"On the Origin of Species" was first published 150 years ago.

The Economist has published an article on the subject, about how
Darwinian understanding of humanity explains our behaviour.

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12795581

Hopefully the link works for non subscribers too.

From why women are paid less, to why mainly young single men in
their late teens, early twenties commit most murders, it is all
discussed and I found it all very interesting.

Any comments from those who are interested in understanding
us humans and our evolution to what we are today?

Fascinating article which makes eminent sense, however I fear that too many people in the world today like to place man as a separate entity to the creatures around him, and the environment in which he exists.

Interesting point about the cultural integration, too.

A fascinating article indeed.

Wow, wouldn’t it be great if you could just let the urge to breed and have a partner and an active sex life go, and just not worry about it?

Wouldn’t it also be great if you could get past the urge to compete with your neighbours, friends or society to have a bigger house, better car, higher-paid job, etc…and just be happy with a modest income and home?

How good would it be if you could commute with nature very regularly, take a great interest in plants, birds, rocks and all that sort of stuff, and travel a lot indulging in this sort of thing….and not in sport or nightclubs or high-risk thrill-seeking recreational activities?

Wouldn’t you be a much better, less-stressed, more at peace person, if you could just override some of these innate traits or instincts, which have resulted from millions of years of evolution?

Well, that’s me in a nutshell. And after a whole lot of years of being like this, I can say that it is definitely better than the alternative. It’s not perfect, but well and truly preferable.

.
ps. Yabby, I haven’t responded in our other discussion coz I’ve come up against the 4 posts in 24 hour limit. Rrrgh. It’ll have to wait til after 8.30am tomorrow, although my response is already written (:>)

it is dificult to read the link[two flaws in the first two parragraphs
wealth is having more money than you need for your needs, and 42 were killed last year[using the average number is flawed]
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/exe.htm
reveals a high of 300, and then a period of none, while certain cases were under appeal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States

even the next chapter talks of 40 years of feminist stuff[when it started way earlier]but the next paragraph explaines it [because this is a story about evolution[yet isnt about evolution]what has murder,feminism, and income to do with evolution?

QUOTE>>But the answers that have come back are generally unsatisfying.They describe,rather than explain.

They do not get to the nitty-gritty of what it truly is to be human. Policy based on them does not work. This is because they ignore the forces that made people what they are: the forces of evolution.<<

but evolution being implanted we move onto the next validations[also nothing to do with evolution

>>The reasons for that ignorance are complex.
Philosophers have preached that there exists between man and beast an unbridgeable distinction. Sociologists have been seduced by Marxist ideas about the perfectibility of mankind. Theologians have feared that the very thought of evolution threatens divine explanations of the world.>>
>>The corollary to this is the idea that with appropriate education, indoctrination, social conditioning or what have you, people can be made to behave in almost any way imaginable. The evidence, however, is that they cannot. The room for shaping their behaviour is actually quite limited. Unless that is realised, and the underlying biology of the behaviour to be shaped is properly understood, attempts to manipulate it are likely to fail.>>

unless we baffle em with science
but the story NOT about evolution goes on

its a typical evolution buzz piece
but the evolutionists will love it

and at the next line we learn why

150 years of the evolving deception
a typical buzz piece

the link just dropped out so thats all for now

the article continues with logical falicies [it is a fact that the poor are outbreeding the rich[the poor need their children as some old age assurance apparently]so the rich havnt'evolved'more rich

but look at the graph[its as usual]is based on a fictitious number[why not use REAL numbers[but the graph is murders per million]so the numbers will yet aggain be distorted

[the qld govt does this[in one year the breatheliser numbers[per thousand]revealed 986 breathilised[when they didnt facter it down by the per thousand statistical manipulated[pretend number's]

evolution isnt proving wealth has anything to do with evolution[despite two more paragraphs of that bias spin]

of course the poor need to steal to live[the prison numbers prove most are fathers to many women[so much for the rich breeding its the criminals[poor]doing the breeding[and yet the rich do more criminal things, they just got lawyers to get em of[but its nothing to do with validating evolution[its spin]

but to the next bias rapists[in jail are poor]because the rich have lawyers,thus get off more often[or get off on appeal[appeals the poor cant afford]ok skipped to the end and still no science evidence FOR evolution[darwin only mentioned once[lol] and finishes with a nice bit of racism[upon the poor]who make up most of the numbers

yet another evolution spin piece
darwin will be proud what you do in his name
good thing you athiests dont believe in the hereafter

your a bunch of materialist statistical manipulators who never tested [faulsified any of his theories]read what darwin wrote''The Origin of Species''its a great insightfull read[he wasnt a racist][nor divided what he saw into human measures of rich and poor

Dear Ludwig.... if things are as the article says....

<<As a consequence, much of daily existence is about showing off, subtly or starkly, in ways that attract members of the opposite sex and intimidate those of the same sex.>>

I suppose one could call it a minimalist approach to life, but more...

"If that's all there is to life....does it really matter 'how' we are in the end?"

Then, you can also extrapolate this to it's logical extreme... and one's whole life and behavior could be utterly self driven.. with a view to reproduction and intimidation... how would we end up if we applied all our brain and physical powers to those goals?

I don't exactly see Pericles "rich tapestry" of life there :) I see dog eat dog.. man beating up man.. man taking women as posessions...toys.. using their power for pure self indulgence.

In that absense of a Creator who says "love your neighbour as yourself" can anyone find any reason in the Darwinian approach to do that?

I can't. If we did, it would neccessarily become a deceptive act aimed at those primary objectives of survival/reproduction and intimidation... We would end up loving people only for how they can serve our own goals... *shudder*

"May the peace of God which passes understanding, guard your hearts in Christ Jesus"....... Phil 4:7