WEBVTT 00:00:00.435 --> 00:00:02.418 All right. So, like all good stories, 00:00:02.418 --> 00:00:04.352 this starts a long, long time ago 00:00:04.352 --> 00:00:06.501 when there was basically nothing. 00:00:06.501 --> 00:00:08.901 So here is a complete picture of the universe 00:00:08.901 --> 00:00:12.353 about 14-odd billion years ago. 00:00:12.353 --> 00:00:15.437 All energy is concentrated into a single point of energy. 00:00:15.437 --> 00:00:17.021 For some reason it explodes, 00:00:17.021 --> 00:00:19.137 and you begin to get these things. 00:00:19.137 --> 00:00:22.003 So you're now about 14 billion years into this. 00:00:22.003 --> 00:00:23.899 And these things expand and expand and expand 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:25.598 into these giant galaxies, 00:00:25.598 --> 00:00:26.917 and you get trillions of them. 00:00:26.917 --> 00:00:29.065 And within these galaxies 00:00:29.065 --> 00:00:31.184 you get these enormous dust clouds. 00:00:31.184 --> 00:00:32.949 And I want you to pay particular attention 00:00:32.949 --> 00:00:34.399 to the three little prongs NOTE Paragraph 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:36.300 in the center of this picture. 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:37.715 If you take a close-up of those, 00:00:37.715 --> 00:00:39.368 they look like this. 00:00:39.368 --> 00:00:42.218 And what you're looking at is columns of dust 00:00:42.218 --> 00:00:44.265 where there's so much dust -- 00:00:44.265 --> 00:00:48.598 by the way, the scale of this is a trillion vertical miles -- 00:00:48.598 --> 00:00:51.516 and what's happening is there's so much dust, 00:00:51.516 --> 00:00:53.450 it comes together and it fuses 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:56.909 and ignites a thermonuclear reaction. 00:00:56.909 --> 00:00:57.751 And so what you're watching 00:00:57.751 --> 00:00:59.736 is the birth of stars. 00:00:59.736 --> 00:01:01.393 These are stars being born out of here. 00:01:01.393 --> 00:01:03.861 When enough stars come out, 00:01:03.861 --> 00:01:05.659 they create a galaxy. 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:09.093 This one happens to be a particularly important galaxy, 00:01:09.093 --> 00:01:11.309 because you are here. 00:01:11.309 --> 00:01:12.476 (Laughter) 00:01:12.476 --> 00:01:14.127 And as you take a close-up of this galaxy, 00:01:14.127 --> 00:01:16.192 you find a relatively normal, 00:01:16.192 --> 00:01:18.560 not particularly interesting star. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.575 By the way, you're now about two-thirds of the way into this story. 00:01:22.575 --> 00:01:24.757 So this star doesn't even appear 00:01:24.757 --> 00:01:27.708 until about two-thirds of the way into this story. 00:01:27.708 --> 00:01:28.786 And then what happens 00:01:28.786 --> 00:01:30.192 is there's enough dust left over 00:01:30.192 --> 00:01:32.158 that it doesn't ignite into a star, 00:01:32.158 --> 00:01:34.158 it becomes a planet. 00:01:34.158 --> 00:01:38.983 And this is about a little over four billion years ago. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:38.983 --> 00:01:40.416 And soon thereafter 00:01:40.416 --> 00:01:42.333 there's enough material left over 00:01:42.333 --> 00:01:46.896 that you get a primordial soup, 00:01:46.896 --> 00:01:48.660 and that creates life. 00:01:48.660 --> 00:01:52.541 And life starts to expand and expand and expand, 00:01:52.541 --> 00:01:54.292 until it goes kaput. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:54.292 --> 00:01:57.780 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:57.780 --> 00:01:59.210 Now the really strange thing 00:01:59.210 --> 00:02:02.116 is life goes kaput, not once, not twice, 00:02:02.116 --> 00:02:04.332 but five times. 00:02:04.332 --> 00:02:06.434 So almost all life on Earth 00:02:06.434 --> 00:02:08.898 is wiped out about five times. 