Vertical Progress: The New Science of Human Civilization

By K. Oxovuieu

This is not the first time when methods of information science are used to analyze natural or cultural phenomena. However, this is the first time when a computer model leads to the emergence of a rigorous scientific theory that explains the fascinating design of human society. It reveals secrets of both phenomenal success and disastrous failures of our civilization in the last few thousands of years. The book offers a fresh and unusual perspective to understand the nature of human society and what we can expect from it in the near future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543915792

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TER 1. Homo Scientius

You cannot conceive the many without the one

–Plato, Dialogues, Parmenides

The infamous Agent Smith compared human population with a virus. Being a sophisticated Matrix computer program, he observed that humans do not behave like other mammals. Instead, people multiply uncontrollably until they consume all available natural resources. He, of course, was wrong, because a virus spreads exponentially while human population grows much faster.

Modern scientists trust formulas the same way medieval astrologers trusted their charts of planets and stars. Unfortunately, statistical analysis of raw data such as human population provides no scientific value. In 1960, the American scientist Heinz von Foerster shared his observation that human population growth has a hyperbolic speed. He extrapolated results of the statistical analysis and concluded that the human population would become infinite by the year 2026. Physicists call such a weird event a singularity. Of course, nobody expects that this will really happen, and projections like this point out the weaknesses of a blind trust in results of statistical analysis. Many of us, however, believe that our enormous technological advancement has led our civilization to the verge of significant change. It feels as if the pace of progress is getting so high that humankind may soon undergo a fundamental transformation. Since the 1960s, scientists have tried to predict what will happen to us. They use our steadily growing computer power to analyze more and more data. However, it seems the more data we collect, the less understanding we have.

We have collected more than enough information. What we need is an idea.

According to paleontology, modern humans appeared on Earth about 200,000 years ago. It took their ancestors, Homo erectus, around 1.8 million years and several attempts to evolve into the species we call Homo sapiens sapiens. For a very long time, humans and animals lived in harmony with nature. Then the pace of human civilization abruptly accelerated. Suddenly, people around the world radically changed their lifestyle from nomadic to sedentary.

It is not easy to analyze events scattered across such long timeline. It will be much easier if we scale down the 200,000 years of human existence to just one year. Imagine that today is December 31, and we are seconds away from the midnight. According to the scaled timeline, Homo sapiens first appeared on Earth one year ago. It took them more than 11 months to figure out how to make fire and invent stone axes and other advanced hunting tools. Then, suddenly, during the second week of December, humans woke up from their slow existence. They started forming settlements, domesticating animals, and learned to grow and cultivate food crops. People invented metal and ceramics and learned how to build walls and houses. They figured out how to make irrigation channels. There are good reasons why scientists call this historical period the Neolithic Revolution.

But unlike other revolutions, the acceleration of civilization’s progress was not just temporary. It did not end and didn’t even slow down. Instead, progress continues to accelerate at an even faster pace. This is how it looks on the scaled timeline. Not until December 24 had Egyptians built their pyramids. The Roman Empire fell only two days ago, Copernicus died yesterday, the American Declaration of Independence was signed this afternoon, and about an hour ago the first World Wide Web page was accessed by the Internet.

Modern science suggests several explanations for the Neolithic Revolution. The mainstream theory proposes that a combination of climate change and other external events forced or allowed our ancestors to change their pace from the almost linear to the hyperbolic. It is hard to produce a simple explanation for so much biological, archeological, and anthropological evidence. It is much easier to look at the entire history from an information-science point of view. Evidently, around 20,000 years ago, something happened to Homo sapiens. It looks as if we suddenly evolved to another species that lived and acted much differently from its ancestors.

Ever since the theory of evolution placed the human species at the end of a long line of animal predecessors, we have been trying to find the answer to a very intriguing question: what is the principal difference between humans and animals? What makes us special? The latest research shows that biological differences between archaic humans and modern humans are insignificant. From the genetic point of view, humans are very close to such animals as chimpanzees or gorillas. The DNA of humans and chimpanzees is 99 percent the same. Because of that, most scientists are convinced that humans are just another species of animals. Some modern biologists believe that men are equal to other animals and that somehow we have used an unfair advantage to grab power and rule the planet. That may be so, but exactly what advantage is that?

