The recent leak from inside AT&T says that the Bush “secret security” arm known as the NSA have access to all AT&T customers’ phone connections — not just logs of who called whom, but they can tap anyone, anytime. The other large service providers no doubt caved in to NSA pressure as well, so pretty much no one is safe from the prying ears of the Bush Crewe. (Being illegal, will the phone companies at some point be indicted? It’s illegal to open personal mail, isn’t it?) Will be interesting if the “small government” Republicans roll over for this one in the name of national security. One also wonders how many more illegal taps and activities these folks can get away with by pressing the buttons “terrorists are coming to get you” “homeland security” and “it’s for your own good”.
Given the track record of the Bush bunch they will most likely be very unsuccessful at what they have branded homeland security and will use this access as a way of intimidating and destroying political and ideological opponents. It’s too easy to resist. It’s like handing someone a gun and saying don’t use it. George, it will be remembered, failed at every business he was handed — including an oil company! Why almost half the country thought a failure as a businessman could magically learn to run a nation is beyond me. Thinking from the gut, I guess, as Steve Colbert put it.
Alternatively, I would suggest that if our leaders are allowed to pry into our lives we should have the same access to theirs. There is nothing, except sheer power, that says they are more trustworthy than we are. If anything we know that closeness to power makes them candidates for untrustworthiness. If the FBI is allowed to indiscriminately read a Senator's mail and correspondence then that Senator should be allowed to access the intimate and personal Whitehouse and FBI correspondence.
Sexy Evolution
“Are we still evolving?” asks a recent article in New Scientist. A touchy question, for a positive answer implies that some of us are more “evolved” than others. Uh oh. We’d like to believe in the myth that we were all created equal, but if there isn’t enough evidence to prove that we are not now there soon will be. The intent of that inspirational adage, I believe, was that we are equal in the eyes of the law. Our opportunities and rights are equal. Not that we all have the same hair color or are equally blessed with skills or abilities.
Now those who may be more “evolved” than others — carrying genes that make them better suited for the geography and society in which they live — but they may only be “better” in the sense of being more suited to a particular place and situation. In this sense evolution is relative, up to a point. In an odd environment something altogether freaky is more suited, more evolved, but clearly that creature may not be of much use anywhere else. A fish out of water is a dead fish.
It is still considered evolution if the species as a whole becomes stupider. Evolved does not mean “better”, there are no value judgments attached, we add and presume those ourselves.
Among recent evidence for continuing evolution are the Ashkenazi Jews. It seems that possibly as a result of being banned from many labor and work opportunities over the last 1000 years, this mainly Eastern European gene pool has evolved a higher than average intelligence (12-15 points higher than average). The blowback from repression is the creation of a super race. Poetic justice of a twisted sort.
Other evidence:
Gene CCR5-Δ32 a gene found in certain parts of Africa affords some protection against HIV.
Gene DRD4 is the dopamine receptor gene. It has become more common in the last few thousand years. It is positively selected for, so it will probably become even more common as time goes by. It is also associated with attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. Why humans should evolve FAVORING those conditions is still a mystery. My guess is that those conditions are the flip side of a genetic coin whose face side offers a more obvious suitability and advantage and, being linked on the same gene, you unfortunately get the bad along with the good. Aren’t the dopamine receptors also somehow related to the pleasure centers of the brain?
This could also be like the schizophrenia/creativity link mentioned in an earlier posting, or the genius-geek/autism link. A taste of Fugue gives a nice buzz, but too much and it’s your last meal.
Speaking of pleasure, some (Geoffrey Miller) propose that sexual rather than natural selection is the new driving force in evolution, in humans at least. Natural selection is about simple survival — the mere possibility of being physically able to pass on your genes. Now, Miller suggests, we are much pickier about whom we mate with. All creatures are somewhat picky — doing their best when making a choice to determine the odds of siring successful offspring. Courtship displays are often viewed as elaborate demonstrations of health, commitment and suitability. “Choose me!”
But now, Miller suggests, we have evolved to a whole new plateau. The social and even online connections and interactions among people and populations mean that a person can choose from a shop with a wider and deeper selection. People tend to connect with others who are like them, physically, mentally, financially — and the global and local mixing and interconnecting of recent centuries facilitates (and encourages?) extreme pickiness. People now CHOOSE how they will evolve — if the mating dance can be called a choice. It shifts human evolution into turbo drive rather than stopping it, as had been suggested would happen when it seemed we and our children would all more or less have an equal chance of “surviving”.
