Go to the following website to read Edmond Hamilton's "The Man Who Evolved":
http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/hamilton-mwe.html
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8 comments:
My first thought on the article, or short story if that’s what it is, is that there were a few spots that had repeated words and stuff, proving to be a little confusing. I’ll admit that man has the tendency to know of the truth, or at least have some intellectual curiosity, but the author did well to be as creative as he was in this story. I really don’t like the examples he used throughout, though. (Except for the first mutation, after fifty million years) If we were to become a brain anytime soon, it’d be horrible; I like my limbs, thank you. What was nice about this reading is that it easily held my attention, like one of the old Scooby-Doo cartoons. (What)? Perhaps the most unusual idea here is that the cosmic rays are the cause for evolution.
The whole concept that we’d evolve over millions of years into more complex creatures only to revert to the simple stages we started as was a freaky thought; luckily we’ll probably all be dead by the time that happens, if it ever does. The beginning paragraph that talked about all of the successive evolutionary mutations from small protoplasm to protoplasmic organisms to sea-creatures and so forth was attention getting for me. Fiction isn’t all truth of course, but what if any of the aforementioned things were to really happen? Wouldn’t it be a surprise? If anything, give it some thought. We might hit on something interesting.
This story was strange. I never expected it to turn out this way. I also did not expect the story to be like this. I think the author was creative while writing this story. The fact that Putton was left with no human emotions at one point is shocking. Also, the fact that he wanted to take over the world because of his knowledge was odd. I do not understand why his friends would do it in the first place. I could never do that to someone, I would not want it to be my responsibility. Even though he sign the forms, I would still feel guilt. I guess that is why Dutton ended up in the institute. Or maybe it was the drastic change, I don’t know.
Each mutation leads him to more knowledge. In 250 million years, we did not need our bodies anymore to function, just our brains. It is interesting to think that the last mutation was what we supposedly started out as. Do you think that if they would have continued mutating him, he would go back to the regular Putton? Is it a continuous cycle? To think that someone wanted to experience the future of man is beyond me. Personally, I am a little afraid of what the future has in store for me. I do not know why someone would want to experience change all at once. It is suppose to be gradual, not instant. That is why you learn from experience.
This was a very interesting story because it was fascinating to learn about what some people believe we will look like in the future. I don’t agree with this story because I don’t think you advance your body 15 million years. I don’t think that I would do that just to see where evolution would take us. I think the change from being strong and handsome humans to having a big brain was because we needed our brains more than our looks.
I think evolving before the right time might cause the future evolution to change because we as humans will try to evolve before the right time. Also if the big brained Pollard would release what he knows into the public, the public will try to evolve before they are supposed to. Evolving before they are supposed might throw off the future evolution for humans, so if have that early information might makes look differently in the future. I think that you just shouldn’t mess with evolution because it is consistently changing. When Pollard said I can destroy all life on this earth from this room, surprised me because that means that humans will evolve to have no emotions.
This not so short story, as it may be called, was really good and quite fascinating. The idea that cosmic radiation through time has shaped evolution is an amazing thought, one I am not sure to be true. Does cosmic radiation play a role in mutation, does the radioactive rays somehow warp our bodies and DNA to cause slight mutations, I am not sure but would like to learn more. This was a fascinating story and the question of what is next for the human raise is one that I wonder. It makes sense to think of the brain, since in humans this is the main part of our anatomy that evolved to allow us to survive overtime. Maybe one day we will be giant brains, but the idea of making a complete circle is confusing. What would cause something like this, it couldn't be anything related to the world because he was in a protected climate which didn't change.
I kept thinking as I read this "this isn't even remotely possible.". I say this because in order to evolve we would need variation, reproduction, I mean it is a fact that an individual cannot evolve. It is also impossible because it doesn't take into account everything else in the world. Everything drives everything else to evolve and adapt, it's the arms race. We would evolve and adapt to what is going on around us, we could depending on what happens change in many different ways. This annoyed me as I read but other then that I enjoyed the read and found it very interesting.
This story just left me saying "wow" after reading it. He went through transformations that deformed him, yet gave him great mental capacity. Evolving into a brain isn't flattering, nor was Pollard's cocky attitude. With a great mental capacity you would think he would have quit ahead understanding there might be a down fall sooner or later. I guess when he lost all his emotions he lost fear, which keeps are race alive.
Cosmic rays and how they cause evolution was kind of interesting. What I didn't get was how he didn't get sick from high amounts of concentrated energy that should have given him cancer. I was kind of happy that the "Brain" was reduced to nothing more than protoplasm, but the idea of evolution in a circle doesn't seem right. The reason is because, there is no last mutation. It is either you keep evolving or you die.
I have to agree with Cedrick on this one. He brought up stuff that I hadn't even thought about. In today's world, everything supposedly causes cancer. I once had some tablets that you dropped into the fish tank to clean it and on the back it had a notice saying that such and such of this product may cause cancer... I'm rambling. Okay, I do understand the whole controversial cosmic rays part, seeing that gamma rays (I think) can penetrate your skin and reach your organs. You mentioned that with the knowledge he'd gained he should've known that there might be a downfall somewhere, but I believe it's within human nature to know of the truth. That's why we try so hard to grasp it even if we don't understand it. The doubt that comes from the learning of the truth isn't due to our disapproval, but rather our bewilderment. The very last thing you mentioned about evolution would seem an important key factor. We've spoken about it in class, and how there are no perfect organisms in an everchanging environment.
I agree like what Chris said about how the story was king of freaky. To think that we might evolve into just brains is weird. I also like my limbs a lot! Also, the comic rays were not what I expected to be used as the source of evolution either. Colleen made me think about the looks aspect. If we do not need our looks anymore, what will we do for sexual selection and reproduction? Will we pick the person with the biggest brain? Do we need to even produce at all? I agree with her, we should not mess with evolution and let it take its course. I really like how Aaron put things that made this story false. It made me really think again that this is not a true story. However, I do not understand how this writer came up with this stuff. I agree with Cedrick on seeing the brain just go to plasma. He was cocky, arrogant, and rude. This story also gave me the wow factor after I read it.
I agree with Chris that I wouldn’t have thought that cosmic rays were the source of evolution. I thought that was a little weird. Also I agree with Chris when he said that we have evolved into complex creatures and after millions of years we will just go back to the simple stages of life. I also agree with Brittany when she said that it was shocking that we evolve to have no emotions. I agree with Aaron and Cedrick when they said that it was confusing when Pollard turned into protoplasm because the earth’s climate had to change in a million years.
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