

Woolly Mammoth  (Source:











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RE: Extinction
By chris2618 on 1/16/2011 6:31:38 AM , Rating: 4
"I'm not saying this is cause for bringing back extinct species, just that using the "natural selection" excuse for why you hunted said species to that point isn't a particularly valid one."

Well as we are part of nature then it is natural selection.

RE: Extinction
By mindless1 on 1/16/2011 11:28:21 PM , Rating: 2
Not really, natural selection is a human construct that places us outside the definition of nature, otherwise "nature" would mean "everything", would undermine the meaning of the word entirely.

RE: Extinction
By chris2618 on 1/17/2011 4:33:15 AM , Rating: 2
What do you mean by undermined?

I think people have to realise that we are as big part of nature as any other animal but for some reason just because we think we are special and we remove ourselves.

RE: Extinction
By Murst on 1/18/2011 3:56:16 PM , Rating: 3
Just because humans are part of nature, it doesn't mean that anything we do or don't do can be considered natural selection. If we decide to use up our nukes tomorrow and kill everything bigger than 1cm in size, it isn't natural selection.

Natural selection is more about statistics & trends than single events caused by any organism.

RE: Extinction
By tim851 on 1/17/2011 2:47:56 AM , Rating: 2

By that definition, war is just natural selection too.

There are people who argue that way, but I find it quite disturbing. It takes morality out of the picture and reverts us back to 'might is right'.

RE: Extinction
By chris2618 on 1/17/2011 4:42:10 AM , Rating: 2
you may not like it but war is natural selection.

The problem with morals is they are not absolute and as some people seem it morals permissible to do harm to prevent harm then we may be "quite disturbing animals".

RE: Extinction
By tim851 on 1/18/2011 1:35:45 AM , Rating: 2
you may not like it but war is natural selection.

It is not.

No variation of genes is gonna affect anybody survivability during a napalm attack.

War is not natural selection like the astroid that is said to have exterminated the dinosaurs wasn't natural selection.

If I shot you in the face I could just pretend "might is right", but as a human being I am capable to reflect on my actions in the context of morality.

