evolution and the human race

[ruffryder]

How important do you guys think evolution is to the human race? It seems to me, technology is getting in the way (or rather changing the definition) of survival of the fittest. How far is too far, in the use of technology to preserve ones life and to allow procreation?

I am not talking selective breading, well maybe I am. I wonder if you could breed out a lot of issues with the human body? I know that some of them are hereditary...

I don't know, just a random thought for the day I guess.

 

[CatWoman]

Good question! Does make one wonder at times........like being kept on life support forever when someone is a vegetable with no brain activity at all.

Or that unmarried gal that had how many babies (can't remember now), and already had kids....lived with her Mother.

 

[POLZIN]

Ruffy I think you mean natural selection not evolution! But i do agree whole heartedly that technology has allowed the weak minded/bodied to survive where they ordinarilly would not. In my opinion people should have to get a licencse to breed and we should let the sick and old pass as nature intended.

Not to fear though( unless you are the weak or the stupid ) MOM is gonna fix it all soon! 2012,biblical plague , or whatever our species has enjoyed a very peaceful and prosperous time on this planet and I believe nature while right the balance soon.

 

[ruffryder]

Ruffy I think you mean natural selection not evolution!

I think natural selection is a FORM of evolution, there are many different ways we evolve..

But i do agree whole heartedly that technology has allowed the weak minded/bodied to survive where they ordinarilly would not. In my opinion people should have to get a licencse to breed and we should let the sick and old pass as nature intended.

I agree from a human race stand point, but as a son to my parents, that can be hard to deal with. My grandma had quadruple bypass and lived 6 more years. They were some pretty good years IMO. Not sure I could tell her no, she needs to die. Though that example really has nothing to do with evolution, because her genes have passed already to her children and their children.

Not to fear though( unless you are the weak or the stupid ) MOM is gonna fix it all soon! 2012,biblical plague , or whatever our species has enjoyed a very peaceful and prosperous time on this planet and I believe nature while right the balance soon.

Should be a heck of a party..

 

[POLZIN]

I think natural selection is a FORM of evolution, there are many different ways we evolve..

I would say its a produt rather than a part but definetly debatable.

I agree from a human race stand point, but as a son to my parents, that can be hard to deal with. My grandma had quadruple bypass and lived 6 more years. They were some pretty good years IMO. Not sure I could tell her no, she needs to die. Though that example really has nothing to do with evolution, because her genes have passed already to her children and their children.

I feel ya my dad has terminal cancer (Doctor says) There are no easy answers where nature and humanity meet.

Should be a heck of a party..

I plan on making the best of it !





xxx

 

[xrated]

I'd say technology changes 100 percent what the theory of evolution is based upon and how we learned it. It is now a new form....good or bad I dunno.

 

[Pinner]

How important do you guys think evolution is to the human race? It seems to me, technology is getting in the way (or rather changing the definition) of survival of the fittest.

Don't forget it was our intelligence that got us out of the cave...

 

[woodzy]

Don't forget it was our intelligence that got us out of the cave...

and our ignorance that will put us back in it.

 

[winter brew]

Isn't all the technology a product of our evolution??
What else would you use to measure "evolution" of humans besides the complexity of things we are able to create?

 

[POLZIN]

and our ignorance that will put us back in it.

Dont forget heaping loads of arogance as well!Take climate change for example. The arogance it takes to believe we even truly understand the process' at work is astonishing let alone those who think we can control it. It makes my head hurt thinking about it .

 

[snowmobiler]

survival of the richest

 

[ruffryder]

Isn't all the technology a product of our evolution??
What else would you use to measure "evolution" of humans besides the complexity of things we are able to create?

Well, look at sickness and disease. Why did the American Indians get wiped out? Part of it was their weak immune system. Whites have had many diseases and have become immune, as the sick ones have died off and were unable to reproduce and pass the weak genes on. If we use technology to keep these people alive and to allow them to reproduce, then it would seem reasonable that their offspring would be dependent on the same technology as well.

