I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome. Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive, for both ourselves (e.g. sugar cravings) and for those around us (e.g. the impulses in this article).
I don't disagree with you, but it's profound to think our goal is to evolve to no longer be human. Perhaps machine intelligence will be the better version of ourselves; we're just the bootstrap code.
I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome. Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive, for both ourselves (e.g. sugar cravings) and for those around us (e.g. the impulses in this article).
That is a truly deep thought, I love it. I also think it's begging for clarity - it's right and wrong at the same time depending on what we're talking about.
Whether our "natural" impulses are destructive, they were evolutionary advantages when it comes to pure survival for long periods of history. Craving sugar was a good thing until the last century. The sexual impulses that lead to higher mating success are also evolutionary advantages despite their being destructive and socially unacceptable.
There are known parallels in humans to what this article is talking about. The book "Sperm Wars" mentions many of them https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperm_Wars The authors go to great lengths to denounce violent behavior, but nonetheless discuss the evolutionary advantages of some behaviors that we do not allow socially.
Most people spend a great deal of time fighting their impulses in order to behave in a proper socialized manner: go to work, be nice, clean up, call your mom, don't procrastinate, etc.
The really frustrating part is that people that do not behave in a 'proper' way often seem to get way ahead in life. No such thing as a just world.
Economics and game theory tell us that into all systems, a bit of suckage must come. If you take a subversive look at the history of the United States, it would seem that groups of people here all lift themselves out of poverty through a combination of entrepreneurship and shameless graft/cheating/crime. I don't think the US has been free of some kind of group strife / domestic terrorism since the 2nd presidential administration. That's also when one political side accusing the other side of being horrible people who would bring about the end of the nation started.
The older I get, the more Stratfor's geographic interpretation of history and geopolitics makes sense.
I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome. Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive, for both ourselves (e.g. sugar cravings) and for those around us (e.g. the impulses in this article).
Look forward to the day? Religion (for whatever its faults) figured this out a long time ago. Man (by which I mean humans) is inherently sinful, though we are intelligent enough to recognize it and be responsible for it. It takes work, guidance, and discipline to live a righteous life.
My long-term lover enjoys being slapped, choked, and generally degraded during sex. Doing these actions increases the amount of mating we indulge in. Through this effect, I too find myself conditioned to sexual arousal in these circumstances, noticeably increasing the extent of my tumescence.
There are plenty of other females out there who desire similar treatment. Perhaps humans are not so different to baboons in this regard?
Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive Tribalism is easily the most destructive of our impulses, especially in the way in which it can interact with ideology. Through ideology, such tribal impulses can camouflage their own effects and short circuit the "better angels of our nature" to excuse the dehumanization end even the slaughter of the out group. I think that's the last great barrier t…
>If humankind ever destroys itself, in all likelihood, some group will have ideologically convinced itself that it should do so for some incredibly noble reasons. You mean like the people commenting here advocating replacing us with AI?
Pretty much anyone on the internet that gets traction is using outrage to spread their message. Since the emotions that cause viral spread on the internet are only outrage, lust, and awe, some huge whopping fraction of all communications on the internet through social media results in positions so extreme, someone eventually basically advocates destroying the human race or some large swathe of it.
It's like Godwin's Law. It's most certainly related to that, come to think of it.
Most people spend a great deal of time fighting their impulses in order to behave in a proper socialized manner: go to work, be nice, clean up, call your mom, don't procrastinate, etc.
The really frustrating part is that people that do not behave in a 'proper' way often seem to get way ahead in life. No such thing as a just world.
You've seen the rate of A (improper ways) given B (success), but that doesn't tell us about the rate of B given A.
I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome. Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive, for both ourselves (e.g. sugar cravings) and for those around us (e.g. the impulses in this article).
Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive Tribalism is easily the most destructive of our impulses, especially in the way in which it can interact with ideology. Through ideology, such tribal impulses can camouflage their own effects and short circuit the "better angels of our nature" to excuse the dehumanization end even the slaughter of the out group. I think that's the last great barrier t…
Indeed. Nationalism, playing the man instead of the ball, blindness to hypocrisy because "the other side does it", whataboutery, and all round aversion to principles and reasoning. It long predates social media, but social media makes it worse, and the dilution of a basic consensus source of truth into fragmented tribe-truths - I don't know where it leads but it's not a good place. Soon, whatever deluded tribe gets their hands on the rudder will drive the ship of state until it hits the rocks of reality.
I've been thinking of this as a sci-fi concept recently. On Star Trek all the other races have this singular defining trait, vulcans are logical, klingons are warriors, ferengi are greedy. The defining trait of humans is going against their natural impulses. We evolved from violent savage apes yet strive toward peace. Some choose veganism. Others choose celibacy.
Wasn't Captain Kirk the one always going with his gut instinct? The Vulcans were once an extremely emotional and violent race. Their logical traits are the result of generations of disciplined mastery over their natural impulses.
I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome. Our "natural" biological impulses are often incredibly destructive, for both ourselves (e.g. sugar cravings) and for those around us (e.g. the impulses in this article).
> I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is, to a large extent, something to be overcome.
I look forward to the day a majority of people realize that our biology is something that cannot be overcome. You work with mother nature or you get crushed by her. Those are the only choices available to us.