Evolution - my perspective -- "Gene Mutation caused by Mind"

Since childhood I have always been thrilled about Evolution when I first read it in one Environmental Science (EVS) text-book. Remember EVS? It is a standard text-book in Goan secondary schools. I will try to describe evolution very briefly so that we usher in the context. Evolution is defined as "the change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms through successive generations". Mutation (as in the change) in organisms is driven by two processes, 'natural selection' and 'genetic drift'. Natural selection (Darwin's theory) is synonymous to the concept of "survival of the fittest". Genetic drift is a random change in common traits in a population (and not linked to the natural selection concept). -- all definitions courtesy Wikipedia.

The way science is progressing, it is always about 'what you see is what you believe'. Basically because theories need proofs and proofs can be validated only with experiments.  I feel that evolution process has a third dimension which is distinct from the two processes described above.

When I was young I used to wonder how some fish have a false eye on the back or the tail. The obvious reason is when a predator fish strikes another fish it notices the eyes first. The survival rate is higher if it bites the tail. For that matter all animals that have eyes look in the eyes of other animals when they refer to them. Here are some photos which I picked up.

Another striking example is the Weaver Ant mimic spider.

And here's a Weaver ant (popularly called a 'Humlo' in Konkani).

These mimic spiders attack the poor ants by deceiving them. I have seen this happen at my ancestral house. The weaver ants crawl on a branch just like the one above. The mimic spider hides itself under the branch and does not show itself unless an ant is alone. When the ant is alone, it tries to deceive it into believing that its just another brother ant and then it attacks.

As you can see, these are not random genetic changes. These a very selective changes, depending on how, say, a fish perceives a predator fish may be thinking. Or how a predator spider thinks it can mimic and deceive an ant. Even the dinosaurs, each species have distinct horns. How can you have a horn  through survival of the fittest? or through random genetic changes? Does the current definition of evolution accommodate mimicry or stealthiness as shown above? NO!!!! Not yet. Now that I have stepped in! :-P I will augment the theory of evolution today!

The current theory of evolution accounts for 'reactive' changes, which may be true. For example, when a population is struck by a deadly disease, many die. But those who manage to survive develop the immunity for it. This information is then passed on to future generations. I think evolution can also be 'proactive' and this definition may well be predominent.


I think that the third dimension to the theory of evolution is "Gene Mutation caused by Mind"! Mimicry and stealthiness cannot be achieved unless you observe. And only the mind can process the observation. This also means that there is a direct link between the mind and the genes. Again this also means that mind is a significant player in the process of reproduction. Nowadays we find more and more cases of how a DNA combination can describe an emotion or a personality trait.


Let me go one more step further. When you are planning a baby, have a good mindset first! Indulgence in bad things will only get passed on to the generations ahead!