Modern humans are larger than most of their ape ancestors. Most of us have almost no body hair. Our skeleton has evolved so we can walk on two legs. That allows us to use our hands for all kinds of craftsmanship. All these differences are evident, but they do not provide us with any significant evolutionary advantage. For example, unlike other animals, people are not very fast. We cannot fly, we cannot breathe under water, brachiate, hibernate, nor we are capable of using ultrasound to navigate in the dark—all things that some animals can do.

The scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens. The Latin word sapiens means wise. Humans are very smart animals because they can think. Humans have a brain that is not only larger than gorillas’ but also has significantly more neurons. Our brain has a highly developed frontal lobe that is responsible for high brain function—an intellect. Is that the real source of the human supremacy? Can the sudden jump-start of our civilization’s astoundingly accelerated progress be explained just by human intelligence?

Intelligence

In the last twenty years, scientists discovered many new facts about the human brain. The design of this biological computing device is fascinating—a giant network of 100 billion neurons interconnected by 100–500 trillion synapses, which reacts to external stimuli and transfers information using electrochemical signals.

As in any other modern scientific field, most recent brain research focuses on statistical analysis. Using advanced imaging technologies, scientists were able to analyze the electromagnetic activity of neurons. They learned which parts of the brain are responsible for various tasks performed by our minds. We have learned a lot, but how much do we understand? How much would you be able to learn about a computer using only data collected from outside the system’s case? Can you reconstruct the design of a computer program by measuring electrical signals between a couple of billion transistors inside the CPU?

Unlike computers, the brain does not have separate components such as a processing unit, registers, memory, a bus system, hard drives, and interfaces. All brain functions are implemented using connections between neurons. All our memories, thoughts, and feelings exist as paths that carry a signal from one neuron to another. Groups of neurons help the brain to create associations among facts, concepts, categories, and principles. Each new thought is a set of connections to the neuron paths the brain established previously. For example, when you think of a table, your brain transfers signals to areas that store information about dinner, writing, flat surface, horizontal surface, etc. Initial signals coming from your eyes, ears and other receptors are associated with frontier neurons that will communicate to other neurons using the connection routes. They will quickly take your mind to the right concepts. When the sun shines to your eye, you will shut it or turn away because bright light is associated with pain in your eyes. Our actions (things we do) are also the result of associations that end up sending right signals to the right muscles.

The brain learns by making new connections. The more signals coming through a particular path, the stronger this pathway becomes. It happens because synaptic connections between neurons that do not get enough signals eventually die. We have nothing to worry about; this is part of the design. The process is similar to burning data to a CD. A blank disk has a flat surface represents a long sequence of digit 1. To write information, you have to convert some parts of the track to digit 0 by burning sections of the disk surface. Sometimes you need to destroy things to create information. A brain learns the similar way. By repeating the same activity over and over, we burn them into the network of neurons. After a while, any unused connection disappears, and the often-used connections get stronger.

The more we learn about brain functions, the more evident it becomes that the only biological advantage we have over all other chordates is that our brain has many more neurons. In other words, people are not just smart—they are much smarter than any other animal. Can this be explained by just the extraordinary size of the human neural network?

One distinctive sign of intelligence is the capacity for learning. The latest research shows that some animals are much smarter than we thought. Experiments show that some animals can learn not only by personal experience but also by observing others. This ability makes them smart enough to figure out how to use nature to their advantage. But in their quest for survival, humans went much further. People not only adapt to the environment, they can also make it more suitable as a habitat. The basic functions of the brain such as observation and pattern recognition are not sufficient for this kind of activity. To be able to change nature, humans need to understand it. Such understanding requires much more complex brain functions—logic and abstract thinking.

