Molecular Lamarckism: On the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Abstract

In modern times, Lamarck's view of evolution, based on inheritance of acquired traits has been superseded by neo-Darwinism, based on random DNA mutations. This article begins with a series of observations suggesting that Lamarckian inheritance is in fact operative throughout Nature. I then launch into a discussion of human intelligence that is the most important feature of human evolution that cannot be easily explained by mutational selection. Thus, we are smarter than demanded by our evolutionary experience as hunter-gatherers. The difficulty lies in the inability of neo-Darwinism to satisfactorily answer the following question: How can a large energy-costly set of genes, each member of which has little apparent benefit when first created individually, all gather into a permanent existence within a short time period in each and every member of a small population (that was dispersed and geographically isolated over a huge planet) who had a low reproductive output, a low rate of beneficial mutations, and a low level of genetic contact? The article concludes with a speculative but far-reaching epigenetic theory of intelligence that does not require DNA mutation as the exclusive source of evolutionary change. Instead, cranial feedback relating brain chemistry, as affected by brain activity including education, with the genome. When it comes to the fast rate of evolution, and the dissemination of the intelligence trait worldwide, cranial feedback could make all the difference.

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