Evolution, fine. Still a missiion....

by Phaedra 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  LoveUniHateExams

  Why do they exist and have a seeming mission to survive - because life's a struggle. A struggle to find & keep territory, find food, develop to maturity, find a mate & reproduce. Nature selects those individuals that can best do those things ('survival of the fittest') and their genes are passed on.

  In the West for most of us, life isn't a struggle. Sure, we have tough times - trying to find a job, pay the bills, escape from the WT, etc. but we don't starve or die of exposure. We have cheap food, heating, running water, shelter, etc.

  It can be difficult to appreciate just how tough wild animals have it. If, say, a leopard breaks its leg, then chances are it will starve as it cannot hunt or drag carrion up a tree to safety. There are no vets in the wild.
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  Phaedra

  In the West for most of us, life isn't a struggle. Sure, we have tough times - trying to find a job, pay the bills, escape from the WT, etc. but we don't starve or die of exposure. We have cheap food, heating, running water, shelter, etc.

  And then, with intelligence and human consciousness, some sensitive souls wrestle with the idea of "surviving" or trying to heal *whatever* is in their baggage is so against the odds and decide isn't worth it to pass along genes. Those who chose to opt--out and suicide... Is that intelligent decision to "throw in the towel" to concede to the fittest another way biology makes its dominance (or not) its way to the top to survive? Survive to what?
  

  Is reality then that weak people don't belong and they should just shuttle off? Damn, that's depressing.
  

  I'm looking up that book. Gotta find the author through amazon.
  
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  cofty

  Is reality then that weak people don't belong and they should just shuttle off?

  A million times NO.

  Evolution describes how life came to be as it is. It is not how we should order our world if we want to maximise our happiness and well-being. We can choose to reject the tyranny of the selfish gene as Dawkins explains in "the Selfish Gene".
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Is reality then that weak people don't belong and they should just shuttle off? - no. Evolution is descriptive, not proscriptive. Evolution doesn't tell us how to behave or give us a set of values. We humans have compassion, so that 'weak' people are (or should be) given every chance to get on with life.

  Damn, that's depressing - it may seem a bit like "is that all there is?!" but there's no reason to get depressed. Live your life - get the most out of it. Study what you're interested in, get a job you like, have interesting hobbies, etc.

  Onwards and upwards ...
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  Phaedra

  Ok. Let me find that book and I'll revisit this after.

  Thanks Cofty and others for your thoughts on this.
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  disposable hero of hypocrisy

  Just ordered that book myself thanks to this thread. Cheers all involved!
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  Ruby456

  Phaedra

  just be careful of Dawkins metaphorical language - as you can come away thinking everything is pre-determined - it isn't - ontogeny is creative - just remember that.
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  slimboyfat

  There is some eerie about the way that evolution tends to throw up the same sorts of things that makes you suspect there is some deep structure to what is going on. And it's odd to think that the universe should give rise to beings that are able to understand the universe and their own origins on some level. We may be in the unfortunate position of being intelligent enough to ask the question why we are here but not intelligent enough to figure out a plausible explanation.

  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifes-Solution-Inevitable-Humans-Universe/dp/0521603250/
  
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  Ruby456

  slim,

  one thing I do like about Morris Conway is this - and would take this on board (in quote from wiki below). That he recommends theistic evolution - well what can I say? not much I guess until I have read his approach as this may be sound - his conclusions otoh may leave a lot to be desired and yes lets be polite!!

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Conway_Morris
  

  "He is a strong critic of materialism and of reductionism:

  That satisfactory definitions of life elude us may be one hint that when materialists step forward and declare with a brisk slap of the hands that this is it, we should be deeply skeptical. Whether the "it" be that of Richard Dawkins' reductionist gene-centred worldpicture, the "universal acid" of Daniel Dennett's meaninglessDarwinism, or David Sloan Wilson's faith in group selection (not least to explain the role of human religions), we certainly need to acknowledge each provides insights but as total explanations of what we see around us they are, to put it politely, somewhat incomplete.[4]