Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Evolution!
The Evolution readings are also meant to draw a line between humans and every other species. A lot of them have been challenging common ideas we have on humanity. I think we often think that we are an alien species compared to the other animals, like Hauser suggests in “Origins of the Mind”, but the readings have led me to understand that we are earthling animals like the others and are subject to evolution just as much everyone else. At first I thought that this view would be dehumanizing, but I realized it actually might have an opposite effect. I think that if we understood our common human condition- that we have evolved to our current complex form from a common ancestry and we are basically at the whim of this natural law- I think we might understand each other better and realize we are in it together and don’t have to compete??? :^S Although natural selection is based on this competition within a species, I think we, at our current state of consciousness, may find it beneficial to cooperate. I think at this state in our evolution, the regular natural selection is mostly irrelevant, and an evolution in society and consciousness is more probable, which would be better helped by cooperation rather than competition. Jeff F.
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In response to Jeff's post, I would agree that humans need to realize their own common lineage and experience, however they have been conditioned to do otherwise. I am talking about the prevailing social structure that we are familiar with, Capitalism and the monetary system. People need to realize this system of materialism is immature and out-dated. In the current system, the winners would seem to be the power elite; the stockbrokers, the bankers, the wealthy elite. This is the mindset that needs to be changed. The "me first" attitude that separates people into little boxes and categories.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds corny, but WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY to make life on the planet so much better for everyone. We are living in an important, pivotal moment in history. We are at the point when we have the technology to provide universal healthcare for free, to feed every mouth in the country, to create efficient and sustainable government-run energy. For free!
It sounds silly yes, but it is possible. A resource-based system would run by itself for the good of the people. When every job is automated by machines, there will be no more point in working. People will have more time to socialize, learn, and spread the doctrine of peace. No more children dying in third world countries, from common, preventable diseases. Cooperation, Peace, and Open-Mindedness are the foundations of this new evolutionary society. Reminds me of Dawkins' Telescopic Evolution argument. When everything is abundant, scarcity and competition are no longer needed; people can work together and march into the 21st Century with a common cause (which we can call Peace :)
It's not perfect, but I have yet to here any better ideas...
The Venus Project.
-Evan T.
p.s. If anyone wants to talk more about this, follow me on twitter @etoloff
Evan:
ReplyDeleteI took a peek at the Venus Project. It all seems very good, but similar plans have been suggested before. Communism started out as an incredibly rational sounding idea. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." It's when rational Utopian idealism hits the reality of human irrationality that the trouble begins. I think it is helpful to point out the huge gap between what we are capable of accomplishing and that which we actually realize... but I think it is naive and perhaps dangerous to this solution can be imposed upon people. If it's not a top down imposed solution, it must happen through education and political action.
Hi! so i have yet to find the 'post a comment' button that doesnt need to attach to anyone elses. So, this is not a response but non the less-->
ReplyDeleteI found the recent reading about Language to be extremely interesting and insightful! Unfortunately, my Human Nature book seems to have found its way into my roommate’s car, who is not here, so i cannot recall the name of the reading, but i remember many things about it. I specifically liked the part where it explained common language mistakes. For example, the speaker said "piss and stress" instead of "pitch and stretch". This mishap happens to me all the time. What is happening is that we are getting ahead of ourselves in our speaking. When constructing a sentence we not only speak the words, but we are planning the entire sentence before we say it! This causes the silly mistakes by putting letters we're about to say right into the word we're speaking at that instant. We get ahead of ourselves without even consciously doing so!
Another part of the reading was saying how monkeys, apes, etc. cannot choke. I found this particularly bizarre. Strange how we've given up one advantage (not choking) for the ability to better form words and vocalize.
Basically, really enjoyed this one. It was filled with so many random facts (like how the brain goes grey after death) and it really made me think about the ways that we've evolved to better our language.
-Emily Bowles