What is the cure?

Good places to start include Comments on Daniel Houck’s Book (2020) Aquinas, Original Sin and The Challenge of Evolution, as well as Comments on Five Views in the Book (2020) Original Sin and the Fall.

01/20/21

Comments on Philip Marey’s Post (2021) “Insurrection” (Part 1)

0001 The Greimas square is introduced in Comments on Gregory Sandstrom’s Essay (2013) “Peace for Evolution”, available at smashwords. This purely relational structure is introduced as a way to visualize langue as a system of differences. This is not the only way to visualize the word-in-mind. But, it is useful in labeling a word as a node in a symbolic order.

0002 Here is a picture of the Greimas square.

0003 Philip Marey is a senior US strategist at Rabobank. He contributes to the website, Zerohedge. On Friday, January 8, 2021, at 18:25, Tyler Durden posts Marey’s short work, commenting on recent events. The title consists of one word: insurrection.

0004 “Insurrection_2a” should go into slot A1, as the focus of attention. However, the situating actuality_2b is causality_2b. Marey’s post considers the projection of causality into the term. What explains the presence of insurrection_2a?

0005 The first cause that Marey raises comes from academics, in particular, economists. The primary cause of insurrection is economic.

“Economic causes” go into slot A1.

0006 In contrast, Marey offers an alternate cause: identity. His researchers show that the US political system becomes increasingly polarized after the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This demonstration is a red herring, because polarization is already present in the 1964 presidential contest between Barry Goldwater (populist, “insurrectionist”) and Lyndon Johnson (party insider, “statist”). The 1964 Civil Rights Act is a symptom, not a cause.

The cause is the expansion of the federal government, with its attendant religion, Big Government (il)Liberalism (BG(il)L).

0007 Perhaps, the relevant factor for the growth of identity politics in the US is to be found in the rapid expansion of state university systems in the 1950s and early 1960s. New positions and fields of inquiry germinate a novel brand of Marxism. Cultural Marxism exploits cultural distinctions, rather than economic.

0008 “Identity” goes into slot B1.