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Originally Posted by reverie
Evolution is a very complex and dynamic subject matter. It involves much more than genetics and reproduction. For if the sole purpose of Evolution was just to reproduce, humans would not have gotten or care to have gotten to where we are today. There would be no technology because there would be no need for it in the evolutionary process and there would even be no Science, because there would be no need for it. No advanced societies , no spiritual organizations. etc etc. All of it would've been futile and ignored by the Human Agenda if it was soley about passing on genetics.
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actually, contrary to popular belief, evolution is quite simple and makes perfect sense. its very predictable...
i said humans were different than non-human animals because they have defeated non kin conflicts of interest which allowed brain expansion and kinship independent co-operation. so yes, they are different in that they THINK abstractly about things and produce art and culture, in this sense we are unique, i have said this from the beginning.
you are still caught up on the this one statement which is merely a factual foundation for proving the rest of theory i provided, which i have already repeated in this thread and other threads so i am just being redundant.
as i have said before you can subjectively think your sole purpose is whatever you want it to be, but for the sake of making a scientific theory about human evolution you have to go on facts. and the FACT IS that animal behavior is driven by the sole purpose of an organism to pass on its genetic information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Legal lies
Huh? Technology allowed humans to become more likely to survive, thus increasing the odds that individuals will pass on their DNA. Ditto with science. Ex. Guns allow us to defend ourselves against animals, hunt more successfully than ever before, etc.
Science allows us to overcome disease (childhood deaths have been vastly reduced and these individuals will now survive to pass on their genes), predict natural disasters, etc.
I'm not sure I disagree with all of your underlying points, but technology and science fit very well into evolutionary theory.
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you are under-estimating the implications of guns and projectile weapons. the ability to project co-ersive threat is the driving for for human evolution and adaptive revolution.
i have explained this before and i still feel like a jackass for repeating myself for the 100th time, but i will sum it up in the simplest way possible, by the way this is an overview of human history predicted and proven by the theory that human uniqueness is driven by our active suppression of non-kin conflicts of interest using coersive threat. this is all proven by archaelogical evidence which i wont go into detail , im learnin it in school and i find it extremely interesting so i know it really well:
1st) human ancestor evolved ability for elite throwing, this made them very good hunters and ecologically dominant but they were still basically behaving like apes for the most part. this creature quickly evolves the physiology for speech because with the ability with elite throwing, comes suppression of non-kin conflicts of interest. to elaborate on this with simpler terms, when you have the ability to throw you can easily kill anyone who tries to go against you. therefore people form small non-kin groups and start working together. in the animal word this never happens because animals are always in competition with non-kin for resources and mates.
2nd) the atlatl is invented. a tool which allows a spear to be projected at high velocity. humans become "behaviorally modern" even though they are not physiologically different. rapidly after the atatl other tools such as handaxes and more complex cutting stones show up. the atlatl is better at projecting co-ersive threat therefore it forces people to co-operate with each other on a larger scale. this is the period of time when humans out-compete the neanderthal, the neanderthal was physiologically similiar but the key factor is that the neanderthal does not have the atlatl
3rd) the bow shows up in the fossil record. small sedentary towns form and shortly after agriculture. the bow allows anyone to use lethal force if neccesary.
4th) the bronze age. small civilizations and empires start forming. the majority of people are slaves and peasants whom are dominated by an elite group of bronze weapon and armor carrying elite.
5th) the iron age. iron is much more plentiful than bronze as well as stronger. weapons like the katana (although iron doesnt reach japan until about 800 years after iron technology is invented in turkey) can be made which are vastly superior, as well as iron armor. almost instantaneously all bronze age empires collapse and new empires form. This is the period of the roman empire, a similiar empire occurs in china, in japan and in the americas the incans, mayans, and aztecs have an extremely advanced society based on their own warrior class which predominantly uses cotton armor. to note the fact that these societies relied on coersive threat keep in mind that the romans were extremely brutal and they constantly killed people in the colloseum so that the citizens could see what would happen if they stepped out of line (coersive threat eh?), likes the south american civilizations were famous for their sacrifices of living humans ontop of huge pyramids while all the peasants were watching.
6th) the invention of the flintlock, the idea of the modern state arises. The imperial state emerges and all the states with guns basically start invading each other and conquering whomever doesnt have guns. guns are said to be a "democratizing" weapon because almost anyone can use a guns. think about the foundation of the united states and the "right to bear arms"? coincidence? why are woman given equal rights? is it a coincidence that a woman could theoretically fire a gun just as well as a man? however ultimately the elite aristocracy of the government still has the ultimate ability to use lethal force and our entire society is contingent on the fact that if you misbehave in any way you, there are police and military to kill you.
To sum up: with the invention of each novel weapon, humans are better at suppressing non-kin conflicts of interest and larger groups of more elite warriors go around killing and conquering other groups of less elite warriors. when you have a larger pool of individuals combining their skills and knowledge you allow for innovation and the spread of technologies. in the animal world no information is spread because non-kin are all in competition with each other.
IN my opinion: culture is just a product of a society and tradition. therefore we just mimic what we see around us, and occasionally novel ideas arise and we pass on that information. humans are extremely impressionable, there have been studies where you could teach children certain false or rascist ideas, like for example, people with green eyes are bad, and those children will literally start hating people with green eyes and making up all problems that are wrong with people with green eyes. just like if you raised catholic you will believe in catholicism even though that culture was rooted in a brutal archaic state :P people will rationalize anything even if it completely wrong ;P just like ziplock is so certain that he knows everything
in my opinion all religions are bullshit made up for people to rationalize their lives. in most cases religion was used in archaic states as excuses for brutally killing certain groups of people, or for manipulating people in one way or another.
science and technological innovation could have only existed in a world where non-kin conflicts of interest were suppressed... HENCE the fact that our minds do not make us unique, it is our novel weaponry :P some animals have large brains very similiar to ours , as well as vocal chords which could easily speak some sort of language, yet they do not...