Evolution In Industry - What has evolution ever done for us?

An interesting 20 year old documentary by Richard Dawkins in which he explains how evolutionary theory, The theory that optimal designs can be achieved by small successive variations with beneficial variations being retained, Has helped us design more efficient systems.

Pay special attention to the computer model that "evolved" the most efficient way of pumping gas to 16 homes and how much it resembles the main artery that supplies blood to the wall of a dogs large intestines.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• dawkins
• evolution
• natural
• selection
• atheism
• darwin

[Limehammers]

@dxrocker69 we couldve kept a fight going for several years whilst killing thousands more.. we could have dropped smaller bombs on their city day in and day out for years... they were "evil" and tried to kill us americans because we werent communist.. we were a threat to their future so we wiped em out fast and without too many casualties.. the japanese people were going to cause death while the prisoner wasnt going to cause death.. the disease was going to cause it..

[Limehammers]

@dxrocker69 the prisoner shouldn't have been killed to save thousands.. it's not even time for his deathrow yet.. by the gov's law, which we are supposed to follow says the bible, we should not kill him before his deathrow date.. we have a law to follow.. he should have been givin the option, but its barbaric to kill him whilst breaking the law.. it isnt fair for the prisoner.. it wasnt immoral to drop the bomb.. in fact, that strategy was more humane than most other strategies..

[Limehammers]

@dxrocker69 I think when people create their own morals, it is for their own benefit. killing my unborn baby makes me happy, smoking coke makes me happy, looking at child porn makes me happy, murdering ethnics makes me happy.. people are selfish and want what they want which always ends up corrupting their moral beliefs.. but who am I to say what they do is wrong or right, right? there is no right or wrong, its all relative.. chaos.. oh and about the guy in prison... cont...

[Limehammers]

@dxrocker69 alright so heres what I believe. I think morals are set in stone and aren't changeable except by the designer God.. (I do believe things changed as Jesus died on the cross.. things like no more sacrificing stuff.. we have grace).. anyways, the second morals arent set in stone, we get to make them.. gov, society, or people get to make their own morals.. so with that, there's always something different morally wrong or right.. its ever changing.. cont...

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers Was it moral to throw an atomic bomb on Hirosjima, killing several hundred thousand people, in an attempt to force Japan into surrender? The alternative scenario models (invasion) predicted more then a million deaths (but all of them soldiers). Was it moral to kill 200.000 japanese citzens (men, women, children) to save a million soldiers?

Bottom line: sometimes, there simply isn't a real 'good' decision... This proves that objective universal morality simply doesn't exist.

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers The dude in prison is a perfect match for hearth transplantation. But he refuses, he doesn't want to die and give his life for that biologist.

Now... is it moral to murder that prisoner to save the biologist who then in turn will save millions with his cancer treatment?

How about if the perfect match is actually just a high school kid? Or a soldier? Any normal citizen? Is it "moral" to let the biologist (and the millions of cancer patients) die?

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers Another nice argument against "static, universal morals" are the many moral dillemma's that can easily be imagined. For example...

Suppose a brilliant biologist who is extremely close to finding a permanent cure for all types of cancers needs a new hearth within 30 minutes or he'll die. For the sake of the example, we'll go ahead and assume only he can finish his anti-cancer research. 5 minutes further down the street is a prison. Here lives a dude who's been sentenced for life.

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers I'ld say that your biggest mistake is to try and portray morals as something universal which is set in stone. Morals are a flexible dynamic property of human civilisation. They change through time. And this change happens through experience. We can look back at the past and learn from it.

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers yes, governments themselves can be evil. Just think about nazi germany, church ruled medieval europe or current theocracies in the middle east. A secular democracy however... that's a different story. Yyes, corruption still exists. But we get to change leaders every 4 years if we deem it necessary. In such systems, it gets harder for governments to act like Hitler or Stalin did, or to have militant branchess like the SS, the Inquisition or Iran's religious police.

[dxrocker69]

@Limehammers "just because I disagree with my gov doesnt make me immoral whatsoever" true. You're essentially proving my point: morality is not a black and white story. There's a lot of gray.  In other words: it's SUBJECTIVE.

"so many people have different views on whats right and wrong" again proving my point. If morals were universal and objective and from a god... then they would NOT change. Then we wold NOT have different views.