[extropy-chat] Human Machinations

[The Avantguardian]

--- Keith Henson <hkhenson at rogers.com> wrote:

 The
> imperial
> >march of Mohammed never stopped, it has only been
> >waiting.
> 
> It does not stand a chance for exactly the same
> reason that chimpanzees are 
> not a threat to men with machine guns.

Overconfidence has been the undoing of many a grand
army. With superior tactics advantages like numbers
and firepower can be overcome. So I suppose much
hinges on whether they have the likes of Hannibal,
Napoleon, or Mao in the wings.     

> >These are dangerous times.
> 
> They certainly are.  Can you say why these times are
> dangerous and times 
> 10, 20 or 50 years ago were less dangerous?  Can you
> base your reasoning in 
> biology and the environment in which humans evolved?

Just to clarify, when I say these are dangerous times,
I mean more in a political sense then then in a
biological sense. Indeed in a strict hazard function
sense, I would posit that people are safer now than
they have ever been at least in developed countries.

Politically however, the U.S. no longer has the Soviet
Union to share the blame for all the evil in the
world. Not that all the ills of the world were ever
either of our faults, but when you are in power, you
are responsible for everything that happens on your
watch whether it was your fault or not. Ergo when the
economy tanks it's the President's fault and when the
Nile floods, the Pharoah has lost favor with the gods.

Another thing is that world is reaching peak oil (even
the President has pretty much admitted it now) and I
think that there is a danger of greater escalation of
war and other rash actions as the oil-dependent
military industrial complex thrashes around in
desperate hunger. Recognition of this is causing a
scramble for nuclear capability amongst countries that
don't have them yet, especially if they do have some
oil left.

Not quite the answer to the question you asked, but I
think it more informative to discuss this from a
memetic stand point than a genetic one.    

> I have come to see one of the evolved functions of
> religion as a xenophobic 
> meme seed.  There are times in our evolutionary past
> when human populations 
> survived better with a xenophobic meme seed.  They
> probably speed up the 
> transition to war state and by inducing war behavior
> earlier, provided an 
> advantage to those who had the mental machinery to
> carry the seed.

Yes, in many respects you are right. Religion has
traditionally been a cultural lynchpin binding
together people who are not all that closely related
genetically with one another. Warfare has, through
most of human history, been a means of selecting for
the fittest cultures and political structures by
allowing them to vy for supremacy. In this regard,
religion has served as the standard bearer in cultural
wars. With the WMD that exist and those that are in
the works, I don't think this is a viable option any
more.
> 
> We can go into this in more depth if you can deal
> with a depressing model 
> of reality or better, help come up with a less
> depressing model.

I would be interested in hearing your scenario. I am
not terribly depressed. There is no doubt this is a
crisis but as such it opens up the future to a whole
host of possibilities, not all of them bad, just different.

Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"Thereupon, the Soul of Mother Earth bewailed, Should I accept the support of a feeble man and listen to his words? In fact I desired the aid of a strong and mighty king. When shall such a person arise and bring strong-handed succor to me?" -Yasna 29, verse 9 

"Now I am light, now I am flying, now I see myself beneath myself, now a God dances through me." - St. Nietzsche

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