Are you a Doomer™?

[OKIsItJustMe]

49. Darwin did

Last edited Thu Apr 26, 2012, 05:23 PM - Edit history (3)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781880/

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‘Now, if some one man in a tribe, more sagacious than the others, invented a new snare or weapon, or other means of attack or defense, the plainest self-interest, without the assistance of much reasoning power, would prompt the other members to imitate him; and all would thus profit.’
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man 1871, p. 155)

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‘It must not be forgotten that although a high standard of morality gives but a slight or no advantage to each individual man and his children over the other men of the same tribe, yet that an increase in the number of well-endowed men and an advancement in the standard of morality will certainly give an immense advantage to one tribe over another … At all times throughout the world tribes have supplanted other tribes; and as morality is one important element in their success, the standard of morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus everywhere tend to rise and increase.’
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man 1871, p. 159)

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In regard to the moral qualities, some elimination of the worst dispositions is always in progress even in the most civilized nations. Malefactors are executed, or imprisoned for long periods, so that they cannot freely transmit their bad qualities.
(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man 1871, p. 166)

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“Evolution” isn’t as simple as people want to make it, and it’s not limited to DNA (remember, Darwin knew nothing about the existence of DNA.) You may want to do some reading about Epigenetics.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/598822