HUMANISM REVISITED

Preface

Part I - THE EVOLUTIONIST PERSPECTIVE

Chapter 1 - A Contemporary Trinity

1. NATURAL SELECTION
   • THE PARADIGM OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
   • AGAINST PLATONIC ESSENTIALISM
   • NATURAL SELECTION
   • THE CLASH AGAINST PREJUDICES
   • THE EVIDENCE
   • THE LOGICAL BASIS OF NATURAL SELECTION
   • AN IDEA LONG OVERDUE
2. THE COMPUTER ALGORITHM
   • ALGORITHM
   • ALGORITHMS OF OLD, AND NEW ONES
   • ALGORITHM AND PHILOSOPHY
     • Artificial Intelligence
     • Artificial Life
     • Natural Selection as an Algorithm
     • Algorithms and Natural Selection
3. THE ACCUMULATION OF DESIGN
   • THE APOGEE OF TECHNOLOGY
   • THE THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT OF DESIGN
   • A QUESTION OF METHOD
   • BIOLOGY AND ENGINEERING AS REVERSE DISCIPLINES
   • PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Chapter 2 - The Human Family

1. CORTICAL PUZZLE
   • A “LEGO” IN OUR BRAIN
   • SAME PIECES AND SAME WAY OF HOOKING THEM UP
   • VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE!
2. OUR POOR RELATION
   • OUR VERY OWN IS NOT UNIQUELY OURS
   • HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT
   • THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING PREMATURE
3. THE HUMAN LINEAGE
   • OUR BRETHREN, THE NEANDERTHALS
   • HUMAN EXTINCTION AND SURVIVAL
   • OUR PRECURSORS
   • OUR DIRECT ANCESTORS
     • The genus Australopithecus
     • The genus Homo
4. THE GRAND HUMAN DIASPORA
   • THE GRAND DIASPORA
   • THE AFRICAN EVE
   • THE KINSHIP OF ALL CONTEMPORARY HUMAN BEINGS
   • THE IRRATIONALITY OF RACISM

Part II - THE CONSTRUCTION OF LIFE

Chapter 3 - The Long March of Life

1. ORIGINS
   • THE YEAR OF THE UNIVERSE
   • THE ORIGIN OF LIFE IN PREBIOTIC PROCESSES
     • The Miller’s Experiment
     • The Emergence of Metabolic Pathways
   • THE EMERGENCE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
   • FIRST STEPS: THE RNA WORLD
   • FIRST STEPS: OTHER THEORIES
   • THE TRANSITION TO THE DNA WORLD
   • THE PARADOX OF CATASTROPHIC ERROR
   • THE CENANCESTOR AND THE THREE DOMAINS OF LIFE
2. MATURITY
   • MODEL ORGANISMS
     • On How the Paris Gutters Contributed to the Progress of Science
     • The F Factor, a Case of Secondary Genome
     • The Fruit Fly and the Discovery of the Body Plan
     • Two Tiny Nervous Systems
     • Arabidopsis thaliana, a Model Organism Among Plants
   • THREE RECENT INVENTIONS OF LIFE
     • The Cellular Nucleus Gives Origin to Protists
     • Differentiated Expression of Genes Paves the Way
     • Physiological Coupling Gives Rise to Multicellular Beings
     • A Novel Use for an Old Invention: Spatial Gene Differentiation

Chapter 4 - The Chemistry of Life

1. THE CELL
   • CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LIVING SYSTEMS
   • THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTRUCTIVE PRINCIPLES
     • Electron Transfer
     • Chemical Group Transfer
     • More Details About ATP and Its Hydrolysis
   • ENERGY GENERATION IN THE CELL
     • More Details About Energy Generation
2. THE GENES
   • SOME BASIC CONCEPTS OF GENETICS
     • Chromosomes
     • Nucleotides
     • DNA Structure
     • Proteins
   • THE CARPENTRY OF LIFE

