1. Introduction: Conditioned Reflex as Common Base of Intelligence for Humans and Non-Human Animals

   It is plausible that humans use condition reflex mechanism for language processing and intelligence build-up. In language learning, a word sign is acquired as a new sign to be connected to a meaning. This is the starting point of our hypothesis.

Table1

Innate or Post-Natal Acquisition of Signs

   There is no molecular-cellular level hypothesis on the brain mechanism for conditioned reflex. Pavlov (1927) had supposed that the building of conditioned reflex is a new synaptic connection to be created on the neocortex from the sensory area to the motor area. However, he left several experimental results which had contradicted the premise of processing in cerebral cortex as synaptic connection: inter alia, conditioned reflexes resumed after having removed the neo-cortex of dogs entirely or partly, (Lectures 19-21 [1]. This indicates that conditioned reflex and language processing are performed in other part of the brain. From the era of Hellenism to the end of the 18th c., it had been generally believed that the ventricles are the place of mental functions. This theory is said to have been first obtained by Herophilos (BC335-269) who established a medical school in Alexandria, during the era of Hellenism. Although there are no books left by Herophilos, he is supposed to have performed bio-anatomy on slaves and death row inmates. Galen (129-216) succeeded in passing down his writings to posterity down to the 21st c. The ancient experimental physiologists studied the brain and nerves through bio-anatomy of apes, and believed that nerves were hollow tubes that carried the «spirit of nerves» from the brain to the whole body. It should have been mysterious for them that the large choroidal arteries sent blood to the brain from the heart, and that clear and colorless cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) filtered by the choroid plexus gushed out and circulated inside the ventricles. But both Herophilos and Galen were not able to identify the cellular and molecular structures inside the CSF which operate the memory of language.

It was in the Nobel lecture by Jerne, that he mentioned the B lymphocytes and their immune network terminals had all the abilities needed to manage networking memories of language [2]. Jerne had also predicted in his lecture at the Pasteur institute in Paris that lymphocytes have the same functions as neurons, and the differences are that (i) immune cells exist in the body 100 times more than neurons, and that (ii) immune cells do not require synaptic connection for networking but mobile ad-hoc network each other through mutual recognition using their antigen and antibody terminals. [3] In his view, lymphocytes should be regarded as «the mobile ad-hoc networking neurons», whose role are not limited to immune patrol but overall cognitive activities.

It is now known that B lymphocytes are present in the CSF in the cerebral ventricle at a lower concentration than that in the blood, and that there are active immune responses. Some scientists believe that these responses are intra-cerebro-ventricular immune patrols. But the CSF is filtered by the choroid plexus and replaced three to four times a day to keep it at an extremely low noise level. And, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) prevents pathogens and other large molecules from entering the CSF. The authors propose that the B lymphocytes manage networking memories of conditioned reflexes, and that intra-cerebro-ventricular immune responses are for conditioned reflexes, language processing and linguistic intelligence.

2. Cellular and Molecular Hypotheses for Conditioned Reflex

    There exist neuro-immune cells which can network each other and serve for conditioned reflexes and linguistic processing at the ventricular system. They are (i) Cerebrospinal Fluid Contacting Neurons (CSF-CNs) displaying antigen terminals at the ventricle wall, (ii) B-lymphocytes floating inside the CSF equipped with antibodies, and (iii) microglia at the neo-cortex displaying antigen terminals on the membrane surface.

Table 2

Inside CSF mobile networking architecture

   When a word sign comes into the auditory mechanism, the CSF-CN corresponding to that sign is stimulated and it activates its antigen terminal at the ventricle wall. Then a B lymphocyte equipped with the antibody of its specificity pair is activated to reminiscent sensory (or episodic) or word (or semantic) memories acquired through networking with microglia and other B lymphocytes (Figure 1, Table 2). In this hypothesis, antigen terminals of CSF-CNs and microglia represent the 3D shape of phonetic word waveforms. Antibody of B lymphocyte constitutes a specificity pair with that antigen terminal. Word phonetic stimulator (= CSF-cN) and sensory memories related to that word (=microglia) are mediated by the word sign device, which is freely moving and ad-hoc networking B lymphocyte inside the CSF. The meaning of scientific concepts is to be established as a network of dualistic thought operation among B lymphocytes inside the CSF.

