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Originally Posted by tedkennedy
yea but if you go back to what i was explaining in the first place, i was explaining non-human animal behavior and how non-human animals behave precisely as vehicles for passing on genetic information because they haven't defeated non-kin conflicts of interest, which humans have.
humans can subjectively have different goals (or at least think they have different goals) but in terms of a species and evolution and the context of what i was trying to explain, reproductive success is basically still the ultimate goal.
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Many animals who are non-kin of and not of the same species exist mutually without conflict. Elephants and birds, have a mutually understood and appreciated relationship with one another, one providing food and the other acting as an alert system. Dogs befriend other dogs upon meeting or even upon the introduction into the home environment. Both of these are not acts of sexual or reproductive concern.
Evolution and the success of a species involves many aspects in life. It involves pretty much everything in regard to that specific species. Because, what is evolution? It is growth and adaption to external things within that growth. So whatever can grow is a part of that process - physical growth, mental growth, linguistic growth, philosophical growth etc etc. Yes that means there are different contexts of relation, which simply means its all that harder to define what is the single
sole goal to that process/species. Is there even an ultimate one? Could one not say they all play into each other in a mutually benefiting balance? For if it wasn't for the evolution of hunting and gathering, the human could not evolve the reproductive aspect because they would die off before that could happen.
So yes, reproduction is an important goal..but it is not the sole purpose because there are other phenomenons in place that make or allow for the others to happen. Take a look at romantic interest now.. If one does not find the one they'd like to settle down with that may very well mean they will never have kids. So now instead of the goal being reproducing, the goal is finding a complimentary spouse to allow that to happen. Some individuals could even care less for children, ever. We are far evolved beyond the point of survivalistic interests, we are complex emotional beings who find meaning on a relative scale. And since we find that meaning on a relative scale that determines where we allocate our focus. If we dont care about future generations, and keeping our species going..we wont. For example, why do people not take action to improve our environment? Because their concern is with their own current life, and what is most efficient for them. Where making attempts to improve the environment would have a great impact on the fruitfulness of their future offspring's life and survival. This shows our species operates on a basis that is less survivalistic and more emotional/ self concerning.