The truth is that we are still far from understanding how the brain performs these functions. It seems that a large number of neurons would automatically produce intelligence. Can we assume that brain size and capacity are solely responsible for the sudden change of pace of human civilization around 20,000 years ago? The problem with such an assumption is that according to scientific data, people were already smart for a very long time before the Neolithic Revolution started. Like any other biological feature, intelligence must evolve gradually. We have evidence that Australopithecus (a prehuman) was smarter than apes, Homo erectus was smarter than Australopithecus, and Homo sapiens is more intelligent than all of them. It is also possible that Homo sapiens who lived 20 thousand years ago were smarter than their ancestors who lived 200 thousand years ago. But could they really have been that much smarter?

Communication

Despite popular misconception, the ability to communicate is not a distinct sign of intelligence. Modern computers communicate to each other, but it does not mean they can think. Communication is not a distinct characteristic of humans either. Most animals have some way to exchange information. Some of them use smell, movement, or gestures to send signals. Bees use movements to tell others where the nectar is (the bee dance). Chimpanzees use gestures. But the most convenient way to communicate is by using sound. Sound waves can travel a great distance in the air, in the water, and even through the ground. Sound goes through or around obstacles. You can hear sounds in the forest, around the corner, or from behind a wall. Sound does not need light, so you can send and receive signals in the dark. Whales send such signals over very long distances through water. Dolphins communicate using high-pitched noises. Birds can sing. Most mammals can make a distinct sound to send information to their neighbors.

Human beings are no exception. We have the ability to create a great variety of complex and nuanced voice signals. Our exceptional voice capability is possible because of a unique anatomical feature. The hyoid bone in our neck is not directly connected to any other bone in our body. Some archeological data suggest that humans got this feature about 50,000 years ago. Other data shows that both humans and Neanderthals had this feature for much longer. What is important is that along with the larynx drop, it enables people to produce very intricate and elaborate sounds. No other species has these features.

Read more online: VP/link/chapter1

Biological evolution is a long process. It introduces changes gradually. Is it possible that a combination of gradual changes led to a revolution? The answers lie in information science.

It takes millions of years for evolution to develop complex biological features that can be passed to future generations through a genetic code. Animals can inherit some skills in the form of instincts. However, to survive in a rapidly changing world, one needs to upgrade personal knowledge much faster than genetic inheritance can manage. To adapt to constant changes, all animals have to continue to learn their whole life either through personal experience or by observing others. This learning process works much faster than evolution, but it is still not fast enough.

During his very short lifetime, a prehistoric human had to learn how to sharpen a stone, make a bow, and start a fire. Even if we assume that our ancestors were as smart as we are, you cannot expect a man also to learn how to domesticate animals, grow a crop, and build houses only by watching the neighbors. We may assume that once upon a time there was a caveman who came up with the idea of putting seeds into the ground and waiting for them to grow. Cultivation is a long process with an unknown result. Even if other people observed his actions, they had little chance of understanding what he was doing and why.

Unless he tells them.

Homo sapiens were smart, but their progress during their first 200 thousand years was not much different from the development of an advanced animal. Our experience shows that domestic cats and dogs can learn more from people than a whole generation of prehistoric humans learned on their own during thousands of years. It is remarkable that even a powerful brain that is capable of logic and abstract thinking does not help you to evolve unless you can exchange information and thoughts with others. It is essential for intellectual development to be able to communicate not only facts but also complex ideas such as abstractions, logical conclusions, deductions, assumptions, guesses, and skills. To support such communication, you will need a sophisticated data-exchange protocol. In other words, you would need a language—a set of distinct sounds that can encode physical objects, abstract concepts, and logical terms.

There is still much we do not know about the brain. But neurobiologists have already discovered that a large portion of the frontal lobe, Broca’s area, is dedicated to language processing. We do not know if human intelligence can exist without language, but it is evident that language itself is a very important feature of intelligence.

We are simply used to the miracle of evolution. Children begin to talk between ages two and five and communicate their needs and intentions. Over time they start to use language skills to name things, express emotions, and play games. Children quickly learn how to use it for deception and entertainment. But the most important use of language is to learn.

