A question of philosophy

[Outdated]

Most of us are quite familiar now with a steady progression of new technologies. From new chip designs to entirely new concepts of device design and usage.

The human brain is very much like a computer. Is there a chance that the human genome is working on a new chip design and I'm just one of the buggy beta test versions?

 

[maycontainthunder]

I'm definitely a buggy version. I keep failing to load with the error 'cookie.exe is missing. Please insert cookie.exe to continue'.

 

[Outdated]

@maycontainthunder Love your mention of Dog V4 in you sig.

My dog Ruby wasn't named for her colouring, she was named for the day of the week that I got her on and because she was a nut job. She was named for the song Ruby Tuesday.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

The human brain is very much like a computer. Is there a chance that the human genome is working on a new chip design and I'm just one of the buggy beta test versions?

Perhaps. Just depends upon your genetics. Some autism genes are familial. Some autism genes are unique to you,...de novo genes. What mix of those you are,...you'd need to test.

The results of the human genome project were quite interesting. The vast majority autism genes found during testing were the de novo genes,...those recent mutations created in utero,...not familial.

So is there a genetic experiment going on in nature? One could look at it that way,...adapt and overcome,...or something else. At this point all we have is the hard genetic data to demonstrate the WHAT,...and now we have to figure out the HOW and the WHY.

 

[Aspychata]

I can only clear my error page with coffee. My reset button is broken. I run on a pirated software that is no longer supported even by the black market. My brain flickers and stalls. Too much malware, so l operate on loops of misinformation complicating my existence. So now l am just a bot with no future.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

OR,...**Conspiracy Alert**...if you are of the thought that our DNA is, in part, due to an ancient alien breeding program, and that something in our environment is now activating those genetics. If you feel like you are on the wrong planet somehow,...this might be the answer. Perhaps we are about to take over the world from the humans.

Wow,...I just said that.

 

[Aspychata]

OR,...**Conspiracy Alert**...if you are of the thought that our DNA is, in part, due to an ancient alien breeding program, and that something in our environment is now activating those genetics. If you feel like you are on the wrong planet somehow,...this might be the answer. Perhaps we are about to take over the world from the humans.

Wow,...I just said that.

Dude- that's why we all meet here l thought.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Have you looked at How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker? Interesting to me is the modular operation of the mind. You may begin to understand how just not like a computer the brain is.

Neurological development is controlled by pleitropic regulators (genes which are control elements that affect the expression of many other genes), and are frequently conserved non-coding elements. These affect the spacialtemporal expression of gene clusters that occur diferentially during neurological development. This has not been adequately studied for Autism. Given the large number of coding elements attributed to autism hints to me that the fundamental basis for autism is a change to associated conserved non-coding elements, changing how the brain is built.

We are not defective or buggy just part of the normal variability within the human phenotype.

 

[Outdated]

OR,...**Conspiracy Alert**.......

Coming to store near you soon - Humanity 2.0

 

[Tom]

Most of us are quite familiar now with a steady progression of new technologies. From new chip designs to entirely new concepts of device design and usage.

The human brain is very much like a computer. Is there a chance that the human genome is working on a new chip design and I'm just one of the buggy beta test versions?

The idea has circulated frequently in general and been dicussed here on and off. But I would say (guess) that it is not a widely held belief. One thing to remember is while most here are ASD-1 there are also ASD-2 and ASD-3.

Myself, I don't see it as an evolutionary step unless it presents some advantage that leads to autistics gaining on NT's as far as survivability goes. Something I do not see at this time.

I also lean heavily towards the environmental model with some change we have made to the environment being the cause of increase in autism via some agent causing mutations/variations. There doesn't have to be just one smoking gun. A whole volley of them is possible considering all chemicals and artificial materials we expose ourself to in the modern age. Pesticides and Weed killers which have been used on a large scale for crops internationally for decades are two most likely suspects and some studies have come out providing some evidence of this.

But really I have only a lay person's understanding of these things and frankly feel like just a cult follower of the anti-pesticide/weedkiller bunch. Maybe there's truth to it, maybe not. The issue is complex. Neonatal and Gerald are much more knowledgable and I read their posts with great interest.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Survival in evolutionary terms should be "survival in order to leave the most adult offspring." The only thing that evolution cares about is survival for reproduction. After you have reached reproductive age, and unless care of progeny, even among altruistic groups, conferrs reproductive advantage, evolution is done with you.

