Human evolution

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ladakh
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05 Aug 2006, 2:00 pm

Do we all agree that the most important part of human evolution is our mental capacity?

Vinzer
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05 Aug 2006, 2:37 pm

No. We need to evolve physically so that we have, like, wings and tails and stuff.

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TheMachine1
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05 Aug 2006, 2:43 pm

ladakh wrote:

Do we all agree that the most important part of human evolution is our mental capacity?

Yes we can,but evolution itself might just be happy if the human strain a billion
years from now is just a fungus growing on a dead log. It may sound impossible
but increased complexity is not needed for evolution only reproduction is needed.
If you do something 10 times smarter than the 100 smartest people who every lived
evolution will care a little. But if you have 10 kids evolution will give you a "high five".

ladakh
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05 Aug 2006, 3:32 pm

>>No. We need to evolve physically so that we have, like, wings and tails and stuff.<<

I don't know if you were kidding or not but I believe it's better to be smart(er) than grow wings or tails or fins or whatever... with increased knowledge, you can build stuff like artificial planes and submarines and spaceships.

>>Yes, but evolution itself might just be happy if the human strain a billion
years from now is just a fungus growing on a dead log.<<

I agree with you, provided the fungus we all evolve into has perceptual abilities and we have the capacity to communicate individually.

Next question. Do we all agree that the most important thing in the universe is intelligence?

TheMachine1
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05 Aug 2006, 4:23 pm

ladakh wrote:

Next question. Do we all agree that the most important thing in the universe is intelligence?

Yes I think so. Thats were my user name comes form TheMachine1 means
The Machine won. Evolution end game ends as my thread before stated one
super machine centered at the same physical point of the big bang. It does
all the calculations that every will be done in the last "days" to find a meaning.
Then either its truly the end or maybe it starts over. Maybe the last nano-second
the Machine learns "Oh this is not the first time and it will all happen again"

ladakh
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05 Aug 2006, 5:38 pm

Actually, I'd like to revise my own statement.

The most important thing in the universe is life.

Do we all agree that life pops up wherever it can, meaning not only is the Earth completly full of life but most of the universe has (or had or will have) life... that the entire universe is nothing but a factory that makes life? Anyone disagree?

TheMachine1
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05 Aug 2006, 5:49 pm

ladakh wrote:

Yeah but I include a self-replicating machine(SRM) as a life to. I think that SRM
would be a much faster evoling, much smarter , more flexible(on where it could
live). I think we are special for our time but we are not going to be whats at the
end. One single super organism made of all the available material in the universe.
Thats where it headed.

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05 Aug 2006, 8:02 pm

ladakh wrote:

Do we all agree that the most important part of human evolution is our mental capacity?

No, it was getting rid of our fur covering. just try to imagine trying to eat ice cream and sheding your fur into it. Ewww gross!! !! :lol:

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05 Aug 2006, 8:09 pm

ladakh wrote:

Do we all agree that life pops up wherever it can, meaning not only is the Earth completly full of life but most of the universe has (or had or will have) life... that the entire universe is nothing but a factory that makes life? Anyone disagree?

Statisticly, extra-terrestrial life is likely, but we'll likely never be able to reach it, and prove it.

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MagicMike
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05 Aug 2006, 8:38 pm

The ability to reproduce is the most important aspect of survival. It's why birds, mosquitoes, cockroaches, etc. are far more populous than elephants, monkeys, dolphins, etc. We as humans do OK mainly because we've killed off everything else that could threaten us...that and we do tend to screw alot.

MagicMike
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05 Aug 2006, 8:39 pm

TheMachine1
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05 Aug 2006, 8:41 pm

Scrapheap wrote:

ladakh wrote:

Do we all agree that the most important part of human evolution is our mental capacity?

No, it was getting rid of our fur covering. just try to imagine trying to eat ice cream and sheding your fur into it. Ewww gross!! !! :lol:

I have been gathering up all the dog poop in my backyard and putting it under
my young fruit trees. After the poop break down abit I see hair, lots of dog hair.
Its crazy how much hair a dog eats. Oh and my cat vomited a few days ago lets
not even go there yuck!! !!

ladakh
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05 Aug 2006, 9:42 pm

>>Statistically, extra-terrestrial life is likely, but we'll likely never be able to reach it, and prove it.<<

That was one of my points... ETs. Specifically, "Type 3 civilizations".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale

Let me give you an example. A type 3 civilization would have mastery over time. That is, they could go to any point in time and anywhere in the universe... in short, they have the ability to go anywhere, anytime.

Imagine such a being. They would land on Earth and dig up a dinosaur fossil. They'd be intrigued, so they'd carbon date (or whatever) the fossil, then go back in time to when it was alive to observe a specimen in its natural habitat, maybe even bring one home for some intergalactic zoo.

Such things are possible for type 3 civilizations. Well, if you were part of such a civilization, you could be anywhere, anytime and retrieve anything you wanted, if you wanted.

One of my points is: what would be the "Holy Grail" for such a culture of people? The ultimate carnivor? A living planet? Or the smartest man that ever lived? What is worth the most within the universe?

ladakh
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05 Aug 2006, 9:51 pm

>>The ability to reproduce is the most important aspect of survival. It's why birds, mosquitoes, cockroaches, etc. are far more populous than elephants, monkeys, dolphins, etc. We as humans do OK mainly because we've killed off everything else that could threaten us...that and we do tend to screw a lot.<<

With all due respect, "alot" is two words: "a lot". Sorry. Aspie rant.

Yes, the desire to reproduce MUST be the #1 priority for any living thing... it'd go extinct otherwise. This explains why male humans "peak" at 18 and females peak at 35... do the math- it prevents inbreeding which is bad for any species.

Let me ask you- which is more important for a human- the desire to continue to exist or the desire to propogate?

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05 Aug 2006, 9:52 pm

ladakh wrote:

Ah, something to take your mind off the deadline, eh?

The ultimate achievement for any civilisation, debatably, is to become a "god", not just power-wise, but also with wisdom and compassion. This, in itself, in my opinion, is impossible to achieve completely.

Elsewhere, it is important for the universe to have life, and even more so to have intelligence.

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Awesomelyglorious
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05 Aug 2006, 10:50 pm

I'd say that humanity's goal should be one of progress and spreading as far as possible. Now of course it is probably unlikely that we will get very far, however, it is probably the best goal we have. I wouldn't view success as anything to do with harnessing energy but rather on conquest and improvement.

Quatermass wrote:

How would we know whether or not wisdom and compassion would be the best thing? I mean, what defines wisdom? Our preconceived notions or our insights into how the world actually works? I mean, I can understand valuing the latter but not so much the former Why is compassion considered the virtue to strive for, why not ruthlessness, why not sloth? What if compassion is incompatible with wisdom? After all, from a utilitarian or consequentialist standpoint, compassion might be a hinderance because of a need to "break a few eggs in order to make an omelette", while the lack of compassion might end up being more successful in those tasks. Should we take on behavior that hurts our overall goals just because it gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling or should we see the goal as more important?

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