XPost: alt.atheism, aus.politics   
   From: spam@hotmail.com   
      
   darwinist@gmail.com wrote:   
   > David V. wrote:   
   >   
   >> darwinist wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> David V. wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>>> darwinist@gmail.com wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> That our genes have made it this far says a lot about   
   >>>>> them. Not one of our ancestors died before   
   >>>>> reproducing, in the many millions of generations   
   >>>>> between the first life-form and our present body, this   
   >>>>> has involved a lot of different situations and   
   >>>>> environments. You might say we are relatively   
   >>>>> well-tested.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Unique among earth's life, humans have a strategic   
   >>>>> self-awareness. That is, we can see what our mind is   
   >>>>> doing and use that information to refine our   
   >>>>> strategies. We can see what other people's minds are   
   >>>>> doing as well. In neither case are our explanations   
   >>>>> perfect, but thinking about minds, being mindful of   
   >>>>> thoughts, at least sometimes, has proven useful to the   
   >>>>> gene-pool.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The human condition, then, is a lifelong education in   
   >>>>> how to make use of the human condition. We have a   
   >>>>> sophisticated set of decision-making faculties to   
   >>>>> serve us, and we can consider them at the strategic   
   >>>>> level. Even so, people die every minute after several   
   >>>>> million generations of unbroken reproductive success,   
   >>>>> so we can't assume anything out of life, except this   
   >>>>> education.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> We can generally learn a lot better if we are willing   
   >>>>> to revise our answers and plans, rather than grabbing   
   >>>>> any solid piece of certainty within reach and bashing   
   >>>>> our enemies on the head with it. They're not enemies   
   >>>>> when you realise you're in the same class, and can   
   >>>>> help each other to learn.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Then maybe you can learn a bit about biology? We are not   
   >>>>  alone in self-awareness.   
   >>>   
   >>> Can you be more specific? What other animal can abstract a   
   >>>  plan from its concrete specifics and examine the logic as   
   >>> a thing in itself? What other animal can make up fiction   
   >>> on purpose to illustrate a general point? What other   
   >>> animal can lie creatively, rather than simply hide   
   >>> something? Koko the gorilla knew she was sad when her   
   >>> kitty died, but that doesn't mean she could understand the   
   >>> causal-relationship.   
   >>   
   >> I could go into specifics, but I don't have the time to take   
   >> you through several upper level biology classes.   
   >   
   > So I'll just take your word for it then, shall I?   
      
   Why the double standard? You want us to take your word as it is.   
   Maybe you could do a little studying on your own. Start with some   
   basic biology and them some ethology.   
      
   >> I also sense a game of shifting goal posts, and some plurium   
   >> interrogationum, going on so I am reluctant to put much   
   >> effort into a reply.   
   >   
   >   
   > "I sense a game...", "some plurium interrogationum...", you   
   > must have a high-opinion of your own opinion....   
      
   Plonk.   
      
   --   
   Dave   
      
   "Sacred cows make the best hamburger."  Mark Twain.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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