Evolution revolution

Today, I watched a program on the Science channel based on the era of the dinosaurs. The program went from the beginning of animal life as it evolved from the original slime with its one-celled bacteria to the organisms that eventually evolved into the huge giants that we have come to know. In the beginning the dinosaurs appeared to be plant eaters. But the plants of that time were ferns, conifers, cyclads and the like. They reproduced by shedding seeds in great abundance and the climate certainly encouraged that. The dinosaurs needed to evolve long necks to reach this abundant food supply, And those that didn't, either survived on the seeds that were on the ground or, became meat eaters of the smaller mammal species that lived in the holes and burrows of the earth.

The small animals themselves showed signs of a similar evolutionary pattern since their food supply was insects. This food supply also became more abundant in the lush tropical environment that existed at that time. And of course the insects themselves became more abundant with the evolution of plant life from the gymnosperms to the angiosperms or flowering plants as it were. So perhaps we are seeing a pattern here which is driven by the cyclic rise and fall, if you will, of the earth's climate or environmental conditions.

The same program, mentioned above, described how now the Paleontologists are reasonably sure that the dinosaurs, the meat eaters that is, hunted in packs. And the evolutionary strategy to ensure an adequate food supply was to co-operate and this meant the banding together into families or clans or tribes and the like. The younger dinosaurs were leaner with longer legs and greater speed. The older ones like us humans, were slower but stronger and much more able to bring down and kill the prey for all to feed on. So the younger chased and herded the mammals into an ambush by the larger stronger adults. An example of similar strategies in the insect world is the bee's combining into hives and developing a sophisticated division of labor as seen by the Queen Bee, the drones, the workers et al.

The pattern that appears to emerge for survival and perhaps even beyond that to evolution is based on a co-operative activity. Since we choose to live in a monogamous society then the co-operation must be between the families, the communities, the states and even the countries of the world. The Global economic system works this way perhaps. It doesn't make sense to totally defeat a nation who you depend on to be the consummer of your products. So war makes no practical sense unless one intends to support and re-habilitate the defeated country so that they can continue to be the consummer.

So perhaps we should take advantage of the Global warming that seems to be occuring and ignore the shifting of naturally grown resources. And concentrate on the advantages that continuing co-operation would provide to our own mental and spiritual evolution. Let the fruit and vegetables come from South America and Mexico etc. and let our educational and technical interest supply elcctronic devices that would allow more efficient communication as well as production of those things that represent the food supply so necessary to our survival and evolution.