00:02:08.898 --> 00:02:10.450 And as you're thinking about that, 00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:12.882 what happens is you get more and more complexity, 00:02:12.882 --> 00:02:14.116 more and more stuff 00:02:14.116 --> 00:02:18.234 to build new things with. 00:02:18.234 --> 00:02:19.504 And we don't appear 00:02:19.504 --> 00:02:25.152 until about 99.96 percent of the time into this story, 00:02:25.152 --> 00:02:29.082 just to put ourselves and our ancestors in perspective. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:29.082 --> 00:02:32.541 So within that context, there's two theories of the case 00:02:32.541 --> 00:02:34.230 as to why we're all here. 00:02:34.230 --> 00:02:35.819 The first theory of the case 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:39.228 is that's all she wrote. 00:02:39.228 --> 00:02:40.587 Under that theory, 00:02:40.587 --> 00:02:42.423 we are the be-all and end-all 00:02:42.423 --> 00:02:44.156 of all creation. 00:02:44.156 --> 00:02:47.040 And the reason for trillions of galaxies, 00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:49.053 sextillions of planets, 00:02:49.053 --> 00:02:53.763 is to create something that looks like that 00:02:53.763 --> 00:02:57.396 and something that looks like that. 00:02:57.396 --> 00:02:58.937 And that's the purpose of the universe; 00:02:58.937 --> 00:03:00.221 and then it flat-lines, 00:03:00.221 --> 00:03:01.532 it doesn't get any better. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:01.532 --> 00:03:06.012 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:06.012 --> 00:03:08.831 The only question you might want to ask yourself is, 00:03:08.831 --> 00:03:14.066 could that be just mildly arrogant? 00:03:14.066 --> 00:03:15.807 And if it is -- 00:03:15.807 --> 00:03:21.189 and particularly given the fact that we came very close to extinction. 00:03:21.189 --> 00:03:24.556 There were only about 2,000 of our species left. 00:03:24.556 --> 00:03:26.639 A few more weeks without rain, 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:29.723 we would have never seen any of these. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:29.723 --> 00:03:36.422 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:36.422 --> 00:03:41.056 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:03:41.056 --> 00:03:44.022 So maybe you have to think about a second theory 00:03:44.022 --> 00:03:46.939 if the first one isn't good enough. 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:48.723 Second theory is: Could we upgrade? 00:03:48.723 --> 00:03:51.622 (Laughter) 00:03:51.622 --> 00:03:54.856 Well, why would one ask a question like that? 00:03:54.856 --> 00:03:57.321 Because there have been at least 29 upgrades so far 00:03:57.321 --> 00:03:59.357 of humanoids. 00:03:59.357 --> 00:04:02.207 So it turns out that we have upgraded. 00:04:02.207 --> 00:04:04.122 We've upgraded time and again and again. 00:04:04.122 --> 00:04:07.038 And it turns out that we keep discovering upgrades. 00:04:07.038 --> 00:04:09.222 We found this one last year. 00:04:09.222 --> 00:04:11.839 We found another one last month. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:11.839 --> 00:04:14.038 And as you're thinking about this, 00:04:14.038 --> 00:04:16.141 you might also ask the question: 00:04:16.141 --> 00:04:19.238 So why a single human species? 00:04:19.238 --> 00:04:21.072 Wouldn't it be really odd 00:04:21.072 --> 00:04:24.856 if you went to Africa and Asia and Antarctica 00:04:24.856 --> 00:04:27.475 and found exactly the same bird -- 00:04:27.475 --> 00:04:31.267 particularly given that we co-existed at the same time 00:04:31.267 --> 00:04:34.053 with at least eight other versions of humanoid 00:04:34.053 --> 00:04:36.521 at the same time on this planet? 