Utility of Multizoa Theory

Within this section, we will be looking at some of the ways in which multizoa theory fits humans and human society into the larger biological context. This list is by no means exhaustive, but rather aims to provide a brief overview of the subject.

Multizoa phylogeny

By defining multizoa reproduction as establishing of colonies on other planets, multizoa theory hints at the existence of a potential multizoa phylogenetic tree, similar to the cell-based phylogenetic tree initially traced by Darwin (Figure 4a). Right now the only multizoa organism found in this phylogenetic tree is human society (Figure 4b), however if human society establishes colonies on other planets, and they too establish other colonies, and so on, billions of years from now we may get different multizoa species, and all of them would be able to trace their lineage back to human society (Figure 4c). We might go so far as to say that this multizoa phylogenetic tree could come to contain different kingdoms, just like the multicellular phylogenetic tree contains different kingdoms as well – For example, the multizoa organisms rooted on the surface of planets could be considered plant-based multizoa organisms, so part of the kingdom multizoa plantae, whereas constructed starships that contain a large body of individuals could be considered animal-based multizoa organisms, so part of the kingdom multizoa animalia. Quite possibly, this phylogenetic tree would also come to contain previously unimagined multizoa organisms (Figure 4c).

In other words, billions of years of multizoa reproduction might come to populate the universe with a varied display of life, in the same way that billions of years of cellular and multicellular reproduction came to populate Earth with a plethora of lifeforms, and our human society finds itself at the base of this process, which is an altogether awe-inspiring position to be in.

Multizoa heritability

Multizoa theory postulates that multizoa organisms “inherit” the traits of their parents, in a way not unlike multicellular organisms do. Evidence for this can be gathered from human migrations that took place in the past – for example, when the Europeans settled in America, they brought with them the technologies, plants, animals, and social organization that was predominant in Europe, and with time adapted them to the new land. ¹ Colonies established on other planets would, in a similar way, be founded using the technologies that derive from their parent multizoa organisms, would contain plants and animals coming from their parent multizoa organisms, and would have a social organization not unlike that which was predominant in their parent organism – at least at first, before they get adapted and streamlined to the particular environment the multizoa organism would grow in

Multizoa mutation

Multizoa theory postulates that multizoa organisms could “mutate” during their foundation, due in large part to the different environments that they would grow in, which would make certain traits as they are expressed in their parent organism unsuitable for them. For example, Mars is a planet wholly different from Earth – its low atmospheric pressure would make a person’s blood literally boil without a space-suit, nighttime temperatures go below those found at the Antarctic, there is no water in liquid form on the planet’s surface, and high radiation poisoning due to a lack of atmosphere to protect from the sun’s rays would cause cancer.² This means that a multizoa organism would need to develop a different set of “multizoa abilities” to survive on Mars rather than on Earth, from radiation protection to atmospheric manipulation to acquiring water to converting raw materials into energy – all of which would most likely lead to different multizoa “traits”. For example, the Martian multizoa organism might rely on atomic energy much more than Earth, and much less on fossil fuels. If then the Martian colony would come to reach sexual maturity and itself establish a colony on another planet, it could pass on the “traits” that allow it to use atomic energy to its daughter multizoa organism.

Multizoa selection pressures

Multicellular organisms face a number of threats coming from their environment. Sometimes, a predator attempts to hunt them down, like for example when a cheetah hunts down an antelope, or when a lizard hunts down a cricket. Other times, something unexpected happens in an animal’s environment, like a volcanic eruption, or a forest fire, or a flood, destroying their habitat. And other times, it’s a pathogen infecting their bodies, which leads to disease. Within classical biology (i.e. biology that refers to cellular and multicellular organisms), such threats are known as selection pressures, and not all multicellular organisms survive them – a cheetah catches antelopes some of the time, volcanic eruptions kills of animals and plants, and diseases can be fatal. Those multicellular organisms that do survive and are able to reproduce pass on their characteristics to the next generation, spreading their characteristics through the species population. Selection pressures are seen as crucial in the process of multicellular evolution that produced the dazzling display of life seen on Earth today. ³

