Anybody who has ever played around with an idea knows how one’s sense for that idea evolves over time. In addition, the idea itself evolves over time, too. Furthermore, the landscape of the brain, the neurolandscape, evolves as well.
In just the same way, as our animal ancestors in the physical landscape played with colors, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures, their sense for color, sound, smell, taste, and texture – in short, their sense for qualia – evolved over time; and, in addition, the qualia itself evolved over time. Furthermore, the landscape of nature, the physical landscape of the planet, evolved as well.
Living beings don’t evolve with other animals, or with plants, so much as with some quality which they project, such as their color, or their texture (or shape) etc. Our ancestors’ sense for the color red began to evolve as some plant’s redness projecting berries attracted them; if the red berries kept them alive, then the plants’ seeds were fertilized and spread about by our ancestors in their poop. Overtime, our ancestors’ eyes became more attuned to redness while, at the same time, the plant’s projected a more vivid, sensible redness. Our sense of any particular qualia evolves along with some other animal or plant’s ability to project it. Good for both of us.
Every animal, each with its own peculiarities, is the result of such qualiadelic relationships. As a lagniappe, because we noticed new landmarks in the landscape, and therefore travelled down new pathways, the landscape evolved, too. One became more red with berries!
Millenniums ago, when human beings began paying attention to the qualia in their brains – when they became conscious (perhaps self-conscious) of the firings and neuro-transmissions in their brains, and found them good, the neurolandscape evolved as well. We developed the ability to conceive ideas, the sense to hold impressions in the mind instead of using them simply to chase after matter.
It may seem that, despite all the good things that intelligence hath wrought, that we are worse off. We have Fallen from grace and lost our Way. But we are only worse off because we have lost our connection to ecosystems, lost our way back the Tao. Another way of putting it is that we effectively transformed the ecosystems we touched with our ideas into self-centered, human landscapes.
The loss is, ironically, a blessing. We to get here to appreciate what we have lost and value it. Ideas change the mind which change the brain which change the landscapes which change the ideas.
We are like an imaginary line drawn out of a geometric figure in order to figure it out. Once we solve the riddle of ecosystems, and qualia, we can leave the human landscape behind.