Origin of Intelligence and Mental Illness Linked to Ancient Genetic Accident

I was on Science Daily and ran across this.

Researchers have identified the moment in history when the genes that enabled us to think and reason evolved.

This point 500 million years ago provided our ability to learn complex skills, analyse situations and have flexibility in the way in which we think.

Professor Seth Grant, of the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said: "One of the greatest scientific problems is to explain how intelligence and complex behaviours arose during evolution."

The research team studied the mental abilities of mice and humans, using comparative tasks that involved identifying objects on touch-screen computers.

Researchers then combined results of these behavioural tests with information from the genetic codes of various species to work out when different behaviours evolved.

They found that higher mental functions in humans and mice were controlled by the same genes.

www.sciencedaily.com...

This should lead to better ways to treat those with mental illness. I know a few people that could use all the help they can get ( a few here on ATS ).

Thought I would share this and get some thoughts on the research.
Quad

reply to post by Quadrivium

I find this to be very interesting, but can you post your source to this story.

My bad got it...lol

soooo fn dum dum. you ain't know nothing. all you do is regurgitate the poisons given to you.

when are you going to stop listening to these people who only wish to rape your life of all that is good. the world is here and it is not theirs.

i am the craziest i am the dumbest i am the smartest i am the artist

reply to post by Quadrivium


This is actually a very interesting and unique find

I'm checking out the details now.

Yes,I read that earlier today.
500 million years ago?
Yes,I know,that was the spark,so when did we make our first spear?

"Our work shows that the price of higher intelligence and more complex behaviours is more mental illness," said Professor Grant.

I thought this quote was rather encouraging

Seriously though, I found the article interesting but find the way they came up with 500 million years a little wanting. I am trying to find more on it know.
If one of you run across something, post it please.
Thanks
Quad

Originally posted by usernamehere
soooo fn dum dum. you ain't know nothing. all you do is regurgitate the poisons given to you.

when are you going to stop listening to these people who only wish to rape your life of all that is good. the world is here and it is not theirs.

i am the craziest i am the dumbest i am the smartest i am the artist

Would you care to explain your post a little further?

very interesting.

Great find,

I've been doing some research into genetics today, it is a fascinating science...

And I've always been interested in what the factors of intelligence are..

It is incredible how mutations occur, and how one single mutation of a building block can lead to evolution or death. For example, Tay Sachs is caused by a single building block protein being replaced by another in a DNA strand with 3 billion pairs...

It is also incredible how similar human DNA is to all biology on Earth...this find exemplifies the concept that once a process is coded into DNA and is successful, it generally stays put... the implication is that this gene is common to probably all mammals.

I'm more interested to see studies uncover more advanced intelligence traits.


ETA: It concerns me a bit that the immediate association being made with this discovery is treating mental illness...we are on slippery slope where people may be compelled to cede some privacy in the name of health care. Iceland is an example where people give up their DNA willingly. The problem is that someone who is a risk for, say schizophrenia, may end up paying a higher rate for insurance and never develop the disorder. Or such mental tendencies may draw attention from surveillance.

Tough ethical questions are around the corner.

"Our work shows that the price of higher intelligence and more complex behaviours is more mental illness," said Professor Grant.

Originally posted by usernamehere
soooo fn dum dum. you ain't know nothing. all you do is regurgitate the poisons given to you.

when are you going to stop listening to these people who only wish to rape your life of all that is good. the world is here and it is not theirs.

i am the craziest i am the dumbest i am the smartest i am the artist

This prof. Grant may well have a point !



s&f

"Our work shows that the price of higher intelligence and more complex behaviours is more mental illness," said Professor Grant.

So on the back of this science paper, are the mentally ill really the mental ones, or just human evolvement, like the massive increase in Bi-Polar in the last 20+ years.

Quotes from the OP linked article:

 "One of the greatest scientific problems is to explain how intelligence and complex behaviours arose during evolution"
The research...... also shows a direct link between the evolution of behaviour and the origins of brain diseases.

The study also showed that when these genes were mutated or damaged, they impaired higher mental functions.

Let's couple this with all of the "scientific" articles linking everything from religious beliefs and morals to how we vote to our genetics. Let's link this "scientific" research to the global political correctness movement which is attempting to define unwanted beliefs and morals as hatred and intolerance and new world ordered beliefs and morals as "enlightenment" and "tolerance".

Now let's look at the occult beliefs as expressed recently by - of all people - the President of Iran:

-The arrival of the Ultimate Savior (Imam Mahdi) will mark a new beginning, a rebirth and a resurrection. It will be the beginning of peace, lasting security and genuine life.
-His arrival will be the end of oppression, immorality, poverty, discrimination and the beginning of justice, love and empathy.
-He will come and he will cut through ignorance, superstition, prejudice by opening the gates of science and knowledge. He will establish a world brimful of prudence and he will prepare the ground for the collective, active and constructive participation of all in the global management.
-He will come to grant kindness, hope, freedom and dignity to all humanity as a girl.
-He will come so mankind will taste the pleasure of being human and being in the company of other humans.
-He will come so that hands will be joined, hearts will be filled with love and thoughts will be purified to be at service of security, welfare and happiness for all." m.latinospost.com...

Just how is this "Ultimate Saviour" going to accomplish this peace and unity in a world full of differences?

-"He will come to return all children of Adam irrespective of their skin colors to their innate origin after a long history of separation and division linking them to eternal happiness".

