Keith Hudson wrote: > Every single lifeform acts to preserve its genetic code more than anything > else. In primate societies, rank order is the main device that has evolved > for the selection of sexual partners. It's as basic and important as that.
Keith's obsession with the stone age reminds me of an "argument" against vegetarianism that one hears occasionally: "The hunter-gatherers weren't vegetarians, so it's natural to eat meat, so we shouldn't be vegetarians either." This ignores that the hunter-gatherers ate meat not out of choice, but because they didN'T have a choice (if they wanted to survive). It also ignores all the changes in the production&processing of meat that occurred since the stone age, and the environmental & health implications of these vast changes (e.g. erosion and water pollution from animal factories, overfishing, differences in content of fat & hormones between factory-farming meat and wild animal meat), as well as the societal changes (sedentary lifestyle, occupational&enviro exposures leading to obesity and cancers when combined with eating factory-farming meat). The result of these vast changes is that the stone-age proponents' conclusion is simply wrong -- what was right in the stone age is no longer right today -- today it's better to do the opposite: Not only can we afford the "luxury" of a nourishing & diverse vegetable diet, but it has even become the only sustainable diet. Similarly, Keith's mantra that "free" trade and societal darwinism must be good because the hunter-gatherers did it, ignores the vast changes that have happened since the stone age, thus coming to the wrong conclusion. Not only can we afford the "luxury" of culture and altruistic cooperation, but it has even become the only sustainable way of life. Because the "dog eat dog" rat-race to the bottom leads just there. So it's time to get over the stone age before we're back there! Chris PS: To be consistent, Keith should stop using a computer -- after all, the hunter-gatherers didn't use computers either, so using them must be wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
