Red, theory; black, fact.
Each post presents a science theory I thought of. I am 70 years old and have two science degrees and six peer-reviewed publications.
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
#70. How Noncoding RNA May Work [chemistry]
Sunday, May 23, 2021
#69. Storming South [Evolution]
Red, theory; black, fact.
This is a theory of the final stages of human evolution, when the large brain expansion occurred.
Our large brains
Our rhythmic evolution
Where is the fossil evidence for this theory?
Pleistocene selection pressures
Sunday, December 6, 2020
#68. Consciousness is Google Searches Within Your Brain [neuroscience]
Red, theory; black, fact.
The Google search is one of those things that are too good a trick for Nature to miss (TGTNM) and she didn't, and it's called consciousness.
Brain mechanism of consciousness
I conjecture that the human brain launches something like a Google search each time an attentional focus develops. This is not necessarily a literal focus of activity on the cortex; it is almost certainly a sub-network activation. The sub-net activity relays through the prefrontal cortex and then back to sensory cortex, where it activates several more sub-nets; each of these, in turn, activates further sub-nets via the prefrontal relay, and so on, exponentially. At each stage, however, the degree of activation declines, thereby keeping the total cortical activation limited.
Accounting for subjective experience
The first-generation associations are likely to be high in the search rankings, and thus subjectively "close" to the triggering attentional focus and relatively strongly in consciousness, although still in the penumbra that is subjectively "around" the attentional focus. Lower-ranking search results would form a vast crowd of associations only dimly in consciousness, but would give conscious experience its richness. Occasionally, an association far out in the penumbra will be just what you are looking for, and will therefore be promoted to the next attentional focus: you get an idea.
The role of emotions
This is a great system, because it allows a mammal to converge everything it knows on every task, rather than having to perform as a blinkered if-then machine.
Brain mechanisms and our evolutionary history
01-02-2021: Why should we have this back-and-forthing between the prefrontal cortex and the sensory association cortex? Two possibilities: 1) the backward projections serve a priming function, getting certain if-then rules closer to firing threshold in a context-sensitive manner; 2) This is a uniquely human adaptation for our ecological niche as environment modifiers. In ordinary tool use and manufacturing, dating back to Homo habilis, the built thing is smaller than the builder's body, but in environment modification, the built thing is larger than the builder's body—an important distinction. Thus, the builder can only see one part of it at a time. Viewings must therefore be interleaved with reorientations involving the eyes, neck, trunk, and feet. These reorientations, being motoric in nature, will be represented frontally, and I place these representations in the prefrontal cortex. The mental representation of the macro-built-thing therefore ends up being an interleaved collection of views and reorientations. <07-11-2021: In other words, a simulation.> The reorientations would have to be calibrated by the vestibular system to allow the various views to be assembled into a coherent whole. By this theory, consciousness is associated with environment modification.
Saturday, October 31, 2020
#67. The Trembling-Network Theory of Everything [physics]
Red, theory; black, fact.
The slate-of-givens approach is intended to exploit consilience to arrive at a simplified physics that attributes as many phenomena as possible to historical factors and the observer's point of view. Simplified physics is viewed as a stepping-stone to the one, true TOE. The existence of widespread consilience implies that such exists. |
The basic theory
Reconciliation with known science
How distance would arise
Reconciliation with the finite speed of light
Predictions of the fate of the universe
Accounting for the ubiquity of oscillations
Motion and gravity
Dimension and direction
Momentum
Repulsive forces
More on the origin of momentum
Case study of a rocket motor
Future directions
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
#66. Neuromodulators as Peril Specialists [Neuroscience]
The basic theory
Complications
Table 1.
Peril | Substance | Failure mode |
Extremes of heat and cold | glutamate and GABA | ? |
Predator | serotonin | depression |
Parasite | histamine | phobia |
Rival conspecific | noradrenaline | paranoia |
Social isolation |
Monday, April 27, 2020
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
#64. The Drill Sergeants of the Apocalypse [evolutionary psychology, population]
- amused by abuse of trust
- amused by subversion
- hacking
- pedophilia
- enjoyment of sick jokes
- trust issues
Social role of the trickster
Tricksterism as a subroutine of the human swarm intelligence
- accurately imitate the essential features of microbial pathogens
- accurately imitate the essential features of a famine
- "not be doing a very good job" of killing the victim, because their evolved role is essentially instructional.