http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/24/maybe-but-were-still-animals Comments On: Maybe, but We're Still Animals by Goldy en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:00:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Afreet]]> Wed, 26 Dec 2012 08:16:31 -0800 The Stranger Posted by gnot]]> Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:58:20 -0800 The Stranger
Mayhaps. But for all this doing that we've done, what has any of it amounted to?

Percy Bysse Shelley's poem Ozymandias illustrates my point.Long after we are all gone, and all that remains of humanity's intellect are the artifacts we have created, what will be that is somehow better for our having improved it?

All species go extinct eventually, and ours will as well someday. Death is real, both individually and on the species level. And once the humans are gone all those things we all thought were so significant-music, poetry, art, religion, philosophy, science-what will any of it have meant?

Our pre-human ancestors, such as homo erectus and the Australopithecines had brains too, and presumably could on some level think. What is left of any of their thoughts?

The occasional fossil. Puzzling arrangements of grave goods nobody understands the significance of. A few crude instruments of no real value. That's kind of it.

And someday, that's all that will be left of us.

So what use is all the inherited culture and knowledge, anyway? Since culture only survives inside the human mind, when there are no human minds left, then culture itself will also vanish.

Thus, it has no lasting significance, if we measure time on the grandest scale. Neither do we.
Posted by Tacoma Traveler]]> Tue, 25 Dec 2012 10:24:18 -0800 The Stranger
Was he a regular there?

Or does this bit of "information" go in the file folder along with other hearsay such as:

1) The motive was that his mother was committing him
2) That she worked at the school.
3) That she was a substitute teacher
4) The he listened to 1950s "classical" rock music.

How does this Informational Pollution get into the stream.

Someday we'll know.

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe]]> Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:38:44 -0800 The Stranger
I agree. We have no divine authority or superiority. But we earned the authority obtained through naked power. We have created the value of death. We have imbued complexity with meaning. We have attained an unprecedented power over the biosphere. If a species on this Earth has attained a superior morality, I invite their communication, but if they exist, they haven't tried to communicate with us. Given the stakes, it would be immoral not to.

To summarize, We have to be the most moral and intelligent species with an interest in the biosphere of Earth, because anyone better than us would have stopped us. For humanity, for better or for worse, the buck stops here. Marriage and Presidential metaphors in one sentence! I'm really drunk! No one will ever read this. I don't care. My thoughts are fun! I'm at work for the next few days! Yay me!
Posted by Toasterhedgehog]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 23:52:35 -0800 The Stranger Posted by sirkowski]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 22:57:19 -0800 The Stranger
This concept is the justification for Dominionist philosophy. Even secular people often express this idea, such as the famous cartoon that describes evolution originating with a fish in the left of the frame, several other animals marching on dry land toward the right, and man at the right edge of the frame.

Its also complete nonsense. Every nonextinct species is just as successful as any other nonextinct species. If we measure complexity in terms of the number of base pairs in the genome, a lilly (yes, the flower) is far more complex than a human. If we measure it in terms of how long the species has managed to survive in it's current form, we live not in the Age of Man but in the Age of Bacteria. If we measure it in terms of cranial capacity, we are inferior to the giant squid.

The reason why mankind wound up at the top of the Chain of Being is because the Chain was conceived by men.

Do we know that other creatures are not moral? How do we measure that? What basis do we have to say that octopi are not morally superior to we? After all, the cephalopods never built a damned atom bomb.

Moral animal, indeed. Is this why we are engaged in endless warfare throughout all recorded history? Is this why we allow our own kind to go homeless and hungry? Is this why we insist on dumping toxins into the air so we can poison every living thing on Earth so we can run around in circles on our highways pursuing careers that, in the very long run of history, mean nothing?

No, rabbi, we are not the moral animal. We are quite the opposite.
Posted by Tacoma Traveler]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 18:26:34 -0800 The Stranger
Our brains are built to absorb what we're taught regardless of whether it makes sense. A child that is obeys when told not to run into traffic, not to swim in crocodile infested water, or to avoid eating the red mushrooms in the forest has a better chance of passing on their genes. We're genetically programmed to have faith in what authority figures teach. And if you never learn the wonders of reason, you'll have faith, even in the teachings that make no sense. As long as those beliefs don't cause an evolutionary disadvantage they will live on.

The tools to explore are world for the majority of humanity's existence have been limited to our senses. We were masterful scientists in the field of hunting and gathering. But our observational ability was far below our capacity for curiosity. So we filled in the holes in our knowledge with imagination.

The majority of humans become altruistic the moment they grasp the theory of mind and someone gives them some food. It's hardwired. It has nothing to do with religion because it's more ubiquitous than religion.

The minority that don't have altruistic natures become very rich and powerful. They become Popes and Kings and CEOs. They don't share their food with others.
Posted by Fish Wrench Asteroid]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:01:05 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Pope Peabrain]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:14:37 -0800 The Stranger
If we were moral animals with things like altruism genetically hardwired then we would need to go to church every Sunday to have Thou Shalt Nots drilled into us.

Nature versus nature is efficiency versus flexibility. We then come back to Dawkins argument of a "God Slot" or place in our hardware for a deity meme. This gives us flexibility. We times are good, we live closely together in urban density and say "Hello" and "Good Morning". When times are hard we become psychopaths marauding for survival.

The real danger, if that exists, is modern society doesn't beat the devil out of us any more. The people of Newton who were scrolled with First Communion and Confirmation were normal. Adam Lanza who was cloistered in an upper middle class home with online games was crazy.

The God slot in his motherboard was empty.
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:42:52 -0800 The Stranger
We now know even rats exhibit empathy, compassion & selflessness: WP | A New Model of Empathy: The Rat

So I guess that means rats must have religion too, eh?
Posted by Timrrr]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 14:48:21 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Pope Peabrain]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 14:11:23 -0800 The Stranger Posted by sarah70]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:32:46 -0800 The Stranger
-Steven Weinberg
Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:34:09 -0800 The Stranger
We know how that works out when the dust settles.
Posted by Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:39:51 -0800 The Stranger Posted by dirac]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:04:24 -0800 The Stranger Posted by GermanSausage]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:50:50 -0800 The Stranger
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/22/167881731/…
Posted by rob!]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:49:29 -0800 The Stranger Posted by dnt trust me]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:46:39 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Pope Peabrain]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:43:12 -0800 The Stranger