Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum Evolution of intincts....Whats next?

Humans I think have only gotten to where we are due to our great capacity for memory...and language. Yes with those 2 things...BOOM, the dawn of man! Our instincts then were not only from our genes...but language. NO more natural selection! Now with thousands of years of recorded history to teach man his lessons; the wholeness of our difference from animal is the evolution of instinct!

Whats next? Maybe a universal language? If we could read anothers mind ... then maybe would man evolve into something even better!

I think your premise is flawed as you have greatly simplified a great deal of complexity and as Einstein said: "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler." Unfortunately this is what you have done.

Memory and language do not form in a vacuum. There is a recursive relationship required between the ability to do something and the need to do it. They strengthen or weaken each other.

DA Morgan

Im afraid you missed the conjure of my arguement.

Instincts were changed with language in an unforseen effect. That is the affect of recorded history. To give man his instincts from not soley on his genes, and own experiences, but on others experiences IE the developement of history, which gives us thousands of years of instinct.

That was the evolution of man that sets us apart. The contribution of language, and the ability to use language let us pass lessons on from generation to generation. New lessons were given without that experience that another saw, and gave man AN EVOLUTIONIZED SYSTEM OF INSTINCTS.

Sorry but your definition ignores the standard definition of that which constitutes an instinct. If you stop abusing, or misusing, the word instincts then a fruitful discussion may be possible.

By definition, in biology, an instinct is NOT a learned behaviour.

yes, i see what you mean...i should of elaborated more

Animal instinct is natural in their nature, but since Humans developed language as well as a written language, which made recorded history possible. Then it resulted in something other than instinct...something better ....a more proficient way of surviving...Now instinct was of a different kind. A learned behavior.

Did that clear anything?

I'll tell you what's next! Every one will have photographic memories. Androids will be created and will be used to perform all tasks humans are too afraid to do (due to their instincts). A form of communication will be made that is MUCH faster than language. e.g. a brainwave transmitter. This way, memories can be transferred in detail.

Instincts are automatic, pre-programmed actions/responses to stimuli.

You're not saying that an individual's memory or learned behaviors get passed on to the next generation as an instinct. You're saying that an individual's memory and learned behaviors can be taught to the next generation. Those are very different concepts.

But yes, you're right insofar as memories and learning can be taught to successive generations, thereby permitting mankind to grow its fund of knowledge and behaviors.

This is not exactly earthshaking news. Did you have a point?

we destroyed any real purity of our gene pool when we started advancing medical science it was out emotions that got the better of us, when a child is born with a disease that with out medical help would probably kill it we find some new way to stop it thus totally disrupting the plan of nature where the Sick and the stupid are killed of ending some genetic traits of sickness or stupidity and leaving a nice mix of relatively adept organisms.
we are not really formidable as a foe/predator by ourselves, we evolved as a social animal and for social behaviours we need a way of communication, we have evolved to have a wide variety of methods for exchanging information, its just another attribute that came along with having a moderately advanced brain capable of abstract thought

as for what is next, I think it is no longer up to nature to change us into something better, we will have the ability to increase our sensory perception with the aid of technology, I kind of accelerated evolution, I think the age of "cyborgs" is on the horizon I just hope our biological brain can learn enough and keep up with the advances with out limiting the abilities of the machines grafted to us
"edit no.1"

Xennos wrote:
"we destroyed any real purity of our gene pool when we started advancing medical science"

Unless you are one of those children that believes in fairy tales like Adam and Eve ... there has never been a purity of gene pool in any species that survives today.

DA

The context of Xennos's post suggests that purity refers to a darwinian cleansing of the weak and unlucky.

Xennos

Your observation is 10,000 years (+/-) behind. Man has been directing his own development from the dawn of civilization. We taught ourselves science and flew to the moon and back. We taught ourselves to live and work together such that X billion of us can exist together. We taught ourselves religion.

Some mistakes have been made on the way.

Instinct would get us none of this, and survival of the fittest would not have allowed Stephen Hawking to keep writing.

Jack J.

You may well be right about Xennos but on a re-read I am not convinced. With respect to Dr. Hawking ... he is the poster boy for why cleaning up the gene pool is not in our best interest.

DA Morgan quotes Einstein:

"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler."

This must have something out of contex or from a page of Relativity. If you make something as simple as possible how could you make it any simpler even if you tried? It reminds me of the line about "kicking a dead horse" so I guess I missed something.

jw

What that quote means, jjw, is that one should try to make things as simple as possible to actually explain the observations, WITHOUT making it so simple that there are observations that it now fails to explain.

Thank you TFF.
I get it but it sits a little strange with me.
jjw

Alternative:

Things should not be more complicated than necessary to explain observations.
jjw