Why he is going to change you...revert you back to your "innate origin". This is the occult belief of the Kaballah - the Primordial Man, Adam Kadmon - our original androgynous divine self. This entire "scientific research" is preparatory groundwork, laying down the "proof" in our minds that some sort of genetic mutation or damage occurred along the path of evolution which will be blamed for why we do and think what we do. Out of that "problem" will arise the solution to the world's disharmony and discord....that the golden age on planet Earth can be achieved if we accept the fix to ourselves that they will propose, the fix that which will revert us back to our "higher mental functions" as the article suggests.

The logo "Science Daily" is in red and blue, "as above, so below".....Adam (red) Heavenly (blue) - occult. The serpent promise that you will become like god if you just eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil. The logo identifies it's purpose - and therefore the articles it chooses have a specific purpose - the furthering of Kaballahistic beliefs under the guise of "science". Please understand what the serpent is doing in these last days, understand that he now has a vast majority of the descendants of Israel completely in rebellion to their Creator through the teaching of evolution. Science is now their sole source of truth, and therefore whatever this science preaches, it will be believed. Around the world Freemasons, Kaballahists, Mayans, apostate Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Islamic Shi'ites etc have one goal - to raise the serpent religion of yesteryear. The serpent is Kundalini, the image of the coiled serpent at the base of the spine, that if raised brings a "consciousness of one"....a "global unity" and "global consciousness" whereby those who become "enlightened" no longer view a distinction between good and evil or male and female. This is the new world order....and as scripture promises, the deception will ensnare the world because the darkness was loved more than the light. Billions in these religions have been promised their "ascension" into god hood as they willingly accept the unholy spirit of the serpent, and today's "science" is only laying acceptance of the groundwork for when the solution is unveiled.

Our Creator is clear - it is sin that separates us from Him, not our genetics, and it is only through being born again can we overcome the desires of our hearts and minds which gives birth to sin. He is clear that genetics has nothing to do with our mind and actions, but rather it is who we worship - the beast or Him.

reply to post by Quadrivium


500 million years? Did they use a fossil record to get that number or just their imaginations?

Seem like they're losing their salesmanship.

Are they even trying anymore or do they just expect us to buy it 'cause they said science.

reply to post by PatrickGarrow17


Interesting take on the article Patrick, I can certainly see what you are saying about the insurance implications.
I did not think about that.
Quad

reply to post by WhoKnows100


Great post WhoKnows
I agree with most of it and I appreciate that you took the time to post it. Keep up the good work!
Quad

Originally posted by Bleeeeep
reply to post by Quadrivium

 

500 million years? Did they use a fossil record to get that number or just their imaginations?

Seem like they're losing their salesmanship.

Are they even trying anymore or do they just expect us to buy it 'cause they said science.

I do not think they have lost their salesmanship Bleep, I think they do not need it anymore.
Many, many people will take this at face value simply because it came from "scientist".
So many things that are touted by science today are just beliefs. I think more faith is needed to believe some of this stuff than it takes to believe in a Creator.

reply to post by Quadrivium


I'm glad that you understood what I was getting at, and you're exactly right. They take it on faith and claim that, because it's science, anyone can recreate the results. In reality, that never happens, and no one even questions it in the scientific community.

Back a few years ago, they would have some extraordinary claim coupled with vast amounts of “corroborating evidence”, “peer reviews”, and rebuttals preplanned for deniers. Some “deniers” would then step up and call hoax, and eventually the denier would be proven wrong by more peer reviews.

And now? They come right out with these insane theories with large presumptuous numbers like 500 million years, and it's instantly accepted.

The only things that I have even seen questioned in the last few years were things like medical prescriptions, and the alike, and that was only because people died from them.

Interesting article. For another take on the origins of consciousness Take a look at this book by Dr. Julian Janes.

THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE BREAK-DOWN OF THE BICAMERAL MIND - PDF

This is a free download in PDF format and is 479 pages long.

WHEN ASKED the question, what is consciousness? we become conscious of consciousness. And most of us take this consciousness of consciousness to be what consciousness is.

This is not true. In being conscious of consciousness, we feel it is the most self-evident thing imaginable. We feel it is the defining attribute of all our waking states, our moods and affections, our memories, our thoughts, attentions, and volitions. We feel comfortably certain that consciousness is the basis of concepts, of learning and reasoning, of thought and judgment, and that it is so because it records and stores our experiences as they happen, allowing us to introspect on them and learn from them at will. We are also quite conscious that all this wonderful set of operations and contents that we call consciousness is located somewhere in the head.

On critical examination, all of these statements are false. They are the costume that consciousness has been masquerading in for centuries. They are the misconceptions that have prevented a solution to the problem of the origin of consciousness. To demonstrate these errors and show what consciousness is not, is the long but I hope adventurous task of this chapter.

I have thought along those lines for quite some time, I even argued with my therapist over it about ten years ago. I think the true genius is a sort of mutation or genetic error, and most of the people I have come across in that IQ range are downright quirky, and seem to suffer more from mental illness. Therapist argued that they were not more prone to illness, just more affected by trauma from a young age, hence the issues later in life. Maybe a combination of both.

All I know, is that I have met some incredibly intelligent people in my lifetime who seem to have everything in the smarts department, but had difficulty with common sense. (i.e. using a hand can opener proves difficult, getting along with others socially) I suppose evolution will continue along it's path, and if humans truly benefit from extreme intelligence, we will see more of them. On the other hand, when I look around it seems as if intelligence has leveled out if not declined (see congress for example).