Evolution

Thanks Arti and Bill for triggering my thoughts on DNA, oral traditions, the Renaissance, the 60's and evolution.

What separates us with our carbon fibre fishing rods, sonar fish finders or fish farm Atlantic salmon from grandpa's hand built bamboo and cotton rods or from our ancestors scooping out and eating raw fish Gollum like?

Our DNA is little different but there is a lot of evolution in our social structures. We carry 2 sets of encoded data, one in our DNA, the other passes on by oral tradition and later writing and the web.

When Gutenburg invented movable type round 1600, the Renaissance was triggered. A bigger revolution than the industrial revolution. Shakespeare and the novel round 1700 needed this evolutionary change before they could appear.

Yet another evolutionary change occurred in the 1950's. Information flows which had been vertical, from generation to generation suddenly reorganised themselves horizontally, because of mass but one way media, to the extent that my sister (1946) and I(1951), born 5 years apart, recognise that we are from different generations.

The two way web, yet another evolutionary change means that we are now part of a hive mind, refining each other's thoughts at the speed of light.

Yes Bill, the web is part of our evolution, we carry it inside us and pass it on like our DNA.