Figure 1. An Overview of Mobile Networking inside the Brain for Internal Language

3. The acquisition of syllables at the site where the mandible had developed

   In our hypotheses, the only anatomical difference between human-animal and non-human animals is possession of imprinted memory and vocalization ability of phonemes. It is plausible that phonemes had originally been community specific chirps to identify community membership, as the way of making syllables and their phonological characteristics are distinctively different in one language another. Human babies imprint their brains with the phonemic memory of their mother tongue soon after birth, and keep it throughout life. This tendency to differentiate from other languages can also be seen in grammar, letters and orthography. It is plausible that language should have developed within each community, and, as a result, humans are inherently xenophobic. Vowels and consonants are phonemes: mutually distinctive minimum phonetic segments in a language. Thanks to phoneme, we can have infinite vocabulary by its permutation. According to L. Hjelmslev (1939), «a syllable is a chain of expression including one and only one accent». An accent is given by a vowel (V), and syllables consist of one V and adjacent consonants (C): V, CV, VC, CVC, CCVC, CVCC, etc. Thanks to accents, syllables are distinctive in time line, and grammatical syllables can be inserted between word signs to indicate semantic modulation and connectivity. A. Lieberman examined and compared the anatomical characteristics of adult homo-sapiens (who obviously has verbal communication) and fossil remains of prehistoric humans. [4] Lieberman’s research is based on the innovative work of Chiba – Kajiyama., whose X-ray photo displays the critical importance of the mandible to house the Supra-Laryngeal Vocal Tract.

Figure 2. X-ray photo for Vocal Tract [5]

It indicates that we should look for the site where the mandible has first developed: the anatomical evolution of Linguistic-Humans can be identified as the development of the chin (or mandible), which subsequently creates a space between the skin of the lower jaw and the oral floor, to lower the larynx, the outlet of the respiratory tract of the lungs, so that it should create resonance of vowels.

Figure 3. Kajiyama (left) and Chiba taking X-ray photo [5]

    It is known that the oldest human fossil with a developed mandible has been found in the Klasies River Mouth Caves in South Africa. Considering that Howiesons Poort, the Neolithic culture that began there, was derived from the acquisition of syllables, we can say that linguistic humans were born 66 KA (thousand years ago) [6].

Evolution of Syllables into Letters and Bits

Maynard Smith and Szathmáry wrote, «there have been two major changes in the way in which information is transmitted since the origin of language. The first was the invention of writing. Without writing, …large-scale civilization was impossible. … The latest transition is … the use of electronic means for storing and transmitting information. We think that the effects of this will be as profound as were those after the origin of genetic code, or of language, but we are not rash enough to predict what they will be» [7]. They indicated that the letters and bits are evolved syllables with new physical properties: indelibility and interactivity. Alphabets, letters and orthographies have not yet been integrated into developing theories of language. These are regarded as like other skills similar to paintings, music etc.  There are societies which have not yet developed alphabets, letters and orthographies. However, for brain and neural cells, speech and text are equal. When you receive text from your intimate friend, you hear his/her speech from the text. Speech can be coded into text in accordance with the orthography, and text conveys indelible syllables. Indelible syllables can be shared beyond time and space, which gave birth to a civilization. Interactive syllables can respond to internet searches and inquiries, which connect contemporary humans with collective human intelligence.  External recording system for speech did not exist until 5,000 years ago, when the Dynasty in Mesopotamia had governed the region, required some recording mechanism, and ordered to invent a character set. To date, it has been universally assumed that such civilizations invented character sets. However, it was opposite: the invention of character set gave birth to civilizations, by enabling the sharing and handing down of knowledge. Although the life of individual biological human is limited to around 100 years, thanks to documentation and the dissemination of knowledge through reading/writing, linguistic humans become immortal. Human beings must understand that civilization is an intellectual activity of succession and continuous development of human collective intelligence.

     Letters record speech sound with line drawings according to the orthography. Orthography is the system of writing conventions used to represent spoken language in written form that allows readers to connect spelling to sound. A person who has acquired the orthographic memory is literate, who receives written text as internal speech immediately interacting with one’s in-brain memory networks. A written word conveys an indelible syllable that does not disappear over time. Where is the memory of literacy stored in the brain? It is likely that it is recorded by B-lymphocytes in BBB as their networking memory with a visual image of text; that is, one must have a memory of words before one can read text. In the East, the practice of reading Analects of Confucious without knowing the meaning of any words is effective for literacy. When paper, ink and brush were invented, speech became transportable. Reading a document is listening to the voices of people far away. By writing, a person’s linguistic information can be shared across time and space, corrected and further developed by the younger generation. This is the essence of what we call civilization. The accumulation of linguistic information is the cultural heritage of mankind as a whole. In electronic system, letters are converted to bit data based on a code table such as Unicode: bit data is compatible with speech. Bit data can be stored in a very small storage device or transmitted over a telecommunication line. Now, thanks to the internet and search engines, a dialog between historically accumulated electronic data storage and an individual becomes possible. In the past, it was necessary to visit the library and look up the book cards in the cabinet drawers in order to check the storage. Now, the OPAC can tell it right away, and we can put any keywords into internet search engines and access to a huge list of relevant linguistic information. Our task is to increase its reliability and to make use of it.

