What does it take to notice that a new species, or a new sub-species is developing? What difference does it make? My son, Nathan, and I sometimes muse how humans with Aspergers Syndrome may be characterized as a sub-species of homo sapiens sapiens. We share this autism trait and are aware that we, and others like us, interpret reality and behave in a manner that distinguishes us from “typical” humans. We think that might make us a sub-species.
We are characterized as having Aspergers because we react to our environment in a distinctly different way. Moreover, there are many humans like us who have Aspergers and are distinguished as being different kinds of humans. Categorizing that difference in behavior reminds me how ancient mammals are described and categorized by how they responded to their environment in differing ways. We mostly know those ancient mammals through their fossilized remains. Those fossilized remains are important because they give us clues about how mammals behaved and adapted to their environment.
I have been wondering lately how it is that so many people seem to see the world different than I or most of my friends. We see reality in such different ways and react so differently that I think that we have become different kinds of human beings. I am not sure if that difference is enough to make us a sub-species, but it does distinguish us in fundamental ways.
It is not just that our thoughts are different or that we have different priorities and ideas. Watching our behavior makes me think that it is more fundamental than that. Our behavior reflects part of our essence, and the differences accordingly go very deep into our essence. Just like people with Aspergers or like ancient mammals, we are different because we behave differently.
In a deep sense, our behavior is who we are, and we are different from one another in essentially human ways.
I am noticing the epigenetic teaching that we humans inherit much more from our parents and ancestors than what is programmed by our DNA. We inherit more than eye color and body shape. We also inherit experiences of trauma and suffering. We inherit creativity and invention. We come into the world with unresolved conflicts of our ancestors and those conflicts become our own. They deeply affect how we react to our environment. Because we are humans, we can modify this inheritance, but it is part of who we are.
This is the teaching of Resmaa Menakem in his book “My Grandmother’s Hands.” His focus is on the trauma we inherit.
In the Buddhist tradition, there is also a teaching of the seeds we have within us, all of which affect how we behave. Our life and behavior is colored and affected by how we water and nourish those seeds. We begin our life with these seeds, and how we relate to them determines the real effect they have on our experience and our behavior. These seeds are like patterns of behavior at our core that can unfold as we allow. To me, these seeds seem like a rich form of human instinct that is constantly at the base of my behavior .
I think that these seeds are as real as the genes I received from my parents. The variety among the seeds is as great as the variety among our genes. The traits they manifest, the behavior is part of my inheritance. They underly my view of the world and distinguish how I react to it. They are at the base of how I behave and are manifested in how I eat, how I exercise and how I care for myself and others.
Because I am human and have the gift of intention, I can have some impact on how the seeds manifest. But essentially the seeds and the behavior they produce define the kind of human I am. Maybe they distinguish me enough that I can be characterized as a sub-species because of how I interpret reality and react to it.
It is ultimately behavior that, I think, defines differences in animals. It is human behavior that defines us as humans, species homo sapiens sapiens. While the physical attributes of a species are helpful in distinguishing one species from another, it is behavior and the traits of how individuals react to their environment that ultimately define what they are and determines whether they survive their environmental conditions.
Physical attributes are clues to behavior, and human behavior attributes are defining characteristics of human body and mind. The presence of tools in the ancient record indicated behavior that characterized a body and mind we recognize as truly human. Human species are typically characterized and defined by behavior that indicates mental activity. This is more so than most other mammals.
For humans, some significant defining behaviors have been “maker of tools,” “builders of fire,” and “acting compassionately.” Humans evolved into a new kind of creature when they gave up a former lifestyle and became farmers, then builders off cities. Within these broad categories, I think there have been many other distinctions that characterized mental function and the resulting behavior. Various groups of humans have distinguished themselves by how they relate to their environment. That environment includes not only their physical surroundings but also other humans.
Humans are different in how we think, and how we behave. That inclination to think and behave in a certain way has been handed from one generation to another, and is part of the evolution of humans. The differences in thinking and behavior distinguishes one group of humans from others. Groups of humans respond to their environment in unique ways, and are subject to principles of evolution in equally unique ways.
I think that there is a broad array of sub-species within the broad category homo sapiens sapiens. We are each distinguished by how we interpret reality and how we respond to it. Our thinking may well be unique, but it is our unique behavior that allows us to distinguish one group from another. The differences allow us to define both who and what we creatures really are. The differences allow us to observe which groups adapt well to their environment and which are maladaptive.
There is a lot of emphasis on paying attention to how we are all alike. I think we are also served well by paying attention to how we are different. Some of those differences work better than others. Some of those differences are important for survival of the species.
