themarkofman

The Mark of Man - An Evolutionary Perspective

over the centuries, and longer, philosophers and academics alike have tried to come up with that one defining trait which sets man apart from beast. that attribute which can be credited the evolutionary 'superiorty' of humankind over his fellow earth animals. theories include such speculation as alien intervention in our genetic makeup, or that it was simply Darwinian chance (our, or at least some of our, ancesters were better suited to their environment). right-wing christians will simply and bluntly state that it is how 'god' made us. some new-agers even claim it is our souls which are different.

i think it can be put down to simply one thing – our imaginations.

that is not to say that other animals don't dream. it can be observed as they sleep that they do. how many owners have observed their domestic cat or dog's legs twitch as they sleep, the little snap of the jaws as they pursue some imaginary prey or plaything in their dreams. and without scientific data i think it is still safe to say that all animals have the ability to dream. but what made even the most primitive man's imagination so different was his capacity to overcome his limitations – which i assert cannot be done without the ability to see in their minds (ie imagine) possible solutions to what problems lay before them.

this was very important as without active use of imagination i doubt any of our ancestors would have survived, in fact the whole lot would have probably gone extinct. the reason being that the human animal is the least adapted to his environment. we didn't have wings, gills, sharp teeth or claws, speed or agility in movement, a thick warm coat of hair or fur, nor anything else which would have helped us fend for ourselves in a hostile environment. we still don't. in fact now most people wouldn't even have the instinct to survive in the wild and would be lost without a mobile phone.

Why Time Travel is an Impossiblility

is time travel possible? common sense would dictate that - no, it isn't possible. nor will it ever be. it can be safely and with certainty said to be an impossibility. one only has to consider what time is to see that patently this is so.

what is time? time is nothing more than a measurement, the same as a meter, or a foot, or a litre, or an acre is. time is a measurement of motion. time is not a thing in and of itself. nobody can say "that is a meter", or "that is a litre" without actually measuring something. and it is the same with time. nobody can say "that is a minute" without measuring something to determine that a munute has passed.

consider the earliest methods of observing the passage of time - the sun dial (marks the motion of the sun across the sky); the candle (which has marks along it's length as one watches the wax melt); the hour glass (one watches the movement of sand). even watches and clocks. what are we really measuring? the motion of the gears and cogs within.

since time is a measurement and nothing more, let us consider the other side of the equation - the thing measured. from here it should be obvious. can one make a planet spin in the other direction (and reverse it's orbit) to make the motion go backwards, and even if that was not impossible even technologically to achieve would that make every creature on it reverse motion and breath, and even growth? can the candle with its wick lit rebuild it's own melted wax? can the sand in the hourglass defy gravity and flow upwards instead? it can't even stop pouring unless there is a blockagage. some may claim with technological intervention that these things are possible, if only in one's imagination. but consider this - just how much time are you "reversing"?

reverse the sand, but did you reverse the planet, the ignition of it's sun, or it's motion in the universe - along with every other star in the universe and - let's face it - the universe itself.

"but this is what time travel is about" you may say. i say, you can't unmeasure a measurement. look at your watch, and watch a second go by. now think carefully, if the universe did contract (which one day according to the big bang theory it must) for a second - was it really a negative second? that's like laying out a tape measure, marking a meter, then spinning the tape around so that the zero is at the meter mark and 100cm is at the other end and saying "i've just measured a negative meter." you didn't. you just measured a meter again.

and speaking of the big bang theory, which according to scientist means that one day - far, far, far into the future - our universe will stop expanding and start contracting - does anyone think every single event in the entire universe will happen exactly as it did before, except in reverse?