Different in degree or kind (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Tuesday, January 07, 2014, 13:58 (3763 days ago) @ David Turell


> > Matt: Then you better not buy the fact that all breeds of dog came from a common wolf ancestor selected for specific traits by human intelligence. If we can do it to dogs, we can do it to ourselves. And I argue we have. 
> > 
> > My scenario is infinitely more plausible than magic hoodoo concocting a more suitable larynx.
> 
> Dogs were adopted by humans 18-30,000 years ago, and by careful breeding we have 200 plus types. Do you think H. Erectus was planning his breeding before screwing? "Talk to me,baby, and if it is robust enough I'll give you kids."-There is only one necessary preadaptation for eusocial behavior: nesting. For bees and wasps, its obvious, but for humans, it was the creation of fire. Even nomads stop and build a nightly "nest" based around fire. -When we see two beautiful people, we instinctually think "those will be beautiful kids." Do you really think that kind of thought could never occur to our ancestors--even if they could barely put it into words? I'm surprised daily by my daughter's intelligence, and I think you're unfairly discrediting H. Erectus's abilities. I think its entirely plausible that early bands of H. Erectus exercised deliberate selection on their kin. (Good joke, though) H. Erectus was capable of creating fire and was therefore capable of building nests which is the required adaptation for social behavior, which springs an organism into dizzying heights of evolution by creating a whole new plateau of selection. -The combination of nesting behavior coupled with the necessary labor division coupled with the ability to quite literally walk into completely new environments created an evolutionary whirlwind. This is backed up by the way, by the fact that genetic diversity on the motherland of Africa is higher than it is everywhere else.

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