00:04:36.521 --> 00:04:38.400 So the normal state of affairs 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:40.910 is not to have just a Homo sapiens; 00:04:40.910 --> 00:04:41.931 the normal state of affairs 00:04:41.931 --> 00:04:45.760 is to have various versions of humans walking around. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:48.577 And if that is the normal state of affairs, 00:04:48.577 --> 00:04:50.945 then you might ask yourself, 00:04:50.945 --> 00:04:53.010 all right, so if we want to create something else, 00:04:53.010 --> 00:04:55.878 how big does a mutation have to be? 00:04:55.878 --> 00:04:58.510 Well Svante Paabo has the answer. 00:04:58.510 --> 00:05:01.310 The difference between humans and Neanderthal 00:05:01.310 --> 00:05:04.609 is 0.004 percent of gene code. 00:05:04.609 --> 00:05:06.309 That's how big the difference is 00:05:06.309 --> 00:05:08.526 one species to another. 00:05:08.526 --> 00:05:12.926 This explains most contemporary political debates. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:12.926 --> 00:05:14.861 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:14.861 --> 00:05:18.072 But as you're thinking about this, 00:05:18.072 --> 00:05:19.430 one of the interesting things 00:05:19.430 --> 00:05:22.827 is how small these mutations are and where they take place. 00:05:22.827 --> 00:05:24.160 Difference human/Neanderthal 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:25.893 is sperm and testis, 00:05:25.893 --> 00:05:27.261 smell and skin. 00:05:27.261 --> 00:05:28.747 And those are the specific genes 00:05:28.747 --> 00:05:31.427 that differ from one to the other. 00:05:31.427 --> 00:05:34.528 So very small changes can have a big impact. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:34.528 --> 00:05:36.160 And as you're thinking about this, 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:38.676 we're continuing to mutate. 00:05:38.676 --> 00:05:41.577 So about 10,000 years ago by the Black Sea, 00:05:41.577 --> 00:05:43.637 we had one mutation in one gene 00:05:43.637 --> 00:05:46.193 which led to blue eyes. 00:05:46.193 --> 00:05:50.077 And this is continuing and continuing and continuing. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:50.077 --> 00:05:51.511 And as it continues, 00:05:51.511 --> 00:05:53.276 one of the things that's going to happen this year 00:05:53.276 --> 00:05:56.609 is we're going to discover the first 10,000 human genomes, 00:05:56.609 --> 00:05:59.878 because it's gotten cheap enough to do the gene sequencing. 00:05:59.878 --> 00:06:01.466 And when we find these, 00:06:01.466 --> 00:06:03.960 we may find differences. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:03.960 --> 00:06:07.036 And by the way, this is not a debate that we're ready for, 00:06:07.036 --> 00:06:10.412 because we have really misused the science in this. 00:06:10.412 --> 00:06:14.095 In the 1920s, we thought there were major differences between people. 00:06:14.095 --> 00:06:17.893 That was partly based on Francis Galton's work. 00:06:17.893 --> 00:06:20.029 He was Darwin's cousin. 00:06:20.029 --> 00:06:22.344 But the U.S., the Carnegie Institute, 00:06:22.344 --> 00:06:24.926 Stanford, American Neurological Association 00:06:24.926 --> 00:06:26.794 took this really far. 00:06:26.794 --> 00:06:30.393 That got exported and was really misused. 00:06:30.393 --> 00:06:33.078 In fact, it led to some absolutely horrendous 00:06:33.078 --> 00:06:35.091 treatment of human beings. 00:06:35.091 --> 00:06:37.685 So since the 1940s, we've been saying there are no differences, 00:06:37.685 --> 00:06:39.005 we're all identical. 00:06:39.005 --> 00:06:42.282 We're going to know at year end if that is true. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:42.282 --> 00:06:44.014 And as we think about that, 00:06:44.014 --> 00:06:45.532 we're actually beginning to find things 00:06:45.532 --> 00:06:48.998 like, do you have an ACE gene? 00:06:48.998 --> 00:06:50.976 Why would that matter? 