Table 2

Physical Evolution of speech signals.

Figure 4. External physical language networking

Logical Evolution of Reflex to Complex Concepts

It is probable and natural that this in-brain networking mechanism builds and operates the conditioned reflexes, which Pavlov experimented with. The innate child’s word-meaning connectivity can be established as the conditioned reflex. Then, how can human unique complex concepts be correctly acquired and inherited. The authors hypothesize and propose that it is necessary to upgrade neural-dualistic logic from 1-to-1 Reflex to 1-to-All Group with “No Exception” and All-to-All Network with “No Contradiction”. The innate logic of B-lymphocyte to connect word sign and memory is 1-to-1 Reflex. The mechanism and functions of this innate logic were experimented by Pavlov using dogs. Table 3 shows 3 logic x2 memory =6 different types of word-meaning complexities. Conditioned reflex can be located at (Episodic Memory) + (Reflex) and it is shared by all animals including human. The other five need word signs to generalize memories and evolution of neural logic.

Table 3

The Evolution of Word Meanings

The application of 1-to-All Group logic to concept was discussed by Piaget. It requires sophisticated thought operation of «generalization»  and understanding of mathematical «group» [8].

Famous Russian researcher L.S. Vygotsky explained the difficulty to acquire concepts: «the concept is not simply a collection of associative connections learned with the aid of memory. We know that the concept is not an automatic mental habit, but a complex and true act of thinking that cannot be mastered through simple memorization. The child’s thought must be raised to a higher level for the concept to arise in consciousness ….. It presupposes the development of voluntary attention, logical memory, abstraction, comparison, and differentiation. These complex mental processes cannot simply be learned» [9]. Would he agree with the idea on the evolution of logic from reflex to group? Group logic is established by confirming no exception. Because the group is closed to operations, conceptual manipulation results in a concept with more complex meaning. Concept was born in academia and monasteries in ancient Greek, India, China, etc., where monks and scholars exempt from familial care, labor or social activity lived together, read books, contemplated and discussed.“Scientific concepts” can only be obtained in such a low noise environment with life-long dedicated study. Perhaps the simultaneous and global birth of the concept can be explained by the environmental stresses such as climate change and food shortages, which deprived people of their freedom to move and act but deepened their thought. In general, we can think deeper than usual when we are deprived of our freedom of action and do not need to use our brain to control our body, hands and feet.

   The concept must satisfy the rule that words must not have exceptions, which makes the results of the conceptual manipulation meaningful. To use concepts correctly, it is necessary to understand and conform a mathematical group theory. Otherwise it creates a messy confusion. The use of network logic exploiting internet keyword searches has not yet been demonstrated and appreciated. To apply network logic, readers must examine the reliability of documents to make sure that they are authentic. With internet search engines, we can discover thousands or millions of relevant linguistic information stored in database in the world, which may contradict each other. When any contradiction is discovered, you go into a scanning mode to find out the cause of the contradiction back to the moment the word was born. Such time-consuming and tedious tasks enable interdisciplinary integration of concepts and forward error correction (FEC). FEC is unique to a digital communication technique, which correct errors without contacting the information sender by iterative operations and exploiting redundancy. Until now, interdisciplinary contradictions have been neglected because it can’t be helped if the academic fields are different. Now, by using an internet search engine to access electronic archives around the world, you can see when, by whom, and how the concept was conceived. If the author did not come up with a concept, but was taught a concept by someone else, we can identify when and how he was taught. And, by searching for someone’s writings and manuscripts, we can ascertain the moment of conception. It can be a method to correctly understand complex scientific concepts and to identify the errors they may contain. It can be done by ascertaining the moment of their birth and following how they were transmitted.

Interface between Conditioned Reflex and Collective Human Intelligence Genome

   Humans use conditioned reflex mechanisms to develop the intelligence of individuals. Initially and innately, like other animals, they combine word signs with sensory memories by 1-to-1 reflex logic. As conditioned reflex is stubborn and ego-centric, whenever you encounter an opinion different from yourself, you tend to think that you are right and the other is wrong. Sign reflex is instinctive, involuntary, passive, reflexive, self-affirmative, self-sufficient, etc. And, it has no self-diagnostic circuitry or mechanism for error correction. It is absolutely important that you need to learn only the right knowledge from the beginning. Read the original and authentic document written by a person who came up with the concept. Confirm through autobiographies and interviews that the author is an honest and reliable person who thinks with his own head and does not lie. Carefully read the books and articles referenced by the author as part of the author’s work and examine the validity of the content and citations. Conditioned reflexes respond only to previously remembered words. Words that you don’t remember, no matter how important they are, are missed and don’t interest you. Therefore, you have to always stimulate intellectual curiosity. You should throw various keywords into the search engine and try to find things you don’t know yet. The spinal reflex circuit has the weakness of not being able to see or hear things you don’t remember. In areas you don’t know, you read especially slowly and politely, and if you don’t know or understand something, you are absorbed in it, and you look up and think hard. If you encounter something you don’t understand, take your time to learn it. Make some intervals and read repeatedly at different speeds. Place yourself in as quiet and noiseless environment as possible to increase learning ability and sensitivity to new words. It is important to keep thinking without giving up until you can understand it with your own head. Once it is constructed, it forms part of your consciousness to determine what is right and what is wrong.

