Do primates practice religion?

[LTX]

48. I'm not following.

Last edited Thu Jun 6, 2013, 04:47 AM - Edit history (2)

You say -- "If we had biologically evolved to survive in the vacuum of space then we would need no technological support to exist in that vacuum." So your suggestion is that we did not biologically evolve to develop the technological support to exist in the vacuum of space? The alternative seems to be that we were specially created to develop the technological support to exist in the vacuum of space, but I don't think that's where you are headed. By your reasoning, we also aren't biologically evolved to survive in the arctic. Or England. But we do. How did that happen?

You also say -- "A simply astounding number of people have problems digesting our modern agriculture based diet heavy with starches and gluten . . ." An equally astounding number are adapted to such consumption. And in only, by your calculation, six thousand years. Funny how evolution sometimes fails to abide by the mandated timetable.

And what is this about shyness? First you say -- "Shyness is a problem that wouldn't even show up in the small hunter-gatherer bands we are evolved to live in . . ." How do you know this? Sounds decidedly "just so."

Then you say -- "In the type of society we have now being shy is a huge disadvantage to social and reproductive success . . ." Except that there are now a few more than 7 billion of us. Is that just a statistical anomaly? Or is it evidence of rather remarkable reproductive success, "shyness" notwithstanding?

And then you add -- "Where in a hunter-gatherer culture it wouldn't even be an issue since there would be no strangers to be shy with." Except that tribe you just stumbled on. Hunting the same savannah. "Just so."

And finally, you say -- "Just because we can force ourselves to fit in civilization by no means implies we have biologically evolved for that role." Indeed, we should all be living in Eden, with no pesky neighbors. But we're not. We have, in fact, developed civilizations, and adapted to them sufficiently to rather overwhelm our planet with reproductive and consumptive success. If we're not biologically evolved to do so, then we're making a pretty good show of pretending to be.