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"By
contrast," Hawking says, "there are about 50,000 new books published in
the English language each year, containing of the order of a hundred
billion bits of information. Of course, the great majority of this
information is garbage, and no use to any form of life. But, even so,
the rate at which useful information can be added is millions, if not
billions, higher than with DNA."
This
means Hawking says that we have entered a new phase of evolution. "At
first, evolution proceeded by natural selection, from random mutations.
This Darwinian phase, lasted about three and a half billion years, and
produced us, beings who developed language, to exchange information."
But
what distinguishes us from our cave man ancestors is the knowledge that
we have accumulated over the last ten thousand years, and particularly,
Hawking points out, over the last three hundred.
"I
think it is legitimate to take a broader view, and include externally
transmitted information, as well as DNA, in the evolution of the human
race," Hawking said.
In
the last ten thousand years the human species has been in what Hawking
calls, "an external transmission phase," where the internal record of
information, handed down to succeeding generations in DNA, has not
changed significantly. "But the external record, in books, and other
long lasting forms of storage," Hawking says, "has grown enormously.
Some people would use the term, evolution, only for the internally
transmitted genetic material, and would object to it being applied to
information handed down externally. But I think that is too narrow a
view. We are more than just our genes."
The time scale for evolution, in the external transmission period, has collapsed to about 50 years, or less.
Meanwhile,
Hawking observes, our human brains "with which we process this
information have evolved only on the Darwinian time scale, of hundreds
of thousands of years. This is beginning to cause problems. In the 18th
century, there was said to be a man who had read every book written.
But nowadays, if you read one book a day, it would take you about
15,000 years to read through the books in a national Library. By which
time, many more books would have been written."
But
we are now entering a new phase, of what Hawking calls "self designed
evolution," in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA. "At
first," he continues "these changes will be confined to the repair of
genetic defects, like cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy. These
are controlled by single genes, and so are fairly easy to identify, and
correct. Other qualities, such as intelligence, are probably controlled
by a large number of genes. It will be much more difficult to find
them, and work out the relations between them. Nevertheless, I am sure
that during the next century, people will discover how to modify both
intelligence, and instincts like aggression."
If
the human race manages to redesign itself, to reduce or eliminate the
risk of self-destruction, we will probably reach out to the stars and
colonize other planets. But this will be done, Hawking believes, with
intelligent machines based on mechanical and electronic components,
rather than macromolecules, which could eventually replace DNA based
life, just as DNA may have replaced an earlier form of life.
Casey Kazan
Related Galaxy posts:
The 10,000 Year Explosion: Has Human Civilization Turbo Charged Evolution?
Homo Sapiens -The "Time Travelers" -A Galaxy Classic
“Hyper-Speed” Evolution Discovered
Bringing Ancient Human Viruses Back to Life: A Jurassic Park or Salvation?
Immense Journey
Source: http://www.rationalvedanta.net/node/131
PLANETARY SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE
Please join us to celebrate the achievements of two renowned heroes of space exploration, physicist Stephen Hawking and Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, at a luncheon in Pasadena, California on January 23, 2010.
The Planetary Society will present the Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science to Dr. Hawking, author of “A Brief History of Time” and host of the television series “Stephen Hawking’s Universe.”
Carl Sagan’s landmark television series, “Cosmos,” fueled the imaginations of millions of viewers around the world. To honor other innovators who present science in an entertaining and enthralling way, the Society created the Cosmos Award. Through his books, television series and public lectures, Dr. Hawking has engaged the public for over 20 years in some of the most profound questions of our existence – from the origins of the universe to the nature of black holes.
We will also be marking a milestone for Dr. Aldrin – his 80th birthday. Dr. Aldrin has steadfastly supported The Planetary Society as both a friend and a member of our Advisory Council, and throwing a birthday party is a great way for you and I to thank him for his tremendous impact on spaceflight and our shared history.
Join Stephen Hawking, Buzz Aldrin and several members of The Planetary Society’s Board of Directors for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
DATE: Saturday, January 23, 2010
TIME: 12:00 – 2:00 PM
PLACE: The Langham Huntington Hotel Ballroom
1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena CA
For questions about the event, please contact Susan Lendroth at 626-793-5100 ext 237.
Tickets:
Planetary Society Members:
$95 for a single guest
$175 per couple
Non-members:
$175 each
Similar Posts:
- Stephen Hawking Pens a Children’s Book
- Britain’s Channel 4 Airing Series on Stephen Hawking
- Stephen Hawking to Send DNA into Space on Garriott Flight
- Planetary Society to Conduct Public Meetings on Space Exploration
- Stephen Hawking Hospitalized, “Very Ill”
Although It has taken homo sapiens several million years to evolve from the apes, the useful information in our DNA, has probably changed by only a few million bits. So the rate of biological evolution in humans, Stephen Hawking points out in his Life in the Universe lecture, is about a bit a year.
"By contrast," Hawking says, "there are about 50,000 new books published in the English language each year, containing of the order of a hundred billion bits of information. Of course, the great majority of this information is garbage, and no use to any form of life. But, even so, the rate at which useful information can be added is millions, if not billions, higher than with DNA."
This means Hawking says that we have entered a new phase of evolution. "At first, evolution proceeded by natural selection, from random mutations. This Darwinian phase, lasted about three and a half billion years, and produced us, beings who developed language, to exchange information."
But what distinguishes us from our cave man ancestors is the knowledge that we have accumulated over the last ten thousand years, and particularly, Hawking points out, over the last three hundred.
"I think it is legitimate to take a broader view, and include externally transmitted information, as well as DNA, in the evolution of the human race," Hawking said.
In the last ten thousand years the human species has been in what Hawking calls, "an external transmission phase," where the internal record of information, handed down to succeeding generations in DNA, has not changed significantly. "But the external record, in books, and other long lasting forms of storage," Hawking says, "has grown enormously. Some people would use the term, evolution, only for the internally transmitted genetic material, and would object to it being applied to information handed down externally. But I think that is too narrow a view. We are more than just our genes."
The time scale for evolution, in the external transmission period, has collapsed to about 50 years, or less.
Meanwhile, Hawking observes, our human brains "with which we process this information have evolved only on the Darwinian time scale, of hundreds of thousands of years. This is beginning to cause problems. In the 18th century, there was said to be a man who had read every book written. But nowadays, if you read one book a day, it would take you about 15,000 years to read through the books in a national Library. By which time, many more books would have been written."
But we are now entering a new phase, of what Hawking calls "self designed evolution," in which we will be able to change and improve our DNA. "At first," he continues "these changes will be confined to the repair of genetic defects, like cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy. These are controlled by single genes, and so are fairly easy to identify, and correct. Other qualities, such as intelligence, are probably controlled by a large number of genes. It will be much more difficult to find them, and work out the relations between them. Nevertheless, I am sure that during the next century, people will discover how to modify both intelligence, and instincts like aggression."
If the human race manages to redesign itself, to reduce or eliminate the risk of self-destruction, we will probably reach out to the stars and colonize other planets. But this will be done, Hawking believes, with intelligent machines based on mechanical and electronic components, rather than macromolecules, which could eventually replace DNA based life, just as DNA may have replaced an earlier form of life.
by Kid Nate on Jan 8, 2010 9:24 AM EST
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