Part III - ANTHROPOGENESIS

Chapter 5 - The Human Genotype

1. THE GENOME AS ARCHITECTURE AND AS LITERATURE
   • THE GENOME AS ARCHITECTURE
   • THE GENOME AS LITERATURE
2. THE GENOME AS INDUSTRY
   • THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CELL
   • THE CELL'S POWER PLANTS
   • LIFE AND INDUSTRY
3. THE GENOME AS ENGINEERING
   • THE GENOME AND ENGINEERING
   • GENETIC ENGINEERING
4. THE GENOME AS COMPUTER SCIENCE
   • THE GENOME AS A PROGRAMING LANGUAGE
   • THE INTERPRETATION OF THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE
     • The Interpreter in Broad Strokes
5. THE GENOME AS HISTORY
   • ARCHAEOBIOLOGY
   • THE MACHINERY OF DIVERSITY
6. THE GENOME AS SOCIETY AND AS EROS
   • SOCIAL REGULATION AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR
   • THE GENOME AS EROS
7. THE SEQUENCING OF THE HUMAN GENOME
   • IN SEARCH OF OUR GENES
   • THE SEARCH METHODS
   • FEW GENES BUT VERY EFFICIENT
   • SOME CONCLUSIONS FROM THE SEQUENCING OF THE HUMAN GENOME
     • Genes of Hereditary Diseases
     • Duplicated Genes
     • Recent Genetic Crosstalk
     • Trash Collectors
     • Polymorphism
     • The Theory of Evolution Once More Confirmed

Chapter 6 - The Human Phenotype

1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL
   • DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
     • Recapitulation Theory
     • Genetic Theory
     • A Comprehensive New Thesis: An Internal Ecology
   • AN ILLUSTRATIVE MIGRATION: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
   • ON HOW DEATH SCULPTS LIFE
   • QUALITY CONTROL AND THE CELLULAR CYCLE
2. THE DECADENCE OF THE ORGANISM
   • PROGRAMMED DEATH AT ORGANISMIC LEVEL
   • THE DANCE OF TELOMERES WITH TELOMERASE
3. THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
   • THE ONCOGENIC PARADIGM
   • THE NEW FRONTIER OF MEDICINE
     • Rational Medicine
     • Old Age, a Residue of Evolution
     • The Fountain of Eternal Youth
     • The New Battle Front of Medicine
     • Mitochondrial Diseases

Part IV - MIND CONSTRUCTION

Chapter 7 - In Search of the Person

1. BRAIN AND MIND
   • A CONTEMPORARY “KNOW THYSELF”
   • EXPLORATION OF THE BRAIN
   • THE PRIVATES: NEURONS
2. AT THE CITY GATES
   • BODY, SOUL, AND A VANISHING FACE
   • AN OVAL OFFICE IN THE BRAIN?
   • ON THE HEAVY TASK OF PERCEIVING AN OBJECT
   • BEHIND THE APPLE OF OUR EYES
   • THE TORTUOUS MEANDERS OF THE OPTICAL NERVES
3. IN THE CITADEL
   • THE ARRIVAL TO THE CORTEX
   • SIX SUPERIMPOSED FORESTS
   • THE FLOW OF VISUAL INFORMATION
   • RESULTS
4. TOLLING OF BELLS
   • THE BRAIN CAN ALSO CALL TO ARMS
   • RECENT THEORIES CONCERNING CONSCIOUSNESS
     • A New Vision about the Unconscious
     • Two Rival Views about the Mind
     • Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life
   • SUBJECTIVITY, AMAZEMENT, AND KNOWLEDGE

Chapter 8 - Reason and Language

1. THE HALLUCINATING MIND
   • FREEDOM OF CHOICE
   • ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
   • PURE REASON AND INTERACTIVE REASON
   • THE WHOLE OF LIFE IS DREAMING
2. IDEAS, BRAINS, AND BODIES
   • THE OVERFLOWING OF THE HUMAN BRAIN
   • THE BALDWIN EFFECT
   • NON GENETIC EVOLUTION
   • IS CULTURAL EVOLUTION LAMARCKIAN?
3. IN THE END THERE WAS THE WORD
   • LANGUAGE, INNATE KNOWLEDGE?
   • THE DOUBLE LIFE OF SYMBOLS
   • BETWEEN SAYING AND THINKING
   • CHILDREN-FRIENDLY TONGUES

