Friday, June 17, 2005
Human Evolution
When I was a kid, just learning about evolution, I used to think 'survival of the fittest' was basically the mantra of evolution. I also believed that because of the way we treated disease so efficiently, fixed broken bones, and generally lead healthy lives (at least in America... and not counting obesity as the "epidemic" that the fearmongers are trying to spread), that humans had removed themselves from natural selection.
I think I have a much better understanding of evolution than I did then, and it's led me to realize evolutionary forces for what they are- undeniable. It is impossible for humans to be immune to natural selection. In fact I would go so far as to say humans cannot do anything 'unnatural', because we are an inexorable part of nature. I've sort of hinted at this position in previous posts- many people believe that humans are killing the planet, that with our invasive species (a topic all on its own), our clearcutting of rainforests, our manufacturer of pollution, disease, hybrid species and genetically modified organisms, that we are doing harm to nature.
But these views disrespect evolution. I don't mean this to say that the aforementioned things are Good Things, but that nature will survive long past the human race, and that in the cosmic sense of nature, there are no good things or bad things, except perhaps total destruction of all life on earth. Was it a good thing when the asteroid struck and killed all the dinosaurs? Maybe the dinosaurs would have evolved into super-intelligent an wise creatures. or maybe they would have just kept bigger and stupider until there were only 4 dinosaurs left, and they were named Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and God. But the point is- we're still exposed to a million environmental pressures- maybe we will indeed destroy all the rainforests and die off. But then nature will have successfully killed off a species that was too shortsighted to realize it was causing its own demise, just like it should.
But I don't want to get all preachy about how humanity is going to kill itself. I've already done that. What I want to get across is that humanity is here, and "nature" has to deal with the reality. Species (humanity included) that can cope with humanity's ongoing mass extinction will make it to the next epoch of natural history, and those that can't, well, they can rest assured that 99% of all species go extinct. Who knows? Maybe the next generation of species will all be descendants of pigeons, squirrels, lawn grass, and mold.
I think I have a much better understanding of evolution than I did then, and it's led me to realize evolutionary forces for what they are- undeniable. It is impossible for humans to be immune to natural selection. In fact I would go so far as to say humans cannot do anything 'unnatural', because we are an inexorable part of nature. I've sort of hinted at this position in previous posts- many people believe that humans are killing the planet, that with our invasive species (a topic all on its own), our clearcutting of rainforests, our manufacturer of pollution, disease, hybrid species and genetically modified organisms, that we are doing harm to nature.
But these views disrespect evolution. I don't mean this to say that the aforementioned things are Good Things, but that nature will survive long past the human race, and that in the cosmic sense of nature, there are no good things or bad things, except perhaps total destruction of all life on earth. Was it a good thing when the asteroid struck and killed all the dinosaurs? Maybe the dinosaurs would have evolved into super-intelligent an wise creatures. or maybe they would have just kept bigger and stupider until there were only 4 dinosaurs left, and they were named Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and God. But the point is- we're still exposed to a million environmental pressures- maybe we will indeed destroy all the rainforests and die off. But then nature will have successfully killed off a species that was too shortsighted to realize it was causing its own demise, just like it should.
But I don't want to get all preachy about how humanity is going to kill itself. I've already done that. What I want to get across is that humanity is here, and "nature" has to deal with the reality. Species (humanity included) that can cope with humanity's ongoing mass extinction will make it to the next epoch of natural history, and those that can't, well, they can rest assured that 99% of all species go extinct. Who knows? Maybe the next generation of species will all be descendants of pigeons, squirrels, lawn grass, and mold.
# posted by Stuart @ 10:50 PM 
