Earth: Religion

I did start out being upbeat.

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[IndulgingExistence]

@ 1:32 I wish people would stop saying we're the most evolved creatures. Everything alive is equally evolved, our ancestors have all been at it for the same amount of time.

[billygutter01]

That calm and soothing voice...

I can just imagine you reading some great work of literature. Hemmingway perhaps...

Wait a sec...

Never mind. ;-)

[RyuDarragh]

@DistinctiveBlend: That's merely statistics. Whether the number is 1000 ot 10 billion doesn't affect the rate, but yes, it can slow the spread of new mutations. After all, the entire population doesn't need to benefit, just enough to survive when a catastrophe occurs. Just as those beneficials spread slowly, so do the deletrious mutations. Doesn't it seem we've arrived at a point where we can start to think of correcting genetic errors with science and continue to evolve socially?

[DistinctiveBlend]

@RyuDarragh

I understand mutations I don't need the basic biology lesson. It doesn't have to be beneficial, it applies to any mutation as with our current bloated gene pool you wont get the effects of that mutation spread in any noticeable way. -- There's a reason why small populations evolve so quickly and why large populations stay as is. One couple breeding in a huge gene pool has a null effect.

[RyuDarragh]

@DistinctiveBlend: Why must a mutation be "beneficial"? THey come in a rainbow of effects from downright lethal to spectacular innovations. If you reproduce, you have inched the evolution of your species from it's previous state, in many dimensions. We humans will need to take control of our genetic destiny, true enough, but we must set strict limits on what gets changed.

[DistinctiveBlend]

@RyuDarragh

I would say human evolution is as close to 'stopped' as possible. Our gene pool is huge so any beneficial mutation gets drowned out. We keep our infirm and weak alive and there's no control on rampant breeding. We've also broken natural selection and 'survival of the fittest' with our agriculture and technology.

So now at 7 billion humans we've stagnated (even polluted) our gene pool.

[jakluk4]

your new mic sounded excellent. i could have laid here and listened to you read the entire book. =)

[RyuDarragh]

@IndulgingExistence: Much closer, that last. Another error commonly made, well, two errors, really, is that evolution ever stops or that it has any "direction" beyond adaptation for survival. An individual that can no longer reproduce can't participate in the evolution of a species, but can't evolve as an individual. Only species can evolve and only through offspring. Humans can most certainly evolve into animals no more intelligent than a collie or even a slug, if it helps with survival.

[IndulgingExistence]

@dookdawg214 The sponges comment is valid. However, while we do have a specialized prefrontal cortex. Nothing about our body is there that the other apes don't also have in some way. Saying that we're the most evolved because our prefrontal cortex is massive is the exact same as saying that the eagle is the most evolved because of it's eyesight. Perhaps I should change my comment from "Everything alive is equally evolved" to "Everything alive has it's own specialized adaptations"

[dookdawg214]

@IndulgingExistence

You're worried about symantics. Why don't you ask them what they mean by "evolved"? We've developed many more features than apes and monkeys, so that means we've changed (i.e. evolved) more than they have. Just because we've been evolving for the same amount of time doesn't mean we've evolved the same amount. Have sponges really evolved that much over a billion years? No. If someone defines "evolve" as changing/developing newly adapted features, then they're right.

[Elaina43]

@billygutter01

LOL

Weren't those some fantastic videos?