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The Forum > General Discussion > Human biases

Human biases

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Wiz,
Single cell organisms may well already have colonised space.
They may have originally come from Mars to Earth, or further a field(as proposed by Sir Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe,Godfrey Louis. David Lloyd),or, they may have hitched a ride on one of our space crafts as did the colony that survived for ‘at least 30 months’ ,without special provisions, in equipment left behind on the moon.

Though I agree with the statement:
“ I doubt Homo Sapiens AS WE KNOW IT today will last another millennium - in that time period almost certainly we will attempt to start directing our own genetic”

Perhaps this will be the key . We have the ability to change our own form/essence. Other (known) entities must follow the dictates of natural selection .
Posted by Horus, Saturday, 12 January 2008 9:01:10 AM
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You guys have been smoking to much pot!
Posted by runner, Saturday, 12 January 2008 10:41:46 AM
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Pretty sure it must be somebody-famous's rule that when the best that those who disagree with you can do is to scoff and laugh that their side of the case hasn't got a leg to stand on.

I'm almost tempted to invoke Godwin's law and suggest that those who believe humans are inherently superior to other species are no better than those who believe certain (Aryan?) human races are inherently superior to other humans.
Posted by wizofaus, Saturday, 12 January 2008 10:59:32 AM
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I would be crying more than laughing!
Posted by runner, Saturday, 12 January 2008 11:58:36 AM
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Dear Wiz,

I'll keep it simple. The Human being has the most highly developed brain of any animal. The human brain gives people many special abilities, the most outstanding of which is the ability to speak.

Language has enabled human beings to develop "culture," which consists of ways of behaving and thinking.

These ways are passed on from generation to generation through learning. Culture also includes "technology" - that is, the tools and techniques invented by people to help satisfy their needs and desires.

The richness and complexity of human culture distinguish human beings from all other animals.

It's the human brain that helps make people the most adaptable of all creatures. They behave with the most flexibility and in the greatest variety of ways. The human body is highly adaptable because it has few specialized features that could limit its activities.

In contrast, a seal has a body streamlined for swimming, but it has difficulty moving about on land. People cannot swim as well as a seal, but they can also walk, run, and climb.

Human adaptability enables people to live in an extremely wide variety of environments - from the tropics to the Arctic.

As for your remark about the "Aryan race ..." As most of us know from the study of history -, conquering people believe they are more intelligent than those they have conquered. They often attempt to justify their conquests by claiming superiority. The ancient Romans believed they were more intelligent than the Greeks, but they used Greek slaves to educate their children.

In the 1930s, the leaders of Nazi Germany preached that Germans belonged to the "superior Aryan race," and that Jews and all other non-Aryan peoples were inferior. But there is no scientific basis to such claims.
Posted by Foxy, Saturday, 12 January 2008 7:25:13 PM
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Foxy, there's no question that there are several areas in which human beings excel. But the only reason that we even think such attributes are important is because we are human. The ability to communicate with complex language and think in highly abstract fashions may be unique to us, but why do you believe such abilities are more worthwhile than any of the various characteristics of other species that we do not possess? Do you think, for example, dogs are jealous of our ability to solve quadratic equations, when we can't even smell when there's a person in the next room? Or that eagles long to be able to compose poetry, if it meant having to give up the ability to soar through the skies at any time they wished, with no fussing about with complex and unreliable equipment?

(Actually, I think if the majority of other species had the ability to form such opinions, instead of being jealous of our species, they'd probably be downright pissed off with us for not leaving them much of a planet to share.)
Posted by wizofaus, Sunday, 13 January 2008 6:48:47 AM
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