 

[Tom]

Survival in evolutionary terms should be "survival in order to leave the most adult offspring." The only thing that evolution cares about is survival for reproduction. After you have reached reproductive age, and unless care of progeny, even among altruistic groups, conferrs reproductive advantage, evolution is done with you.

Then this is possibily an indication that it is not evolution at work. The only stats I have seen showed autistics had fewer children then general population.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Then this is possibily an indication that it is not evolution at work. The only stats I have seen showed autistics had fewer children then general population.

What I am thinking, and where there is insufficient research, is, given the genes involved, I am becoming more confident that there is control element involvement that may influence the differential expression over time of genes involved with CNS development. Everywhere I look, control of expression hits me in the face. A simple single nucleotide error can have a greater impact within a control element than a coding element.

 

[Shamar]

Most of us are quite familiar now with a steady progression of new technologies. From new chip designs to entirely new concepts of device design and usage.

The human brain is very much like a computer. Is there a chance that the human genome is working on a new chip design and I'm just one of the buggy beta test versions?

Interesting metaphor. Yes, we are buggy, but those genes have been around for a long time. If they were useless or detrimental, they would be gone. I see them as a backup system. They may not be particularly useful now, but may be very useful if things collapse, and different thinking is required.

For example, I can (and have) lived happily in environments that would kill most people. Cities I have problems with. Wilderness I understand, I know the rules and how it all works. I am comfortable there. In cities, I get confused, I don't know the rules, and the rules keep changing. I am NOT comfortable there. Or even fully functional there.

On the other hand, if you were stuck in the wilderness, who would you rather have with you - a weird person like me, or a typical New York City yuppie? And that is why our genes are kept. It is an old "chip" design, no longer relevant most of the time, but when things change, it can be the difference between surviving and not surviving.

 

[Outdated]

Just for the record, my original post here was only intended as light hearted amusement and I didn't expect anyone to take it seriously.

That said, some of your responses have been very informative and insightful.

Thank you.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Then this is possibily an indication that it is not evolution at work. The only stats I have seen showed autistics had fewer children then general population.

So do intelligent people. There's sort of a societal experiment going on the past several decades,...the higher the IQ, the fewer the children,...and vice-versa,...statistically speaking. The dumbing down of the human race,...the comedy movie Idiocracy is becoming more and more a documentary every day.

Of course, there's the other coincidental data,...that according to the human genome project,...statistically speaking,...it's the autistic individual in the family that has the highest academic achievement in the family. Furthermore, it's females with high academic achievement that have their children later in life,...and fewer of them,...and more likely to have autistic children themselves. So,...there are a handful of variables that are play here.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

 

[Tom]

Just for the record, my original post here was only intended as light hearted amusement and I didn't expect anyone to take it seriously.

That said, some of your responses have been very informative and insightful.

Thank you.

Yes, I misinterpreted your post. I caught the humorous aspect but thought the pondering on new design at least partially serious. Probably because the idea that autism is the next step in evolution has been around for years and periodically comes up. Not necessarily that people think it is true so much as asking if it could be so. To which some of us try (to the extent of our abilities) to show how the scientific data does not support that theory.

 

[Shamar]

So do intelligent people. There's sort of a societal experiment going on the past several decades,...the higher the IQ, the fewer the children,...and vice-versa,...statistically speaking. The dumbing down of the human race,...the comedy movie Idiocracy is becoming more and more a documentary every day.

Of course, there's the other coincidental data,...that according to the human genome project,...statistically speaking,...it's the autistic individual in the family that has the highest academic achievement in the family. Furthermore, it's females with high academic achievement that have their children later in life,...and fewer of them,...and more likely to have autistic children themselves. So,...there are a handful of variables that are play here.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

Idiocracy seems to be inspired by (if not based on) C.M. Kornbluth's story The Marching Morons. Read it, you will find it interesting, prophetic, and downright terrifying in it's implications.

​

 

[Todd]

OR,...**Conspiracy Alert**...if you are of the thought that our DNA is, in part, due to an ancient alien breeding program, and that something in our environment is now activating those genetics. If you feel like you are on the wrong planet somehow,...this might be the answer. Perhaps we are about to take over the world from the humans.

Wow,...I just said that.

.... and the meek shall inherit the world.....

 

[Judge]

No worries. Everyone will be equally "buggy" when the next "Dark Age" occurs.