This short essay outlines ideas about the evolution of the human species. The essay is followed by a breakdown of the ideas into simple points. "The Secrets of the Neolithic Revolution" Looking at the human species we may observe many harmful and unhealthy things occurring. For example war, crime, murder, dysfunction, suicide, mental illness, pollution and many more. Here I show a single period in our evolution when these began. I explain what occurred at this point in our evolution that caused this huge impact on our species. I also describe how our evolution has been developing since this period. From four and a half million BC to the Neolithic revolution our genetic and organisational evolution was driven by natural selection. The Neolithic revolution occurring around 8,000 BC with the invention of agriculture and the domestication of animals. Since the Neolithic revolution we may also observe evolution continuing to occur both genetically and organisationally. However the manner in which this evolution is occurring does not correlate to the manner in which natural selection generates evolution. For example, medicine allows for genes that may have a propensity to cause illness to remain in the gene pool. Also if a nomadic tribe, as they existed prior to the Neolithic revolution, suffered from all the pathologies we may observe in society today it would not be tolerated for long by natural selection, as it would have a distinct evolutionary disadvantage to a tribe that was performing healthily. So why did natural selection stop being effective? If we look at the Neolithic revolution we see a population explosion occurring. This occurred because certain pruning mechanisms, which were a vital part of the workings of natural selection, were no longer effective. They stopped being effective because of the rich supply of food which animal domestication and agriculture created. Thus natural selection was no longer an effective evolutionary drive. But we still observe both genetic and organisational evolution continuing to occur to this day. So what has been driving evolution since 8,000 BC? Prior to the Neolithic revolution the intelligent and organisational ability of the human species had been evolving and becoming more capable through natural selection. With the Neolithic revolution natural selection was pushed aside. Thus putting human intelligence in a position where it was the primary evolutionary drive for the human species. However the story has a few more twists in it yet. Prior to the Neolithic revolution there were many harmful things occurring like disease, starvation and deadly accidents in the hunt for food. However all of these harmful occurrences were the workings of natural selection as it evolved the genes of the human species. The kind of harmful occurrences we see after the Neolithic revolution are not the workings of natural selection. For example because of the invention of agriculture people began living in villages and were no longer nomadic. However with the increasing population a degree of poor hygiene occurred in the villages. This poor hygiene caused diseases to occur. Also farmers would have had to fight to protect their crops against theft. So what is causing these new types of harmful occurrences that started with the Neolithic revolution? First of all it is important to understand that natural selection generates healthy systems, simply because less healthy systems would have an evolutionary disadvantage. When intelligence became the primary evolutionary drive with the Neolithic revolution it should have taken on this new role of assuring that healthy systems continued to be generated. However, it didn’t. Human organisational intelligence did not replace the evolutionary drive of natural selection, which it had removed, with a sufficient replacement evolutionary drive that could maintain and develop the health of the human species. Because human organisational intelligence does not generate an appropriate replacement drive to replace natural selection the following occurs: Harmful occurrences develop in human systems. Human systems respond to these by its members trying to develop ways of surviving in a system that has harmful things happening in it. Many of these ways of surviving are themselves generating new harmful occurrences. Thus the system becomes even more hostile. Thus more ways to survive in the hostility are generated. Thus the system becomes even more hostile…and so on…In this manner human systems become self-destructive and develop harmful forces within them. Human systems respond to the presence of all this hostility by trying to limit it. These two drives, i.e. the tendency to generate lots of harmful forces and the endeavour to limit them, have been responsible for human evolution since around 8,000 BC. To summarise, natural selection evolved the human species towards states of genetic and organisational health until the Neolithic revolution. When the human species invented agriculture natural selection became ineffective on them. However the human species did not invent a replacement for natural selection. Since this time the human species has been evolving through two forces, namely the tendency to destabilise and the endeavour to limit this instability. ************************************** A breakdown of these ideas into simple points: The 4 points from which I draw conclusions: 1> Natural selection evolved the human species from 4.5 million BC to 8,000 BC. 2> Natural selection became ineffective on the human species with the Neolithic revolution. 3> Natural selection evolved a genetically and organisationally (socially) healthy species. 4> Since the Neolithic revolution the human species has be struggling to limit the self-destructive forces it has been experiencing. The 2 points of conclusion: 1> With the Neolithic revolution the force that was developing and maintaining the health of the human species became ineffective thus causing many unhealthy occurrences in its form. 2> The human species is designed to perform healthily and at present is not. A closer look a these points : A closer look at the first four points: 1> Did natural selection evolve the human species from 4.5 million BC to 8,000 BC? >> Watch the discovery channel ;c) 2> Did natural selection evolve a healthy human species? >>It designed genes that propose healthy physiological form. The same force designed the genes which effect the organisational/social form of the species. >>Many psychological approaches say that our humanness is good. This idea is expressed in many ways in his really cool book called “Motivation and Personality” by Abraham Maslow. >>Selection generates fitter systems. Fitness being higher states of health for the environment experienced by the species. >>A socially pathological tribe would have had a severe evolutionary disadvantage. Natural selection would not tolerate such a system. 3> Did natural selection become ineffective after the Neolithic revolution? >> After 4.5 million years of evolution the human population on earth was around 3 million. In the last 10 thousand years this population has grown to several billion. >> The dominant hunter/gatherer lifestyle finished with the Neolithic revolution. >> Agriculture and animal domestication have no precedence in natural systems. >> Post reproductive old age has little precedence in natural systems. >> Human systems create artificial selection to improve the genes of crops. >> We are soon to be able to directly manipulate and chose the genes which remain in our species and create new ones. >> Increasing incidence of gene related disorders. Not many tiggers wear glasses ;¬) >> Natural selection would not tolerate pathological social systems as they hold a severe evolutionary disadvantage. >> The human species generates the environment in which it is required to survive. 4> Has the human species been struggling to limit its own self-destructive tendency? >> Watch the discovery channel ;c) A closer look at the 2 points of conclusion: Consider the four points from which I draw these conclusions to be A, B, C and D respectively. 1> With the Neolithic revolution the force which was evolving the human species (A) as a healthy species (B) became ineffective (C) thus causing much disorder in its form (D). 2> The human species is designed to perform healthily (B) and at present is not (D).

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