From: Matt Mahoney (matmahoney@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Nov 01 2007 - 18:57:39 MDT
1. Self replicating RNA, about 3 billion years ago. Single strand RNA can
fold itself into complex shapes. Sexual reproduction might have occurred in
the form of combining pieces of molecules to make new ones.
2. DNA based life, separating data from function (protein). Major innovations
include error correction (the double strand provides redundancy), mRNA
amplification of protein synthesis, and gene regulation leading to
multicellular organisms with adaptive subsystems such as the immune system and
nervous system about a billion years ago.
3. Language, maybe 50,000 to 10,000 years ago, leading to memetic evolution
(cultural rules favoring reproduction), collective intelligence and
accumulation of written knowledge and technology.
4. Self replicating intelligent machines, maybe later this century.
5. What? I have no idea, but history suggests it will happen very quickly.
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com
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