With human society as an example, we can see that like multicellular organisms, multizoa organisms face a number of pressures from their environment that may threaten their survival. These include multizoa diseases – for example, the bubonic plague wiped off more than half of Europe’s population in the 1300s. ⁴ And natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed hundreds of thousands of people in 14 different countries. ⁵ Planets have been known to go through dramatic changes that could threaten the very survival of any multizoa organism which inhabits it. For example, Earth has been known to go through periods of massive changes in the distant past, such as for example dramatic changes in climate, and mass extinction events where a large percentage of Earth’s multicellular organisms perished. ⁶ Our human society did not exist during those times – many of these events took place before the earliest records of Homo Sapiens, which date to about 150,000 years ago ⁷ – however if these natural catastrophes did occur in conjunction with the existence of any multizoa organism, it would present a very real threat to that organism’s existence.

With the development of multizoa reproduction, and the establishment of multizoa organisms on planets that are less hospitable to multizoa life than Earth, such multizoa selection pressures will only be more of a threat to the survival of newly developing multizoa organisms, and will likely play a leading role in determining which multizoa organisms survive to pass on their “traits” and which do not.

Multizoa evolution through natural selection

The three mechanisms explained previously, namely heritability, mutation, and selection pressures, form the foundation of the theory of evolution through natural selection that is the cornerstone of biology as it is applied to multicellular organisms. ⁸

The theory of evolution through natural selection states that as organisms reproduce, they pass on their genetically inherited traits. Organisms sometimes suffer mutations during reproduction, which, if they make them more adapted to their environment, give them a greater chance to survive and to reproduce. ³ In the subsections above, we see how this applies to multizoa organisms. As human colonies would be established on other planets, it’s not hard to imagine how the “traits” of some of these colonies would end making them better adapted to their new planetary environments than others, which would make them better able to survive in their environment and reproduce, thus passing on the multizoa “traits” which made them successful onto the next generations of colonies.

Of course, the mechanism by which traits are recorded and are made heritable within multizoa organisms differ from those of multicellular organisms – whereas multicellular traits are recorded genetically, multizoa traits are recorded culturally and through various mediums – text, video, etc. Nevertheless, we can see how the general process still applies to both types of organisms.

The process of multizoa evolution through natural selection could be seen as fundamental in the development of the multizoa phylogenetic tree described in the first subsection of this chapter (Figure 4c). Those multizoa organism that managed to survive in their environment, successfully reproduce and pass on their traits would have become part of this tree, while the rest would present evolutionary dead ends

War - a multizoa disease

Another area in which applying multizoa theory breeds new understanding is that of largescale human conflict. The dictionary defines war as “a conflict carried on by a force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air”. ⁹

However, by taking the multizoa perspective whilst looking at the effects of war from space, we can quickly draw the conclusion that war is akin to a multizoa disease. For example, Figure 5a shows the war damage caused in Syria, Damascus, whereas Figure 5b shows the damage caused by psoriasis, an autoimmune disease experienced by humans that attacks skin cells. In biology, a disease is a condition that, fundamentally, damages cells and the tissues they create. In a similar manner, war can be seen as a multizoa condition that damages humans and the structures they create, such as buildings, machinery, etc. Because war is caused by one sub-population of human society damaging another sub-population and the area they inhabit, war is a close correlate to autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis, lupus and cancer. Autoimmune diseases are defined as diseases in which the body’s immune system attacks the body itself, and that’s what happens during war to human society’s body – one sub-population of its humans attacks another sub-population.

Importantly, within classical biology, diseases of any kind make organisms immunocompromised, which lowers the biological fitness of the organism (i.e. its ability to survive in its environment and reproduce) and increases the chances that it will succumb to the selection pressures mentioned above when they arise, including predation, environmental catastrophes, and so on.

By applying this knowledge to multizoa organisms, multizoa theory postulates that war leaves human society immuno-compromised, which would leave it more susceptible to multizoa selection pressures when they arise, be it changes in Earth’s climate, environmental catastrophes or other unexpected natural events.

As a consequence, multizoa theory offers a purely objective and biological perspective for why wars should not be instigated and fought by any nation, anywhere.