Re: virus: Abortion, etc.
C. David Noziglia (noziglia@actrix.gen.nz)
Tue, 19 Mar 1996 18:53:10 -0800
Ken Kittlitz wrote:
>
> Reply to: RE>>virus: Abortion, etc.
>
> John Steele writes:
> >Humans have a more highly evolved intellect than cuckoos, and
> >are able to contemplate such matters a bit more. But we are still
> >locked within the parameters of the basic survival strategy that
> >being human means. We may think lofty thoughts, but unless they
> >have a material benefit to the process of human DNA-replication
> >they will remain just that, lofty thoughts and nothing more.
>
> Wrong. Thoughts, lofty or otherwise, are the replicators that
> are usurping DNA as the driving force behind human evolution.
> Finally, even if you still believe that you should act in your DNA's best
> interest, I recomment Howard Bloom's _The Lucifer Principle_, which
> argues that, at least for social animals like humans, DNA's selfish
> interests are often better served by thinking in terms of the group rather
> than the individual.
>
> -Ken
Ken: I would in fact go farther than you, and argue that evolutionary
processes take place not only on the level of genes and memes, but also on
the level of entire societies, cultures, and political bodies. You can say
that that's just ideas using higher-order organizations for their own ends,
but then you are sounding just like John's posting about genes using ideas
for THEIR ends.
One neat outcome from thinking like this, is the idea that we can, in fact,
use the evolutionary process in developing social orders, instead of fighting
it. Think about it.
--
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C. David Noziglia
Wellington, New Zealand
noziglia@actrix.gen.nz
"Blessed are those who have no expectations,
for they will never be disappointed."
Kautiliya Shakhamuni Sidhartha Gautama Buddha
"Things are the way they are because they got that way."
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