00:06:50.976 --> 00:06:55.014 Because nobody's ever climbed an 8,000-meter peak without oxygen 00:06:55.014 --> 00:06:57.764 that doesn't have an ACE gene. 00:06:57.764 --> 00:06:59.633 And if you want to get more specific, 00:06:59.633 --> 00:07:02.648 how about a 577R genotype? 00:07:02.648 --> 00:07:07.348 Well it turns out that every male Olympic power athelete ever tested 00:07:07.348 --> 00:07:10.598 carries at least one of these variants. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:10.598 --> 00:07:12.252 If that is true, 00:07:12.252 --> 00:07:14.410 it leads to some very complicated questions 00:07:14.410 --> 00:07:16.211 for the London Olympics. 00:07:16.211 --> 00:07:17.730 Three options: 00:07:17.730 --> 00:07:20.562 Do you want the Olympics to be a showcase 00:07:20.562 --> 00:07:23.262 for really hardworking mutants? 00:07:23.262 --> 00:07:24.995 (Laughter) 00:07:24.995 --> 00:07:27.730 Option number two: 00:07:27.730 --> 00:07:31.128 Why don't we play it like golf or sailing? 00:07:31.128 --> 00:07:33.602 Because you have one and you don't have one, 00:07:33.602 --> 00:07:37.597 I'll give you a tenth of a second head start. 00:07:37.597 --> 00:07:38.668 Version number three: 00:07:38.668 --> 00:07:40.737 Because this is a naturally occurring gene 00:07:40.737 --> 00:07:43.519 and you've got it and you didn't pick the right parents, 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:47.468 you get the right to upgrade. 00:07:47.468 --> 00:07:49.219 Three different options. 00:07:49.219 --> 00:07:50.841 If these differences are the difference 00:07:50.841 --> 00:07:54.219 between an Olympic medal and a non-Olympic medal. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:54.219 --> 00:07:57.053 And it turns out that as we discover these things, 00:07:57.053 --> 00:08:00.388 we human beings really like to change 00:08:00.388 --> 00:08:02.082 how we look, how we act, 00:08:02.082 --> 00:08:03.676 what our bodies do. 00:08:03.676 --> 00:08:08.050 And we had about 10.2 million plastic surgeries in the United States, 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:11.367 except that with the technologies that are coming online today, 00:08:11.367 --> 00:08:14.068 today's corrections, deletions, 00:08:14.068 --> 00:08:15.987 augmentations and enhancements 00:08:15.987 --> 00:08:18.900 are going to seem like child's play. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:18.900 --> 00:08:22.601 You already saw the work by Tony Atala on TED, 00:08:22.601 --> 00:08:26.168 but this ability to start filling 00:08:26.168 --> 00:08:29.101 things like inkjet cartridges with cells 00:08:29.101 --> 00:08:33.775 are allowing us to print skin, organs 00:08:33.775 --> 00:08:36.525 and a whole series of other body parts. 00:08:36.525 --> 00:08:38.409 And as these technologies go forward, 00:08:38.409 --> 00:08:42.193 you keep seeing this, you keep seeing this, you keep seeing things -- 00:08:42.193 --> 00:08:44.967 2000, human genome sequence -- 00:08:44.967 --> 00:08:48.749 and it seems like nothing's happening, 00:08:48.749 --> 00:08:51.861 until it does. 00:08:51.861 --> 00:08:55.385 And we may just be in some of these weeks. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:55.385 --> 00:08:56.984 And as you're thinking about 00:08:56.984 --> 00:09:00.435 these two guys sequencing a human genome in 2000 00:09:00.435 --> 00:09:03.988 and the Public Project sequencing the human genome in 2000, 00:09:03.988 --> 00:09:07.152 then you don't hear a lot, 00:09:07.152 --> 00:09:11.136 until you hear about an experiment last year in China, 00:09:11.136 --> 00:09:15.153 where they take skin cells from this mouse, 00:09:15.153 --> 00:09:16.886 put four chemicals on it, 00:09:16.886 --> 00:09:20.452 turn those skin cells into stem cells, 00:09:20.452 --> 00:09:21.917 let the stem cells grow 00:09:21.917 --> 00:09:25.004 and create a full copy of that mouse. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:25.004 --> 00:09:28.251 That's a big deal. 00:09:28.251 --> 00:09:29.267 Because in essence 00:09:29.267 --> 00:09:31.415 what it means is you can take a cell, 00:09:31.415 --> 00:09:33.701 which is a pluripotent stem cell, 00:09:33.701 --> 00:09:36.385 which is like a skier at the top of a mountain, 00:09:36.385 --> 00:09:40.202 and those two skiers become two pluripotent stem cells, 00:09:40.202 --> 00:09:41.984 four, eight, 16, 00:09:41.984 --> 00:09:43.652 and then it gets so crowded 00:09:43.652 --> 00:09:45.452 after 16 divisions 00:09:45.452 --> 00:09:47.954 that those cells have to differentiate. 00:09:47.954 --> 00:09:49.387 So they go down one side of the mountain, 00:09:49.387 --> 00:09:50.620 they go down another. 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:52.154 And as they pick that, 00:09:52.154 --> 00:09:54.404 these become bone, 00:09:54.404 --> 00:09:57.336 and then they pick another road and these become platelets, 00:09:57.336 --> 00:09:59.453 and these become macrophages, 00:09:59.453 --> 00:10:00.720 and these become T cells. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:02.672 But it's really hard, once you ski down, 00:10:02.672 --> 00:10:04.195 to get back up. 00:10:04.195 --> 00:10:09.607 Unless, of course, if you have a ski lift. 00:10:09.607 --> 00:10:12.056 And what those four chemicals do 00:10:12.056 --> 00:10:14.125 is they take any cell 00:10:14.125 --> 00:10:16.057 and take it way back up the mountain 00:10:16.057 --> 00:10:18.090 so it can become any body part. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:19.818 And as you think of that, 00:10:19.818 --> 00:10:21.798 what it means is potentially 00:10:21.798 --> 00:10:23.973 you can rebuild a full copy 00:10:23.973 --> 00:10:25.840 of any organism 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.426 out of any one of its cells. 00:10:28.426 --> 00:10:30.957 That turns out to be a big deal 00:10:30.957 --> 00:10:33.523 because now you can take, not just mouse cells, 00:10:33.523 --> 00:10:35.841 but you can human skin cells 00:10:35.841 --> 00:10:39.491 and turn them into human stem cells. 00:10:39.491 --> 00:10:42.689 And then what they did in October 00:10:42.689 --> 00:10:46.089 is they took skin cells, turned them into stem cells 00:10:46.089 --> 00:10:49.762 and began to turn them into liver cells. 00:10:49.762 --> 00:10:50.806 So in theory, 00:10:50.806 --> 00:10:55.990 you could grow any organ from any one of your cells. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:55.990 --> 00:10:57.708 Here's a second experiment: 00:10:57.708 --> 00:11:00.841 If you could photocopy your body, 00:11:00.841 --> 00:11:03.893 maybe you also want to take your mind. 00:11:03.893 --> 00:11:05.458 And one of the things you saw at TED 00:11:05.458 --> 00:11:06.708 about a year and a half ago 00:11:06.708 --> 00:11:08.143 was this guy. 00:11:08.143 --> 00:11:10.743 And he gave a wonderful technical talk. 00:11:10.743 --> 00:11:12.342 He's a professor at MIT. 00:11:12.342 --> 00:11:14.258 But in essence what he said 00:11:14.258 --> 00:11:15.958 is you can take retroviruses, 00:11:15.958 --> 00:11:18.758 which get inside brain cells of mice. 00:11:18.758 --> 00:11:21.198 You can tag them with proteins 00:11:21.198 --> 00:11:23.292 that light up when you light them. 00:11:23.292 --> 00:11:27.008 And you can map the exact pathways 00:11:27.008 --> 00:11:30.491 when a mouse sees, feels, touches, 00:11:30.491 --> 00:11:32.674 remembers, loves. 00:11:32.674 --> 00:11:35.047 And then you can take a fiber optic cable 00:11:35.047 --> 00:11:38.866 and light up some of the same things. 