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So... A bunch of us actually just want to be Hatians or get in on the "homeless person club"
No, examine my post more closely. Is it not more conducive to survival to have the support of your fellows? Empathy and love are chemical reactions in your brain which help to facllitate connections with the people in your group.
Yeah, right. That explains all the hundreds of humanitarian aid programs, people rushing to disaster stricken areas to help out, homeless shelters, food banks, etc. etc.....It's best to think before you post.
The question asked for the implications . . . nothing else. What possible difference in value would there be in the activities of accidents? Why should any behavior be any more valuable than any other when there is no purpose for any of it.
If it were pure "survival of the fittest" would empathy exist?
Yes. Empathy is the step-child of emotional connection which is itself an evolutionary survival construct. By demonstrating how supportive you are of the morals of the group you prove your social worth. It may seem like a contradiction, but it is not. Social cooperation can lend itself to survival more than competition at times.
No, examine my post more closely. Is it not more conducive to survival to have the support of your fellows? Empathy and love are chemical reactions in your brain which help to facllitate connections with the people in your group.
For social animals like humans, cooperation and empathy are necessary, as you say, since society would collapse if everyone just looked out for number one.
For social animals like humans, cooperation and empathy are necessary, as you say, since society would collapse if everyone just looked out for number one.
I disagree, our current technology and global economic system proves otherwise. The large banks & corporations only look out for number 1 and they have grown quite successful because of it.
But it certainly is true that modern technology has made us less emphatic, because technology gives us the impression that we don't need other people. Or maybe it is because of our overpopulation (which is also enabled because of our technology).
Yes. Empathy is the step-child of emotional connection which is itself an evolutionary survival construct. By demonstrating how supportive you are of the morals of the group you prove your social worth. It may seem like a contradiction, but it is not. Social cooperation can lend itself to survival more than competition at times.
Exactly. Although from an evolutionary perspective why do we empathize or cooperate with someone who takes more resources than they can ever put in? For example why allow me, a genetically disordered person, to live? Granted I'm counted as "gifted" intellectually, but so far there's no evidence my intelligence overrides the fact I'm likely a drain on the welfare state. So why bother?
(My parents bothered because they were my parents, but I think religion did play a role)
If we humans arose from evolution and there was no guiding divine and omnipotent hand in our creation then this has immense implications for our species. Everything we have created and that we feel is a direct construct upon and is derivative of the basic drive for survival. What does this say about our everyday feelings, proclivities and belief systems?
I've posted on this extensively before. By the fact that 90% of the people that have lived believe in a God...proves that our proclivity to have that "feeling" and "belief system" is the best trait to have...it enhances our ability to survive. If it didn't, we wouldn't have evolved to present so prevalently with that trait.
By this we can determine that the "most fit" of our species present with that trait. The "less fit", "weaker" present with the trait of non-belief.
This proves SCIENTIFICALLY...based on all that cool "evolution", "survival of the fittest", and "natural selection" stuff...Atheists are less fit and weaker than Believers.
Haha, you have a point. People with strong group or emotional attachments do tend to fare better. But, do these things have any basis in fact, or are they chemical and artificial phenomenon?
You got it! The inevitable perhaps evolution (small "e") of our chemical personalities just happened to create a species with the necessary neuronal biochemistry that supports a "what if...", or "let's question that..." or "if I did this, perhaps things would be more comfortable..." or, most importantly, "I wonder how this works?" mentality.
Now, the other once-predominant sub-species hominid group on this planet, not officially recognized yet, and fading fast, takes the "I don't want to know how this works!" or "someone else can do all my thinking for me" attitude, to their obvious detriment. Having not developed the more useful and functional neural biochemistry, they will eventually go extinct, of course, not being the most adaptable of the two. Like, as science has now shown, the Neanderthals, who unlike dinosaurs, did co-exist with us. We just out-thought them!
It's obvious that few other species even give such curious concepts any time or effort, but the fact that some do, in lesser ways, again shows our human roots & lineage. Great apes making and using tools and permanent nests, Orcas circling herring schools and thus working together to ensure their group survival, dolphins helping to save downed airmen, a insect-eating mammal using a stick to retrieve ants,; all point to cognition and forward thinking.
So, luckily we're creative, imaginative and forward-thinking. And we have learned to write it down, and now, put it all onto the 'net, for all others to see and progress and learn from, cumulatively. The consequences and outcome are then predictable. No God required.
I've posted on this extensively before. By the fact that 90% of the people that have lived believe in a God...proves that our proclivity to have that "feeling" and "belief system" is the best trait to have...it enhances our ability to survive. If it didn't, we wouldn't have evolved to present so prevalently with that trait.
By this we can determine that the "most fit" of our species present with that trait. The "less fit", "weaker" present with the trait of non-belief.
This proves SCIENTIFICALLY...based on all that cool "evolution", "survival of the fittest", and "natural selection" stuff...Atheists are less fit and weaker than Believers.
Nice witnessing Gldrule, but what does this have to do with the OP? There are plenty of xtian threads that you can say atheists should convert. Atheists aren't weaker or less fit. You're forgetting that belief in gods is also a meme(cultural belief) that has been passed down through many generations and become ingrained in humans. There are also countries(ie Denmark, Sweden, Britain, Japan and Norway) where the majority of the population is secular. If belief were the 'most fit' trait then you would expect these countries to be highly religious. This is not so.
Quote:
ATHEISTS--Convert and improve yourselves!!
GldnRule--Deconvert and improve yourself!!
I live a much better and fulfilled life without the belief in god or religion. People whom have social/emotional support(friends, family, social groups) tend to be happier and more satisfied. This isn't exclusive to religion though. There are many atheist meetups and social networks that atheists are a part of. Also numbers don't equal more truth. Also, it's not religion/god that is the dominant trait, it is the traits of cooperation and empathy that allow people to get along. Secular countries fuction very well, many even better than god fearing America.
Last edited by agnostic soldier; 06-06-2010 at 07:31 PM..
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I disagree, our current technology and global economic system proves otherwise. The large banks & corporations only look out for number 1 and they have grown quite successful because of it.
Or maybe it is because of our overpopulation (which is also enabled because of our technology).
And so we advance. Knowledge through chemistry!