Part V - THE REPRESENTATION OF THE WORLD

1. REFLECTIONS ON BIOLOGY AND CULTURE
   • SUBJECTIVE HORIZONS
   • PROTECTIONISM
   • THE PARADOX OF CULTURE
   • THE VITALISTIC TEMPTATION
   • THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE
2. THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE
   • THE ROOTS OF THE MODERN AGE
   • THE RENAISSANCE REVOLUTION

Chapter 10 - Two Obstacle Memes

1. THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
   • WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPINESS?
   • THE HAPPINESS-IN-THIS-WORLD VARIANT
   • THE HAPPINESS-IN-ANOTHER-LIVE MUSLIM VARIANT
   • SOBERING THOUGHTS
2. CONSPIRACY THEORY
   • POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSPIRACIES
   • REAL AND FABULATED CONSPIRACIES
   • THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION, A TWO-MEME COMBO
   • THE TRAPS OF SYMBOLISM AND THEIR OVERCOMING

Chapter 11 - Two Opportunity Memes

1. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
   • THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, A CULTURAL NOVELTY
   • THE STABILIZATION OF SCIENCE
   • THE RULES OF SCIENCE
   • THE OPTION FOR SCIENCE
   • PSEUDOSCIENCE
2. THE MARKETPLACE
   • THE DANCE OF THE EXCHANGE
   • MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.
   • THINKING RIGHT MIGHT BE HARDER THAN ONE THINKS

Chapter 12 - The Crown Meme: Civil Liberties

1. ORIGINS OF THE MODERN CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY
2. THE AMERICAN FEDERATION AND THE RULE OF LAW
3. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE BRITISH CONSERVATIVE LIBERTARIANISM
4. FREEDOM AS SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Part VI - THE GLOBALIZATION MEME

1. THE UNIFICATION OF HUMANKIND
   • HUMANKIND AND CO-BELONGING
   • A PARADIGMATIC UNIFICATION: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
   • AN IMPERIAL PROJECT PAVED THE WAY TO CONTEMPORARY EUROPE
   • ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
2. THE BRITISH WORLD UNIFICATION
   • THE FIRST CONTEMPORARY GLOBALIZATION
   • A SUCCESS STORY: THE COSTA RICAN CASE

Chapter 14 - The American World Unification

1. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD
   • THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
   • TOWARD AN EUROPEAN NON IMPERIAL UNIFICATION
   • THE NEW GLOBALIZATION
   • GLOBALIZATION AND NORMATIVITY
2. GLOBALIZATION TO SCRUTINY
   • STRICTURES AND ANXIETY
   • GLOBALIZATION AND VALUES
   • THE OPEN SOCIETY AT THE CROSSROADS

Appendixes

1. Appendix A: MENDELIAN INHERITANCE
2. Appendix B: REVERSE ENGINEERING
3. Appendix C: MUTATIONS AND GENETIC DRIFT
4. Appendix D: EVIDENCE FOR THE EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION
5. Appendix E: SENSE AND ANTISENSE IN THE DNA STRANDS
6. Appendix F: ALLELES
7. Appendix G: AMINO ACIDS
8. Appendix H: ERRORS IN DNA REPLICATION
9. Appendix I: THE AMAZING REPRODUCTIVE METHOD OF THE LAMBDA PHAGE
10. Appendix J: RIBOSOMES
11. Appendix K: INTERCELLULAR SIGNALS
12. Appendix L: MITOCHONDRIA
13. Appendix M: FREE RADICALS
14. Appendix N: THE NERVOUS CELL
15. Appendix O: HUMANIST MANIFESTO AGAINST PSYCHIATRY
16. Appendix P: THE DAY WHEN HEAVEN WAS UNDONE
17. Appendix Q: A MEME CALLED INTERNET

Bibliography