Another example would be how we evolved to eat meat.

I don't know if I would classify technology with evolution. I think of evolution as a change in a species, to adapt to its surroundings / challenges.

Technology, our technology, are our tools. I look at them as separate. Though, I guess you could argue that our technology evolves as well. I don't know where that would put us though..

Don't forget it was our intelligence that got us out of the cave...

true, but as a species, the human race, an over reliance on technology will only fest an over reliance on technology for future generations. Is this really what we want?

Like people that can't see. If we didn't have glasses, then eventually the only people that would be alive would be people with good eye sight. If we didn't have medicine, then eventually the only people that would be alive would be people with strong immune systems. Or stupid people, if the hospitals didn't save people that got in accidents, maybe there would be less people that get into accidents?

Though, trying to draw a line stating that it is for the betterment of our species seems rather cold, but isn't that just ignorance?

 

[woodzy]

So based on your last two paragraphs, you would be against the health insurance that is coming correct? Or are you just stating that to state it? Maybe you lost me....

The human race as a species has thrived well enough to overpopulate the planet.

 

[ruffryder]

So based on your last two paragraphs, you would be against the health insurance that is coming correct? Or are you just stating that to state it? Maybe you lost me....

I don't know if I would say that.. If we are going to have a system, a working one is better then one that doesn't. Though that is a different topic. I am not sure where I would draw my line, how big can the line be? ha ha

The human race as a species has thrived well enough to overpopulate the planet.

Agreed, using technology as a crutch though. We tend to look to technology to solve all our problems, when most of them were started from technology anyways. Look at pollution. It isn't from people, it is from people using technology. Chemicals are the same. Technology allows us to increase production of farm fields, while reducing the sustainability of the fields at the same time.

IMO, technology is not the answer and never will be.

 

[woodzy]

IMO, technology is not the answer and never will be.

Do you think the world would be a better place had technology never come along?

 

[ruffryder]

Do you think the world would be a better place had technology never come along?

I use to think that, but I think that answer is a cop out. Technology is inherently neutral. It is people and their use / misuse of it that make things good or bad. Also, I would say making fire is technology, and since I like to stay warm, I am not completely against it.

I haven't answered your question, and I do not know that answer. Human beings have been around for almost 200k years. It hasn't been until the last 2k years or so that we have become so dependent upon technology.

I do see us or rather have seen us as a race becoming slaves to technology. Look at electricity, can't do anything these days with out it. Gasoline is the same. Yet, these things weren't even around 100 years or so.

I see that I spend a lot of my life working to pay for technology that allows me to live my life. Seems that there is a lot of wasted energy being used up in the technology circle.

Maybe a better question would be, Do I think we would be better off if our reliance upon technology was reduced? I would say yes to that.

That still wasn't any closer to an answer was it....

 

[V-Man]

The human race as a species has thrived well enough to overpopulate the planet.

Cities are crowded and I hate them, however I don't think the world is over populated yet.

To help put it into perspective: Give every single human being on the face of this earth 1,200sq ft of property and they'll all fit in Texas.

 

[V-Man]

Name that tune:

Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding
The cretins cloning and feeding
And I don't even own a TV

 

[mold]

Do you think the world would be a better place had technology never come along?

I believe we still would have lost our tails, with or without technology.

Several thousand years ago we couldn't even spell Pithecanthropus Erectus or Zinjanthropus Abbey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXWRWMjwQg

 

[ruffryder]

Cities are crowded and I hate them, however I don't think the world is over populated yet.

To help put it into perspective: Give every single human being on the face of this earth 1,200sq ft of property and they'll all fit in Texas.

Maybe so, but how much land is required to clothe, feed, and provide for that person?

According to this site, it is a quarter of an acre.. so about 9 times as much space as your example above, just for food. How much land for durable goods I wonder? like clothes, tools, all the stuff we have now?