Interesting Ted Talk Carl.

You can skip the economics section at the beginning 1/3 (it is out dated and repeats oft sited themes) and go to the science.  

A new species of hominids that controls their own evolution.  Pretty amazing.

interesting video

Wonderful! Enjoyed every second. Thanks for sharing Carl!

I think that the human brain is rapidly evolving right now. 

As a chess coach, its always fascinated me with regards to what part of the brain that we use when playing chess.

Analytical thinking, applying math problem solving type skills. students that are gifted at chess are often gifted at math because they use that part of their brain for both endeavors. As it turns out, playing competitive chess on a regular basis, exercises that part of the brain and makes it better at doing math problems and other things. Numerous studies confirm this(though its hard to separate how much the chess playing contributed in my opinion if the person was already gifted)

In today's world, people  are using electronic devices all the time. Kids from a very young age. My youngest grandson, Baithin, could play video games before he could talk.

When you go to some places, you might often see half the people there staring down at their electronic device. Go to an auditorium with hundreds of people. When the event is not taking place, everybody is on their Ipad or Iphone, texting or on facebook or on the internet or social media.

Doctors don't have to worry about providing reading material for patients waiting anymore. We all come with our own entertainment and we bring it everywhere and use it constantly. Clearly, this is using part of our brains in a way that was not being used in this manner 30 years ago. Not just a little bit more but like..............hours a day and  the majority of the population in the developed world that has unlimited access to this stuff.

This has got to be changing brains in the individuals. At the very least, they are much more skilled/developed in doing things that use that part of their brains. I believe those same brains, based on observations and anectdotal evidence of how people interpret information(as a scientist) have been gradually losing the ability to use critical thinking to figure stuff out themselves.  They rely on their computer devices to do much of the thinking. To look up the answers. They use calculators to do the calculating. They have become dependent on other sources to provide them with the answers............even if they have to jump thru some hoops by looking it up using google search.

This is making us vulnerable to following group think ideas and making it tough for many to tell the difference between whats real and whats not when it comes to the news.  There are thousands of topics that can be discussed with various contrasting points. We are in the habit of easily looking up our favorite topics, using the many possible sources available with technology  in a way that always leans towards our bias.......cognitive bias. This feeds and strengthens the bias and instead of making us smarter and more well rounded by providing comprehensive information about the entire/big picture, it gives us the means to reinforce whatever and however we think right now.  No critical thinking or applying skepticism. We are skeptical of stuff that we have already decided is wrong of course...........and that's why we don't waste our time evaluating the viability of  points or situations that are, of course wrong and just go to stuff that we have already convinced ourselves is right based on our belief system and continue to fill our heads with the infinite sources to do so. 

How much of this will be passed on to the next generation?

It's already happening. 

Maybe its me but it seemed like when I was young, the younger generation was the most skeptical and questioned everything and wanted to know why and wanted proof, while the older folks were set in their ways and "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" mentality.

Maybe its me but it seems like much of the younger generation today, is no longer skeptical. Sure, they are skeptical of something they don't believe but that's my point. They have decided what they believe based often on what they have been taught to believe and don't question it. They question what they don't believe, which is really not questioning because it only lines up with a belief system.

To truly be skeptical in an objective, open minded way, you should question your own belief system. Everybody is skeptical  of things that they don't believe in already. 

This has taken us down a path of intolerance.............of people that disagree with us. We spend much of our time looking for reasons for them to be wrong and us right vs the other way around or searching for the authentic truth, independent of our current view on the subject. 

Amazing that on so many subjects, so many people can be convinced that they are 100% right and the other side is 100% wrong, while the other side believes the same thing.

Many more like that then those that might feel, that, let's say the "other" side has good points on 40% or even 30% of what they say. 

We are morphing into being more and more closed minded, ironically by having access to more and more information that could enhance our knowledge base, thru proper objective applications and critical thinking but instead, we choose to let stuff in that reinforces what we think that we know already and discard stuff that has the profound potential to help us to understand what others that disagree with us understand. 

You must stick to your convictions, but be ready to abandon your assumptions.

Denis Waitley

Nonsense is nonsense only when we have not yet found that point of view from which it makes sense.

Gary Zukav