Butters 0 #26 August 7, 2008 QuoteQuoteI'm just trying to understand how you can believe that life is about adapting (evolving) to survive and replicate and then complain that a group that isn't adapting (evolving) is being taken over by a group that is adapting (evolving). I guess its because I have some understanding of evolution as an explanation of the biological sciences VS the institutions and relationships people construct with one another.... which is to say evolution has nothing to do with this conversation. Evolution from a biological point of view has nothing to do with this conversation. Evolution from a theoretical point of view has everything to do with this conversation. After all, from a theoretical point of view, evolution is about adapting (evolving) to survive and replicate. Institutions, relationships, etc... are constructed to increase the odds of survival and replication."That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #27 August 7, 2008 And now we've gone from a terrorist attack in China to a discussion of evolution. Thread drift is an amazing thing... I guess that's evolution too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,120 #28 August 7, 2008 >How do you know that compassion isn't a by-product of evolution? It is, to a large degree. Not all evolutionary changes are advantageous to an individual's survival (i.e. peacock tails) but some help a given society and thus help to preserve a gene pool. >For you, life is not "about" evolving. That doesn't mean that life is >not "about" evolving for others. True. To a biologist, their life might well center around evolution and its implications for biology. But individual organisms do not evolve; only populations do. >We didn't stop evolving, we changed how we're evolving. I'll give you that. It would be more accurate to say that we stopped evolving towards survival of the fittest, and now have many other (often societal) evolutionary drives. One, for example, is that being too stupid to know how to use birth control is now an evolutionary advantage. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ErricoMalatesta 0 #29 August 7, 2008 Quote Institutions, relationships, etc... are constructed to increase the odds of survival and replication. Darwinian evolution cannot be used as the sole basis for the analysis of social constructs like the economic framework and various institutional hierarchies. The idea is ridiculous and not worth discussing further please get over the 'evolution' obsession you have or actually go read a book about it. I would suggest starting with what constitutes a 'fact' in the hard sciences because... Quote It's not a fact, it's a theory. ...from the other thread is your first mistake of likely many. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyrad 0 #30 August 7, 2008 Quote And now we've gone from a terrorist attack in China to a discussion of evolution. Thread drift is an amazing thing... I guess that's evolution too. Well this did start out as a monkey of a threadWhen an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #31 August 7, 2008 QuoteQuote Institutions, relationships, etc... are constructed to increase the odds of survival and replication. Darwinian evolution cannot be used as the sole basis for the analysis of social constructs like the economic framework and various institutional hierarchies. The idea is ridiculous and not worth discussing further please get over the 'evolution' obsession you have or actually go read a book about it. I would suggest starting with what constitutes a 'fact' in the hard sciences because... While you may think it is ridiculous, I don't. I believe that humans adapted (evolved) to the point that other humans became the biggest threat to their survival and replication. At this point humans began creating ways (other than killing) to thrive amongst other humans ... QuoteQuote It's not a fact, it's a theory. ...from the other thread is your first mistake of likely many. This is merely a misunderstanding. I was referring to the "theory of evolution" (current scientific explanation of how changes came about) while others believe I was referring to the "fact of evolution" (the observed changes in populations of organisms over time)."That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