    So, incorporating erroneous knowledge is very harmful. In order to prevent the acceptance of false concepts, it is useful to have a step-by-step re-experience of how the author encountered the concept in accepting it, whether it be classical, or famous scientist or anyone’s knowledge.   When you encounter contradictory content, any ambiguity or inconsistency, you must be in slower and more polite mode, because there may be a source of conceptual confusion. The contradiction had existed for a long time, but it had been neglected because science had been divided into fields. Therefore, if you point out the contradiction, you will be criticized by scientists from various fields saying “Don’t do anything unnecessary”, or “We have been around for a long time with that concept and there is no problem at all. You are the one who is strange”. The ones who are wrong are the scientists who are confined to the field science, and your efforts for interdisciplinary integration will always be appreciated someday, so don’t worry about criticism and slander, and do your best for the collective human intelligence. The only person who can correct the mistake of the collective human intelligence is you who is alive now.

    It is necessary for us to understand what reading is: it is a one on one dialogue between authors and readers. Reading classics is to meet the outstanding author individually. It conveys more truth than the lessons given in the classroom. Apart from the constraint of the conditioned reflex, it is necessary to understand that humans are eusocial animals, and that our attitudes about the truthfulness of words change both within and outside the community. As the community is hierarchical, we do not point out the mistakes made by our superiors, and such mistakes are forever uncorrected and live as common sense. Towards the outside community, false knowledge and misinformation are deliberately passed on to distort the science and education of their community.

Conclusion: Towards an autonomous reproduction and development of collective human intelligence genome.

   Living organisms reproduce complexity and self-proliferate in “Ontogeny repeats phylogeny” manner. Can humans similarly receive complex knowledge correctly, correct any mistakes, develop it and pass it on to future generations? In this paper, the author tried to present a series of hypotheses on the details of what Maynard Smith and Szathmáry described “as profound as were those after the origin of genetic code, or of language”. Electronic means allow two-way communication between contemporary humans and collective human intelligence through the Internet search engines. By putting keywords into search engines, we can experience the moment of scientific conception in regenerative way. Errors and ambiguity in many scientific concepts should be rectified and corrected in this manner. If we make good use of the Internet and understand the mechanism of our intelligence, we can become disciples of outstanding scientists in human history and study on our own to enhance the collective human intelligence, even if we do not belong to universities or research institutes. Will homo sapiens finally appear?

  This paper presents the hypotheses that (A) human language processing and intelligence construction are based on conditioned reflexes, that (B) they are based on the intra-ventricular immune cell networks, that (C) human language and intelligence differ from other animals by acquiring digital signals called “syllables”, that (D) syllables evolved by acquiring immorality and interactivity through letters and bits, that (E) there is evolution of memory management and logic evolution within the brain to adapt to the evolution of the syllables, and that (F) correct inheritance of complex concepts and knowledge requires understanding and overcoming the constraints of spinal sign reflex circuits.

Figure 5. Self-Reproducing Automata

   In contemporary society, individuals are excluded from classical literature. Although there are classics, few individuals have the opportunity to read them. Only a few elite children are able to attend schools where classics are taught. Among them, the number of children who can learn the classics deeply enough to love them is even more limited. In the age of the Internet, anyone with intellectual curiosity of childhood can find classics with search engines as a guide. The time has come when anyone who knows how to read classics can learn deep knowledge without going to school (Figure 5). Is that what Maynard Smith predicted “the effects of this will be as profound as were those after the origin of genetic code, or of language”? As a hypothesis produces a larger theoretical development when it is found to be false, we hope that the above hypotheses should be examined respectively, questioned and tested by as many international and interdisciplinary investigators as possible, and discussed to the extent that it can be denied or affirmed. To conclude, a poem of Dogen in the last paragraph in his analects, Dogen Osho Koroku, is introduced. He was the 52^nd Buddha from Shakya Muni and had been concerned to complete transfer of knowledge from a master to a disciple:

What we call karma creates the triple world.

Realizing these stories makes the one mind.

Nagarjuna received a person with a bowl of water.

Kanadeva approached the way holding a needle [4].