An opening post

[fendymc]

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think that it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly coloured, and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long

Comments

[whatdeadline]

The only reason natural selection is no longer at work in the human population is because what used to be weaknesses aren't weaknesses anymore. And what isn't a weakness isn't harmful, either; it isn't helpful, sure, but it no longer affects our ability to survive. For instance, I'm near-sighted, but because this doesn't hinder my ability to obtain food, shelter, or offspring, being near-sighted no longer harms me, or any of the other near-sighted individuals in the population. So it isn't counterproductive to the species at all.

Actually, I wouldn't even go so far as to say that there is no natural selection in humans anymore, either; but evolution takes a long time, and the bigger the population, the longer it takes. How long will it take before one human is born with an immunity to a life-threatening disease, just because their DNA is 'a little bit off' in one or a few or a dozen sequences? If they have children, the trait may be passed on, and so on. If that particular disease starts killing off others, these humans will survive; they will become a larger percentage of the population, the trait will be passed on more quickly, and eventually, they're all that's left, because everyone else is dead.

So what we really need now is a giant, world-spanning plague, if we want to give our evolution a little jump-start. But, until then, the species isn't any weaker than it was to start with. Stronger, depending on how you look at it, because the more we reproduce, the more chance there is for that one freak child with the immunity, right?

"Do you think the same thing will happen on a more psychological level, with, for example, greed?"

Hasn't it already begun just a little bit? How many dolphins, or dogs, or even any other primates, do you hear of that have committed suicide? So far as I know (although, to be honest, I know very little), humans are the only living creatures that willingly take their own lives, for no other reason than they simply do not want to live. The complete opposite of your greed concept; having the choice of living longer, to add our genes to the pool, but instead choosing to end our life, voluntarily.

Do you think that might be what most people would do, once they figure out that it's all just a ride?

[stampeding_vash]

"So what we really need now is a giant, world-spanning plague, if we want to give our evolution a little jump-start."

i dont see how tat would give us a jump start, just becuase we all become immune some disease doesnt necessarily mean we will evolve in other ways, right?

"Do you think that might be what most people would do, once they figure out that it's all just a ride?"

for some people, i wouldnt be surprise. personally, i know its all a ride. i know that nothing i do here really matters, so i just think to myself "what do i want to matter?" the answer for me is enlightenment. the main purpose i live is to learn and be enlightened. i know theres np point to it, but i enjoy it.

[whatdeadline]

The process of becoming immune to the disease IS evolution. Right now, we are prolonging the lives of people with things that are harmful to the species; if this made-up disease were to appear that couldn't be treated, that no matter what medical technologies we used, could not prolong the life of the people who had it, and the trait "I can catch this disease" will not be passed on to offspring. The trait "I am immune to this disease" would have a much better chance of being passed on, however.

Evolution is just a by-product of natural selection. I was just trying to make the point that the only way to have natural selection work on a world-wide scale for humans is to have, basically, something that really harms us. If something harms us, those who adapt survive best, and those who survive best pass on this abilitity to survive to more offspring than those who don't survive.

"for some people, i wouldnt be surprise. personally, i know its all a ride. i know that nothing i do here really matters, so i just think to myself "what do i want to matter?" the answer for me is enlightenment. the main purpose i live is to learn and be enlightened. i know theres np point to it, but i enjoy it."

I think that sounds like a really good way to see things. :)

[stampeding_vash]

i see what you mean, but what im saying is we may evolve to be immune to this disease, but that doesnt necessarily mean we will be jumpstarted into evolving in other ways.

and thanks^_^ that way of looking at things make life a lot easier

[communico]

Who's to say evolution or intellegent design?