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Jason Joy

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Our weaknesses as drivers of humanity

Arent our weaknesses the real drivers of our evolution and of what we are?
we replicate / find partners because we die.
we have legs and arms since we need to constantly move to find food.
our brain evolved for making a model of the world / predicting the behaviour of things and therefore getting more food / more (male) or better (female) sexual partners.
so our brains got bigger and the development of human childs had to go one after birth, so humans different than some animals are dependent on the support of their parents. isnt that the reason that love emerged, as a tool to build partnerships between man and woman to raise a helpless child and between woman and child to guarantee the survival of the child? could that be an explanation of the high divorce rates after some years of being together?
friendship as a tool to connect people, since communities are stronger than individuals.
so all our achievements, intelligence, love, friendship, are just tools for social species like us that improve the probability that the species survives.

Topics: evolution human behaviour humanity
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  • G ashe

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    Jan 7 2012: I beleive we sacrifice happyness and personal freedoms for the greater good of society. all the social obligations we have can sometimes get in the way of our own happyness. "the american dream", for example, creates the illusion of a reward for fulfilling your obligations which entises people to go to school, get a job, find thier true love, have children etc. this sustains our society as a whole...but do those things really appeal to us as idividuals? and if so, is it because we were conditioned to be that way?...just a thought
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    Gisela McKay 30+

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    Dec 23 2011: So what happens when at the peaks, we choose to dead end? For instance, all the evolutionary shifts that lead to my personal existence end with me.

    Children are not that entertaining (I'm sorry, everyone seems to think their kids are fascinating, but objectively, they just aren't). Perhaps if I had a Y-chromosome, I might have opted to have children because primary care would have fallen on someone else. We've seen time and again that when females have opportunities other than home-making, they have fewer kids. (In my case - and most of my female friends, actually: fewer == none.)

    I suspect that if we ascribe a certain "intelligence" to evolution, there is an advantage to skewing the top rung of IQ ladder male-heavy.

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      B. Reynolds

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      Dec 22 2011: Every statistical and scholastic measurement shows that as a population we are getting smarter by an average of 2-4 IQ points per decade for at least the last 100 years. Most scientists and neurobiologists credit this to the need for man to deal with more non-physical problems (ie understand things like the abstract, non-physical concept of a "market"). There is no doubt that we are placing greater reliance on exterior memory devices and computative ability, but it's very had to argue scientifically that we're devolving.

    • Zared Schwartz

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      Dec 23 2011: We are definitely getting smarter by the advancement of education and if anything, we are becoming more competitive. Then again on your perspective, the dumb is becoming more apparent, but due to their low intelligence, they do not have the high potential to survive compared to more intellectual people. Once again, I could be wrong. Anyone else have input for this conversation?

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        • Zared Schwartz

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          Dec 23 2011: Education does relatively effect IQ especially in youth. It helps you to develop better neural networks not only because it focuses on cognitive skills but also it may provide a more social environment. Education does not necessarily equal an increase in intelligence but a higher potential to an increase in intelligence. People who are not intelligent are not as fit for survival compared to people who are intelligent due to the adaptability of the intellectual people. To be honest, I do not understand how IQ will decrease gradually. If you can, can you explain this concept more in depth?

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        • Zared Schwartz

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          Dec 24 2011: No need to insult me. I just want you to explain your concept of how IQ will decrease gradually.

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        • Zared Schwartz

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          Dec 24 2011: If you cannot explain your argument in your own words, then you cannot state your point. If you cannot state your point, then you really do not have an argument. In other words, just state the concept or fall back on another support for your concept on intelligence.

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        • Zared Schwartz

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          Dec 24 2011: How can it be to my advantage when we together did not even properly raised any points?

  • Rhona Pavis 50+

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    Dec 20 2011: seek positive.........................find positive
    I love us and our contemporaries. The majority of us are wonderful. Some of us choose to use our freedoms, resources and talents to elevate the well-being of our contemporaries and futurity. We are constantly making choices out of the infinities within which we dwell. Choose positive. It feels better and causes positive consequences. Happy Today.
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