[mmunroe]

At first glance this book may appear to be only about biology and reality versus mysticism. However, this book looks at man as an animal and our impact on our environment. This book is facinating and I am surprised to have found so little discussion regarding its thesis.

Reg Morrison is a photojournalist living in Sidney, Australia. His three previous books appear to be about geology or natural history.

The forward to the book is by Lynn Margulis who is "Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst." I believe that she is well respected in her field.

This book's basic premise is that man is an animal who has triumphed in his exploitation of his environment and that there is no evidence that he (we) are likely to stop reproducing before exhausting all available resources and falling victim to the natural results of extreme over population.

He even predicts the eventual catastrophic die off of mankind or "Malthusian peak" to be completed by 2150 when he expects the total population to reach between 7 and 7.5 billion. After the "die off" he expects us to be reduced to at most 500 million or possibly nearly extinct.

Thus far this discription may sound extreme but not too different from many other predictions of ultimate over population.

What makes this book so very different and fascinating is that he is has a unique theory based on his understanding of the development of language (the Broca area in the left brain) and the increase in brain mass and the left brain to right brain connection through the "sensory bottleneck" (my wording) of the corpus callosum. His theory is that it is not advantageous, genetically speaking, for man to use all brain to control every action. Morrison proposes that the right brain can take charge of many "instinctive" responses and that the limited communication across the corpus callosum allows man to follow his instincts, or what "feels right" instead of what might be viewed as the slower more rational decision making process. He further speculates that our attraction to mystical explanations derives from our inability to articulate the decision making process that our right brain urges us to make.

Morrison backs up his hypothesis with studies of other primates and split brain experimental results.

His attitude towards mankind may be summed up in this quote from the book, "Genetically speaking, we are a finished product, not a prototype. What you see is what you get - there will be no utopian future, just more of the same." Some reviewers have interpreted Morrisons message to be a denial of mans free will because of Morrisons assertion that genetics drives most of our basic choices.

I do not. Being an optimist, I see his book as a great challenge to mankind to make rational decisions before the "end." I believe that the importance of his message is that for us to avoid our predicted extinction, we must rise above our most basic instincts and accept that survival of man depends upon extraordinary behaviour on a global scale and that we will have to fight our natural urges to continue to reproduce.

By the way, it is not only overpopulation but global warming and a multitude of other factors are discussed as well as some interesting parallels drawn to other more isolated cultures such as that on Easter Island and Malta. I would love to quote more but this review is already too long. This is one of the most unusual and captivating books I have read in some time. Cornell University Press is a very reputable publisher and Lynn Margulis's foreward is some indication that this work is not without merit.

The Spirit in the Gene - Humanity's Proud Illusion and the Laws of Nature"
Reg Morrison, ISBN: 0-801-43651-6 1999; 259 pages

[aldente]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mmunroe', ' ')Being an optimist, I see his book as a great challenge to mankind to make rational decisions before the "end."

[mmunroe]

Well, the Morrison predicts that mankind will become extinct or at the very least, be reduced to a worldwide population of less than 500 million as a result of what he portrays as unavoidable population growth.

I recognize that this is not an uncommon view but Morrisons reasoning seems unique and original.

So I was refering to the end of human existance as we know it today.

Lynn Margulis says in the forward to Morrison's book, "Morrisons idea is that our dogged belief in human invincibility leads us to overpopulate the Earth, resulting in wanton habitat destruction throughout the glorious nonhuman world." I suspect that others on this board would not take issue with this description.

However, it is Morrisons observations regarding mysticism, the role of the right side of the brain and the development of the Broca center on the left side and the possibility that man has an innate ability to turn off his conscious reasoning without being aware of it and that this is part of our make up that makes it hard for us to divert from this headlong march to oblivion. (my words).

Your comment suggest to me that you are able to take a detached viewpoint and may see this seemingly inevitable consequence as part of a much larger "circle of life." I can appreciate such a dispasionate acceptance but I myself am not at that point yet.

I dream of some compromise that would allow mankind to continue but at a population level that still allows some urban centers in a harmonious balance with the rest of nature. However, after reading this book, I feel that to achieve that may be even more difficult than accomplishing the merely impossible. It was Morrison's speculation about the consequence of homosapien brain development the "bottleneck" of the corpus callosum and the asymetry of the Broca's area, that I find so though provoking. His prose is quite beautiful and his explanation are quite unique but seemingly well defended and backed by well described observations and examples.

His approach is quite different than the Club of Rome's "Limits to Growth" and proposes yet another additional, significant challenge to achieving any sort of sustainable harmonious balance with the rest of nature.

michael m.

[aldente]

I am surprised that this thread does stand still. As of the short reseach I did on Amazon it seems to be super fascinating. Then again, the average PeakOiler does not accept the idea of a destruction of mankind in 2115 or so but begs for it now!

It might have to do with the fact that a lot of people are simply fed up whith whatever... any form of change is welcome, the more destructive the better...

[mmunroe]

Is there any way besides counting off by 15 with only the 15th people getting to "stay". I think thinking that starving and war followed by ebola virus and some other plagues during a great period of religious construction is not going to be all that fun.

But the right side of my brain is giving me the feeling that I should just have a couple of more children and that everything will work out ---for my genes.

I keep making all these decisons that work out for my genes. Stephen J. Gould says he saw no evidence that nature selects for "intelligence."

That darn right hemisphere of mine just can't articulate ideas clearly, but it did urge me to have my beautiful children and take care of them.

I think that Reg Morrison was saying that in a panic or when we have to make a decision, we are able to ignore our left hemisphere and do the "right" thing. And that has worked out for us pretty well, unfortunately too well, I guess. He calls man a "plague animal."

Easter Island and the extinct civilization on Malta were building lots of temples at the end. . .

[aldente]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mmunroe', 'H')owever, it is Morrisons observations regarding mysticism, the role of the right side of the brain and the development of the Broca center on the left side and the possibility that man has an innate ability to turn off his conscious reasoning without being aware of it and that this is part of our make up that makes it hard for us to divert from this headlong march to oblivion.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('albente', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mmunroe', ' ')Being an optimist, I see his book as a great challenge to mankind to make rational decisions before the "end."

[americandream]

Although I have to admit that I also sense no particular purpose in all of this, merely the ebb and flow of a function.

[americandream]

Lol....not all mysticism is profoundly irrational consequently. I am also a great admirer of the logic in Marxism.

[Cloud9]

Marxism, we are going to make everybody equal, even if we have to shoot half the population to do it.

[Mastodon]

Excellent book, once you understand the depth we are in you try to understand why we got here, Morrison's book lays out some interesting facts along with some amazing information about the world we are part of. The planetary poisoning (O2!!) caused by the Archeabacteria some 3.5 billion yrs ago (from memory, havent read the book for a few yrs) is an amazingly compelling event. Without it we wouldnt be here and neither would the massive iron ore deposits in Australia and elsewhere.

Further reading on human behaviour should include Gazzaninga "The minds Past", Pinker "The blank Slate", Gray "Straw Dogs" and of course as much Dawkins and Jared Diamond as you can lay your hands on. It takes a lot of work to rewire the wetware.

His website has some other good papers.
http://www.regmorrison.id.au/