It was back in 2008, actually April 2008, that I did an interview with my friend Mr William R. Brody MD PhD, then the president of Johns Hopkins University. I remember he was also the Dean of the John Hopkins University School of Medicine. I titled my article that accompanied the interview: The Future of Research. I will republish the article and audio recording of the interview as soon as possible. In fact, I will republish my April 2008 article The Future of Research very soon. If I recall correctly, he appeared to have stepped down as president because of me. He announced that he would be resigning just when I presented to him the interview opportunity. We were friends, no question. Unfortunately, I have had no contact with him since 2010 or so.

I introduce this article with this story because I recall talking to him – via his assistant – sometime after we did the interview, it was probably when he was heading up the Salk Institute in San Diego. He asked me, “Thomas, why didn't you go to medical school and get a PhD and join us?” I remember being sort of polite, but I do think I said something pretty outrageous. Typical of me? Well, to some degree it is. I told Brody that the reason I did not go to medical school and also get a PhD is because I do not waste my time hanging out with losers. He was not really taken aback by this answer. I explained my reasoning, and he agreed that I had a point. This is just the way things are. Brody and I were very friendly, he is very smart and very funny.

So it is a tough world. We all know that. Well, some of us do. The future of research. The future of the world is dependent on the future of research.

What is bottleneckanimal.com?

It is my attempt to launch a publishing technology devoted to science, in particular the biological sciences but not just the biological sciences. The line between life and those things in the universe that are not living is so not so clear. We hardly know anything about life and we hardly know anything about the physical world. Well, I am exaggerating a little, but not much. Yes, we have some knowledge, but it is obviously weak. Our knowledge is gained mostly from a practical application of theory. Trial and error. And a lot of serendipity. That's a fancy word for stumbling on the truth, discovering the truth that you did not seek to discover. I know it's a funny world.

The principal function and purpose of Bottleneck Animal – found on the net at bottleneckanimal.com – is to create new knowledge, better knowledge. To get rid of the stupid theory that we have. To undermine and wipe out the idiocy. I have succeeded already amazingly well at this task. The neurology guild has been wiped out – by me. I redefined what epilepsy is. Although I do not have formal recognition for this yet, it is certainly coming. There is considerable dismay and humiliation in the neurology guild that I have done this. It's not that these men are losers – yes they are – it's more that they are afraid of knowledge. Indeed, they are not really interested in science, they are more interested in posing as scientists. I have also wiped out the psychiatry guild. My role in wiping out this “science” is as yet unclear, but I know it is mostly me. My friend Thomas S. Szasz (1920-2012) preceded me by many years, if not decades. I do not recall when I last spoke to Szasz. It was probably around 2009. I recall reading Szasz's books and arguments when I was a teenager. So bottleneckanimal.com has been pretty powerful and it's just beginning.

I came up with the name one day, in 2019. Actually on July 4, 2019. I remember the day well. Any why? Because my wife, born in Paris, was intending to go walk on Pelican Loop in Bodega Harbour [Bodega Bay, CA] that day. Had she done that she probably would be either dead or gravely injured. Israeli intelligence had planned to assassinate her. She would have been run over by Betai Koffi, an African from West Africa who spoke French. I recently spent more than 4 hours with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have no doubt that it was an Israeli hit on my wife. I am certain the FBI realizes it, too. Anyway, I conceived bottleneckanimal.com on that day. I had realized that the human mammal was mostly a function of “population bottlenecks” – not just several in our history but very likely a fair number of them.

We are looking at the force of adaptation. That's what life is all about. Adaptation, to survive, and not just survive but to flourish, to dominate. Genetic material wants to perpetuate itself – and dominate. Questions like why are not really useful. Just give up on that. We got to figure out the mechanics first.

Apparently there are some 4 means to achieve adaptation:

Larmarckian or epigenetic evolution [Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]: now called “epigenetics” this is essentially the phenomenon of life's information code making an effort at doing adaptation at the genetic level. To put it simply, this is where “acquired traits get passed on to subsequent generations.” Epigenetic evolution might be described as immediate adaptation.

Darwinian evolution [Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace]: “while Charles Darwin is most famously associated with the theory of evolution, he co-discovered the mechanism of evolution by natural selection with Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace independently developed his theory around the same time, and they jointly presented their findings.” This is adaptation that is relentless but slow. Happens over the centuries. Animal life, or forms of life, that cannot adapt disappear, they go extinct. Called “evolution by natural selection.” Only the genetic material that survives is passed on to future generations. Most “species” go extinct, this has been the case in history. Perhaps some 99% of all species in history have gone extinct. “It's estimated that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct, according to PBS. This means that out of all the plants, animals, and other organisms that have lived throughout Earth's history, only a tiny fraction still exists today.” Darwinian evolution might be described as gradual adaptation.

“Spontaneous creation” evolution: this is very poorly understood but there is some evidence it does take place. New forms of life are created. Maybe this is creation from non-life, but most scientists do not believe this. I tend to think this is likely, but as yet there is little evidence that this can happen. But we can safely assume that this does happen. It's a total mystery, to be sure. Nonetheless, it is an attempt to pass genetic material into the future, to future life forms and future generations. Spontaneous creation evolution might be described as the ultimate in adaptation.

“Population bottleneck” evolution: “A population bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population, often due to environmental events or human activities. This event can lead to a significant loss of genetic diversity, making the remaining population more vulnerable to future challenges.” I disagree that the loss of genetic diversity can be a problem; in some cases it does raise the risk of failure and extinction, but in the case of the human mammal it has proved to be extraordinarily successful. This is my theory. There is no other way to explain the very rapid success and power of the human mammal. Now, it is possible even likely that only the Cro-Magnon human mammal are homo sapiens. The other human mammals on Earth are indeed human in some basic respect, the brain, but they are not likely to be really homo sapiens. Their brain power is not really all that great – not like the Western man, Cro-Magnon. For the human, the build out of genetic material, the diversity of genetic material, is nothing short of stunning and phenomenal. This happens in such a stunning way, it is almost hard to believe. Then there is a violent cutback. I would estimate that some 90% of the animals perish. There are a number of mammals where this has been clearly the case. So it's not just the human mammal. But we have really benefited the most from this life force. That's why we dominate to the extent we do – which is almost beyond belief. No other animal on Earth can match us. We are totally dominant. We kill any animal we want. Very few other mammals can match us in killing power. Population bottleneck evolution might be described as powerful adaptation.

All of this is happening because of the structure of the brain, the nervous system. That's why I have devoted myself to “neuroscience” and studying the brain, the mammal brain. And that's why this effort is called on the net bottleneckanimal.com.

Medical and science guilds will be demolished, of course. They are now being undermined and demolished – by new knowledge. Russian scientists and Chinese scientists are going to help me. We will make impressive progress, I predict. Schools will be shut down. Courts will be shut down. We will have civil law, but hardly any criminal law. We will have no schools, though we might still have something like universities. Artificial intelligence will serve as the foundation for this new and more vigorous quest for knowledge – science.

Our goal: understand the brain as an information processing organ or phenomenon of life.

Another important goal: understand genetic material as the more rudimentary [and first to appear] information processing phenomenon of life.

My practical aim is to make this the world's preeminent science journal, in particular biological science. I do not have any agenda other than getting the truth. And yes it's a debate, a very exciting debate. As Robert Fisher MD PhD told me in April 2016, “this is the thrill of science.”