00:11:38.866 --> 00:11:40.698 And by the way, as you do this, 00:11:40.698 --> 00:11:42.715 you can image it in two colors, 00:11:42.715 --> 00:11:45.114 which means you can download this information 00:11:45.114 --> 00:11:49.854 as binary code directly into a computer. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:49.854 --> 00:11:52.327 So what's the bottom line on that? 00:11:52.327 --> 00:11:54.527 Well it's not completely inconceivable 00:11:54.527 --> 00:11:59.022 that someday you'll be able to download your own memories, 00:11:59.022 --> 00:12:01.409 maybe into a new body. 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:06.494 And maybe you can upload other people's memories as well. 00:12:06.494 --> 00:12:09.008 And this might have just one or two 00:12:09.008 --> 00:12:12.528 small ethical, political, moral implications. 00:12:12.528 --> 00:12:14.059 (Laughter) 00:12:14.059 --> 00:12:17.050 Just a thought. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:17.050 --> 00:12:18.578 Here's the kind of questions 00:12:18.578 --> 00:12:20.558 that are becoming interesting questions 00:12:20.558 --> 00:12:23.042 for philosophers, for governing people, 00:12:23.042 --> 00:12:26.408 for economists, for scientists. 00:12:26.408 --> 00:12:29.692 Because these technologies are moving really quickly. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:29.692 --> 00:12:31.192 And as you think about it, 00:12:31.192 --> 00:12:34.274 let me close with an example of the brain. 00:12:34.274 --> 00:12:35.957 The first place where you would expect 00:12:35.957 --> 00:12:39.008 to see enormous evolutionary pressure today, 00:12:39.008 --> 00:12:41.273 both because of the inputs, 00:12:41.273 --> 00:12:42.825 which are becoming massive, 00:12:42.825 --> 00:12:44.607 and because of the plasticity of the organ, 00:12:44.607 --> 00:12:47.141 is the brain. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:47.141 --> 00:12:50.459 Do we have any evidence that that is happening? 00:12:50.459 --> 00:12:55.190 Well let's take a look at something like autism incidence per thousand. 00:12:55.190 --> 00:12:57.692 Here's what it looks like in 2000. 00:12:57.692 --> 00:12:59.774 Here's what it looks like in 2002, 00:12:59.774 --> 00:13:04.392 2006, 2008. 00:13:04.392 --> 00:13:08.474 Here's the increase in less than a decade. 00:13:08.474 --> 00:13:12.891 And we still don't know why this is happening. 00:13:12.891 --> 00:13:15.376 What we do know is, potentially, 00:13:15.376 --> 00:13:17.408 the brain is reacting in 00:13:17.408 --> 00:13:19.542 a hyperactive, hyper-plastic way, 00:13:19.542 --> 00:13:22.492 and creating individuals that are like this. 00:13:22.492 --> 00:13:25.249 And this is only one of the conditions that's out there. 00:13:25.249 --> 00:13:28.789 You've also got people with who are extraordinarily smart, 00:13:28.789 --> 00:13:31.186 people who can remember everything they've seen in their lives, 00:13:31.186 --> 00:13:32.571 people who've got synesthesia, 00:13:32.571 --> 00:13:33.902 people who've got schizophrenia. 00:13:33.902 --> 00:13:36.436 You've got all kinds of stuff going on out there, 00:13:36.436 --> 00:13:37.654 and we still don't understand 00:13:37.654 --> 00:13:39.887 how and why this is happening. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:39.887 --> 00:13:42.569 But one question you might want to ask is, 00:13:42.569 --> 00:13:45.197 are we seeing a rapid evolution of the brain 00:13:45.197 --> 00:13:47.022 and of how we process data? 00:13:47.022 --> 00:13:50.085 Because when you think of how much data's coming into our brains, 00:13:50.085 --> 00:13:53.569 we're trying to take in as much data in a day 00:13:53.569 --> 00:13:56.120 as people used to take in in a lifetime. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:58.752 And as you're thinking about this, 00:13:58.752 --> 00:14:01.094 there's four theories as to why this might be going on, 00:14:01.094 --> 00:14:02.421 plus a whole series of others. 