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COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE. "Two of the things that make our species special is our collective intelligence and our cumulative culture. Our intelligence is collective because we live in large social networks. From avoiding the misery of boredom and isolation to solving complex problems, we actively seek to learn from others in important ways." https://lnkd.in/dwNsDzt View in LinkedIn

BEHAVIORAL INFLUENCERS. "The Internet and social media are very powerful tools that can influence and shape human behavior." https://lnkd.in/d8-nHvR View in LinkedIn

NEOCORTEX. "However, the Internet has novel features as well, most critically the relative anonymity afforded to users and the provision of group venues in which to meet others with similar interests and values." These have permitted democratic uprisings as well as advancing terrorism. https://lnkd.in/dysEKym View in LinkedIn

SHRINKING AND CONNECTING THE PLANET. "The Internet is the latest in a series of technological breakthroughs in interpersonal communication, following the telegraph, telephone, radio, and television. It combines innovative features of its predecessors, such as bridging great distances and reaching a mass audience." https://lnkd.in/dysEKym View in LinkedIn

DIGITAL IMPACT. "There is little doubt that the digital technology and social media has already a significant impact on culture." https://lnkd.in/d8-nHvR View in LinkedIn

OPEN INNOVATION. "A key factor that enables us as human beings to solve complex problems and achieve a level of dominance over a wide variety of environments from the desert to the arctic to the deep ocean is not simply our individual big brains, but our capacities for extreme sociality, to cooperate and learn from one another, and our ability to build on previous knowledge and to accumulate culture." https://lnkd.in/gMtMDwD View in LinkedIn

SLOW EVOLUTION. "CNEs are slowly evolving but not entirely frozen sequences and in some cases changes in CNEs might reflect tinkering with developmental GRNs." (GRNs = gene regulatory networks; CNEs = conserved non-coding elements). https://lnkd.in/dTKCkih View in LinkedIn

TECHNOLOGICAL SPREAD. "Cumulative culture is the engine that drives the remarkable power of the global human computer. It enables societies to act as extremely powerful computers by ratcheting up technological and other cultural innovations." https://lnkd.in/gMtMDwD View in LinkedIn

CUMULATIVE CULTURE. "Our culture is cumulative because we are born into highly constructed environments full of amazing gadgets like language and literacy." https://lnkd.in/dwNsDzt View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this contemplation of the confounding Cambrian explosion. Next weekend we consider the Great Unconformity, a period directly before the Cambrian when geologist believe that 3-5 vertical (yes, vertical) kilometers of the earth’s surface globally was erased. This could explain the missing fossil record and make the Cambrian explosion an optical illusion. Explaining the Cambrian has certainly stretched all story-telling skills. View in LinkedIn