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Author Topic:   The next stage of human evolution
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 16 of 33 (343466)
08-26-2006 12:02 AM
Reply to: Message 14 by GDR
08-25-2006 7:02 PM


Re: I'm not so sure -> But I am.
If civilization lasts that long? 500 years isn't a long time. Rome was around longer. As were the egyptians. The chinese much longer. western civilization, based off of the greek and roman worlds has been around much longer.
And who will we be?
I'd say that in five hundred years we'll still be primates. We'll still be H. sapiens sapiens--we have been for roughly twenty thousand years, why not an extra five hundred?
As to us going to some fantastic place--I agree. There is nothing like the thrill of the future, and what it might me like.
I'm not saying we've reached our evolutionary finale. We aren't done. But, what environment can we not change to suit us? There is none I can think of, besides the center of the sun or earth, and those places may soon be able to be lived in (soon as in next thousand or so years). What other body has such a high degree of manipulation capability, especially physical? What part of us can't we augment with our technology?
As I see it, there's not that much more to be done with us. what major flaws can't we fix in our body? Intelligence is one of the greatest survival tools in existence, and it's a shame we waste it in today's world.
yeah, I'm an optimist.
and yeah, not much of this makes sense.

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 14 by GDR, posted 08-25-2006 7:02 PM GDR has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 17 by GDR, posted 08-26-2006 12:27 AM kuresu has replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 18 of 33 (343475)
08-26-2006 12:49 AM
Reply to: Message 17 by GDR
08-26-2006 12:27 AM


Re: I'm not so sure -> But I am.
well you know, I live in a very dangerous area--Boulder, Colorado. When yellowstone goes, this place is screwed. worldwide nuclear winter from it? Don't think so. Climate will be affected worldwide, but it's not as if we haven't had yellowstone go off before. granted, not while H. sapiens has been around.
but who says we can't figure out how to survive that blast when it comes? If we can't, I say our intelligence is highly overrated. But I think we will.
yeah, I'm an optimist . . .

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 17 by GDR, posted 08-26-2006 12:27 AM GDR has not replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 21 of 33 (343675)
08-26-2006 3:46 PM
Reply to: Message 17 by GDR
08-26-2006 12:27 AM


Re: I'm not so sure -> But I am.
but you know, at least global warming wouldn't be a problem for a little while

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 17 by GDR, posted 08-26-2006 12:27 AM GDR has not replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 27 of 33 (343847)
08-27-2006 1:37 AM
Reply to: Message 26 by GDR
08-27-2006 1:25 AM


Re: Technological enhancement
I think mitch is agreeing that it will have long term consequences--that whole point about diversity at tne end of his post regarding the false hope of creating a super race.

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 26 by GDR, posted 08-27-2006 1:25 AM GDR has not replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 29 of 33 (343986)
08-27-2006 3:22 PM
Reply to: Message 28 by obvious Child
08-27-2006 5:53 AM


Re: Technological enhancement
dude, you don't want to be homozygous for SCA. (two same alleles present)
why? It kills you by, like, age 5.
you want to be heterozygous. (two different alleles) that way your survive both SCA and malaria.
can you tell me the benefits of having down's syndrome? it too, is genetic--three chromosomes at the 21? pair. nondisjunction (i think that's the term) might actually be a good thing to be rid of.

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 28 by obvious Child, posted 08-27-2006 5:53 AM obvious Child has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 30 by mitchellmckain, posted 08-27-2006 4:13 PM kuresu has replied
 Message 32 by obvious Child, posted 08-27-2006 10:17 PM kuresu has replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 31 of 33 (343997)
08-27-2006 4:16 PM
Reply to: Message 30 by mitchellmckain
08-27-2006 4:13 PM


Re: Technological enhancement
no kidding about the deep and difficult. If we can get rid of Down's, why stop there? Eventually someone, somewhere, as you pointed out, will try to do more.
Unfortunately, it'll happen with or without regulation.
If only, if only, the woodpecker did cry,
all humans were good, and none had to die.
that made no sense.

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 30 by mitchellmckain, posted 08-27-2006 4:13 PM mitchellmckain has not replied

  
kuresu
Member (Idle past 2513 days)
Posts: 2544
From: boulder, colorado
Joined: 03-24-2006


Message 33 of 33 (344094)
08-27-2006 10:58 PM
Reply to: Message 32 by obvious Child
08-27-2006 10:17 PM


Re: Technological enhancement
The sufferers of the illness have a reduced life span. It is believed that carriers (sickle cell trait) are relatively resistant to malaria. Since the gene is incompletely recessive, carriers have a few sickle red blood cells at all times, not enough to cause symptoms, but enough to give resistance to malaria. Because of this, heterozygotes have a higher fitness than either of the homozygotes.
from Sickle cell disease - Wikipedia
that five year figure I picked up here, and I should've added "if left uncared for--ie no treatments to alleviate the problem--the child dies soon after birth--soon being a perhaps tortuos five or so years of existence.
only beneficial if you're a carrier.

All a man's knowledge comes from his experiences

This message is a reply to:
 Message 32 by obvious Child, posted 08-27-2006 10:17 PM obvious Child has not replied

  
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