Imagine yourself as a teenager who has moved with his parents to a foreign country. One day you meet a group of kids who are playing together, and they invite you to join their game. You want to play, but you have no idea what the rules are. You can learn how to play this game just by observing other kids. Your primary learning method, in this case, will be the same as that used by animals—to watch and imitate. You will try and fail over and over again until, after many iterations, you will learn most of the rules. You can imagine how much faster and easier this process would be if the other kids could just explain the rules to you. Even basic language skills will allow you to understand what you are supposed to do. You will be able to come up with a strategy and a plan. Even though you will still need to acquire the physical skills required for the game, the learning cycle will be much shorter.

Most animals acquire skills by repeating a simple cycle: watch others, imitate their actions, and adjust behavior according to experience. Learning takes time and effort, and one can easily waste it by learning to do wrong things. To try something new is a risk one needs to take. Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process, but some mistakes can be fatal. To improve your chances, you must learn from the mistakes of others. Sharing the results of others’ trials helps reduce the risk of making a fatal mistake. In other words, collective learning provides an environment for accelerated natural selection. Such a process is optimized not for individual learners but for shared knowledge.

Humans perfected the process of collective learning and took it to another level. Unlike other animals, humans can share not only their experiences but also their ideas. Because people can both think and talk, they can pass on knowledge. We can learn not only how to do something but also how to think about it. Knowledge often proves to be more valuable than skills because it helps us quickly adapt to changes. Think of knowledge as a combination of both algorithms and data. Scientia potentia est—knowledge is power. It gives us the ability to analyze existing information, find patterns, deduce similarities, and make logical conclusions to predict what may happen in the future. But most important, unlike skills and experiences, knowledge can survive the death of an individual and pass to the next generations.

The Knowmen

The behavior of animals is mostly driven by reflexes, instincts, and habits. Instinct is a program that animals inherit from their parents. Instincts are formed over an extended period in the process of natural selection. When danger is present, rabbits flee, birds fly away, and a large predator may have an impulse to stay and fight. All these programs help animals use their assets to survive and increase their population. Habits are patterns animals learn during their lifetime. Learning helps the animal adapt to rapid changes in the environment. It is an essential part of the survival process, so we can say that the irresistible desire to learn is also an instinct.

As soon as humans developed language, they began to use it not only to share information but also to exchange ideas. This new activity changed the pace of human evolution. The impulse to know what other people know and think is a high-level human instinct that our ancestors developed at a certain point of evolution. It is not a coincidence that the word intelligence has a second meaning: information. We collect intelligence from other people, and this information can have a higher priority than information we acquire by experience. For example, if a man sees a tiger, animal instinct tells him to run. However, if this person is part of a planned hunting operation, then he knows that others have prepared a trap for the animal. This knowledge gives the man courage to stay and to play his role in the plan.

The impulse to know what others are thinking is a complex phenomenon. It helps us not only to survive but also to improve our life beyond the natural limits that exist for animals. Unlike instincts, this impulse affects higher brain functions. It exists in our subconscious and amplifies the natural urge to learn that we inherited from animals. It may sound strange, but nothing in this life gives us more pleasure than learning. You probably never realized that even though you get satisfaction from a good meal, comfortable clothes, and sex, none of these match the joy you may get from an intellectual communication.

Animals fight for resources to survive. Human beings also compete for knowledge. In addition to the pleasure we receive from learning, nature rewards us with the ability to rejoice in victories in intellectual competition. It is possible that the realization that we know more than others is the primary cause of laughter. Every joke, funny picture, and comedy that makes you laugh achieves this result by revealing that you know something others do not. You laugh when you feel you are winning. There is a reason why laughter is both visible and audible. A laughing person is sending a message to others—I know something useful, so come and learn it from me. The impulse to know what other people are thinking makes us get together and form communities. It forces us to focus our attention on other people. The impulse to know is so powerful because it uses both the carrot and the stick. Every time you realize that you have missed something everybody else knew, you feel ashamed and humiliated. The symmetry of these feelings becomes apparent when you fail in public. You feel ashamed because others are laughing at you. Failure of one person becomes entertainment for others.

Of course, not every piece of information will excite you. People are delighted to