On Aug 17, 2008, at 4:58 PM, Alberto Vieira Ferreira Monteiro wrote: > And yet, if _we_ are right (i.e., Evolution rulez), then _we_ are mad, > because it seems that believing in nonsense is a reproductive > advantage...
When the belief system itself is a meme which demands conceiving large numbers of children and raising them entirely within the meme's influence, by force if necessary, that by definition is a reproductive advantage, and rationality and awareness of the fragility of the environment our species depends on for its survival become disadvantages. The mad ones will win, at least up to the point where they themselves cannot survive on the planet they've made uninhabitable .. "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- attributed to Lazarus Long by Robert A. Heinlein _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
