I had to scroll a long way for an intelligent contribution! https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/prehistoric-viruses-and-the-function-of-the-brain/ https

I had to scroll a long way for an intelligent contribution! https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/prehistoric-viruses-and-the-function-of-the-brain/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/prehistoric-virus... I also wonder if and to what extent this information can transfer between individuals? I'm reminded of the Jungian collective unconscious. You're going to think I'm a kook now, but, there's also a panspermia angle on this. Big ifs here, but. If panspermia is true. If evolution on earth is tied to evolution of life in the wider universe via transfer of genetic material. Then it could be possible that the code in which memories (or a learned manifold, encoding useful generalisation) are encoded is compatible with life here today. You could conceivably get not just morphological/physiological changes in terrestrial organisms through viral horizontal gene transfer, but also transfer of cognitive strategy via the same mechanism. X-files kinda stuff. All kind of unlikely, but an interesting possibility.