Human Ascent - An Introduction

Human Ascent: Evolution Through Love, Not Survival

Evolution is not a story of animals fighting, feeding, and surviving. It is a story of inner transformation.

The central focus of Human Ascent is intelligence — what it is, how it increases, and why human intelligence differs so profoundly from that of other animals.

When we examine the broad phases of insects, reptiles, birds, monotremes, marsupials, mammals, and finally humans, we certainly observe different physical forms. I suggest that beneath these physical changes lies a deeper developmental process: the expansion of emotional attachment. As emotional attachment increases, intelligence increases. New life forms emerge as increasing emotional attachment reshapes physical form and intelligence.

Thus, life forms change physically, but these physical changes are expressions of increasing emotional attachment and expanding intelligence.

This introduces a new and unfamiliar way of thinking. The current biological view is that random genetic mutations, combined with recombination through sexual reproduction and shaped by natural selection, gradually alter life forms over generations. I assert that the primary developmental shift occurs at the level of emotional attachment, which is then expressed physically and cognitively.

Life forms often remain physically stable for millions of years. During this time, however, emotional attachment continues to increase beneath the surface. When that increasing level of attachment can no longer be adequately expressed through the existing physical form, change occurs rapidly, in bursts. Physical bodies then change as gene expression and biological structures shift to accommodate this new level of emotional attachment. With each new level of attachment, intelligence also increases. 

I understand that this suggests genetics may change in a directional manner, which contrasts with current evolutionary thinking. Yet consider the physical presentation of life forms today: insects, reptiles, birds, monotremes, marsupials, mammals, primates, and humans. Across these forms, there is a continuous physical expression of increasing care and attachment toward offspring. The progression is visible not only behaviourally but also physically — from abandonment of offspring to protection, brooding, feeding, milk production, touch, affection, and finally the deep psychological attachment seen in humans.

Human Ascent describes three levels of intelligence:

Instinctual intelligence

Biological intelligence

Psychological intelligence

Many animals exhibit various forms of biological intelligence; only humans possess psychological intelligence.

The transition from animal to human is the most profound phase of evolution. This change expands emotional attachment from biological to psychological intelligence. This single emotional change explains all our uniquely human characteristics, including bipedal motion, opposing thumbs, language, self-awareness, innovation, possessions and ownership, attention to detail, insatiable desire, and our extraordinary capacity for risk-taking and imagination.

Before becoming a psychologist, I was a police officer for 15 years. I worked in general duties, criminal investigations, the drug squad, the bureau of criminal intelligence, and, in my final years, as a prosecutor. Because of my experience in law enforcement, I look for evidence; it is what I do naturally.

My challenge is specifically whether current evolutionary frameworks adequately explain the directional behavioural trajectory observed across evolution, particularly the progressive increase in emotional attachment, dependency, and psychological complexity.

I believe that when biology, genetics, anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience come together — not to reinforce existing explanations, but to table the recurring anomalies and unresolved observations that each discipline confronts — a new 21st-century evolutionary framework emerges through collective problem-solving.

I cannot do anything further than relate how I see the evolutionary process. I do believe that the explanations presented in Human Ascent — emotional attachment, psychological intelligence, and the unique human condition — provide greater insight into both the natural world and our own lives.

📘 Read the full theory in Human Ascent by psychologist Henry Gobus

Available now on Apple Books, Google Play Books, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Watch the full video presentation here