00:14:02.421 --> 00:14:04.070 I don't have a good answer. 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:07.686 There really needs to be more research on this. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:07.686 --> 00:14:09.921 One option is the fast food fetish. 00:14:09.921 --> 00:14:12.370 There's beginning to be some evidence 00:14:12.370 --> 00:14:14.621 that obesity and diet 00:14:14.621 --> 00:14:16.252 have something to do 00:14:16.252 --> 00:14:18.020 with gene modifications, 00:14:18.020 --> 00:14:20.370 which may or may not have an impact 00:14:20.370 --> 00:14:23.887 on how the brain of an infant works. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:23.887 --> 00:14:27.842 A second option is the sexy geek option. 00:14:27.842 --> 00:14:32.085 These conditions are highly rare. 00:14:32.085 --> 00:14:35.123 (Laughter) 00:14:35.123 --> 00:14:40.423 (Applause) 00:14:40.423 --> 00:14:42.056 But what's beginning to happen 00:14:42.056 --> 00:14:44.590 is because these geeks are all getting together, 00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:47.487 because they are highly qualified for computer programming 00:14:47.487 --> 00:14:49.805 and it is highly remunerated, 00:14:49.805 --> 00:14:52.955 as well as other very detail-oriented tasks, 00:14:52.955 --> 00:14:55.404 that they are concentrating geographically 00:14:55.404 --> 00:14:58.371 and finding like-minded mates. 00:14:58.371 --> 00:15:01.939 So this is the assortative mating hypothesis 00:15:01.939 --> 00:15:04.639 of these genes reinforcing one another 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.756 in these structures. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:06.756 --> 00:15:09.706 The third, is this too much information? 00:15:09.706 --> 00:15:11.203 We're trying to process so much stuff 00:15:11.203 --> 00:15:13.555 that some people get synesthetic 00:15:13.555 --> 00:15:16.155 and just have huge pipes that remember everything. 00:15:16.155 --> 00:15:18.824 Other people get hyper-sensitive to the amount of information. 00:15:18.824 --> 00:15:22.806 Other people react with various psychological conditions 00:15:22.806 --> 00:15:24.438 or reactions to this information. 00:15:24.438 --> 00:15:27.140 Or maybe it's chemicals. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:27.140 --> 00:15:28.905 But when you see an increase 00:15:28.905 --> 00:15:31.256 of that order of magnitude in a condition, 00:15:31.256 --> 00:15:32.821 either you're not measuring it right 00:15:32.821 --> 00:15:35.339 or there's something going on very quickly, 00:15:35.339 --> 00:15:39.371 and it may be evolution in real time. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:39.371 --> 00:15:41.874 Here's the bottom line. 00:15:41.874 --> 00:15:44.055 What I think we are doing 00:15:44.055 --> 00:15:45.771 is we're transitioning as a species. 00:15:45.771 --> 00:15:51.255 And I didn't think this when Steve Gullans and I started writing together. 00:15:51.255 --> 00:15:53.706 I think we're transitioning into Homo evolutis 00:15:53.706 --> 00:15:55.105 that, for better or worse, 00:15:55.105 --> 00:15:59.287 is not just a hominid that's conscious of his or her environment, 00:15:59.287 --> 00:16:02.506 it's a hominid that's beginning to directly and deliberately 00:16:02.506 --> 00:16:05.704 control the evolution of its own species, 00:16:05.704 --> 00:16:09.538 of bacteria, of plants, of animals. 00:16:09.538 --> 00:16:12.373 And I think that's such an order of magnitude change 00:16:12.373 --> 00:16:15.476 that your grandkids or your great-grandkids 00:16:15.476 --> 00:16:18.521 may be a species very different from you. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:18.521 --> 00:16:20.107 Thank you very much. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:20.107 --> 00:16:25.438 (Applause)