[extropy-chat] frozen in fire

[BillK]

On 1/22/07, Keith Henson wrote:
> Our sense of ethical/moral comes from somewhere; the EP supporters say it
> comes from the evolution of our brains in the prehistory of our race.  If
> so, it contributed in some way to the genetic survival of our ancestors.
>
> Understanding how our ethical and moral sense works, especially in the
> extremes such as Rwanda or Cambodia, gives us a better chance to avoid such
> unpleasant events.
>
> Understanding the problem means you are a lot more likely to take effective
> steps.  At least I come to this conclusion by analogy with the germ theory
> of disease that Pasteur and Koch established.
>
> Of course if you understand what is needed to deal with the pressing
> problems of the next 20-25 years, please speak up.  :-)
>


Maybe a lot of the stuff that has survived through to modern humans is
just an incidental side-effect. Not *every* feature necessarily aided
ancient survival. One or two major traits may have enabled survival
and dragged a lot of garbage along with them.


BillK