Crummy night -- we just had a layoff at work (I made the cut but some
very good people didn't). So the tone of this may be a little downbeat.
PHILIP WINESTONE wrote:
LOL!!!! I empathize... in all respects.
"Does that make us a self-evolving species?" I dunno.
Humans "evolving" -- hah. Let's think about this a little.
"Evolving" means changing over time, but it implies no value judgement.
Tapeworms /evolved/ to get where they are. Of course, you absolutely
must accept the notion that major traits -- such as intelligence and
physical prowess (OK, pick nits, there are nuances to both of those) --
have their parameters determined by genetics rather than being totally,
100% plastic and controlled entirely by the environment; otherwise the
whole issue vanishes in the mist. (You'd also better be willing to drop
vacuous notions like "all men are created equal" -- define "equal",
define "created", and then we can talk about ways of testing the assertion.)
Classic Darwinian evolution results when there's /selection pressure/ of
some sort at work. What sort of selection pressure is at work on humans?
"Selection pressure" => creatures with some particular set of traits
have more offspring which grow up than creatures with different traits.
What "selection pressure" might exist for modern humans?
Which groups have more offspring?
Which groups have fewer offspring?
Is it possible that there is any genetic basis at work in determining
who is a member of which group?
What can we conclude from that?
C. M. Kornbluth asked these questions quite some decades ago, and came
up with an answer which still looks pretty plausible. And I'll let my
comments go at that. (I expect Jones will catch the reference, even if
nobody else does...)
Depending on
your standpoint, the whole thing could be meaningless. For example, if
you know something about the Dalai Lama's background, where would you
place him in the species?
How many children does the Dalai Lama have? If he doesn't have any,
then he's out of the running -- in the long view of things, he doesn't
count.
Saddam Hussein doesn't count, either -- his "line" got dead-ended.
That guy who worked in a sperm bank and substituted his own semen for
the stuff he was supposed to be handing out, now -- HE counts for a LOT;
he's an example of an extremely successful creature.
