[ecopath] Is eco-destruction genetically based? (book discusssion)

[Brian Bishoff/ Betsy Marshall]

I just read this book and found it disturbing and rather convincing. It doesn't tend to promote empowerment since it claims all our violent and eco-destructive tendencies are an inevitable result of our our unique genetic abilities (altruism is also part of the deal).  according to this author our creative brain allows us to invent not only technologies and complex social organizations but also all sorts of irrational/mystical belief systems which justify the most shortsighted and destructive behavior.  Our hard wired emotional responses allow many of the most intelligent (and most of the less gifted) people to support defense of their tribe, country, economic system, religion, etc. even when there is overwhelming evidence that their way of living/belief system causes great human suffering and environmental devastation.  Do the members of this discussion group believe the hypothesis that we are a "plague species" and that our population will crash in the next century no matter what we as individuals or activist groups do?   Brian -------- Original Message -------- From: "BrainFood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Book Alert!  *Permission to reprint granted! (by Jay Hanson) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is economic theory so screwed-up?   Why do economists invariably assume what they hope to prove?  Or what's even more incredible, why does everyone on the planet seem believe this stupidity?  Obviously, we must answer these questions before we can even hope to solve our collective survival problem. Guess what?  Humans are genetically predisposed to believe in mystics, UFO's, Neoclassical Economic Theory, good-luck charms, etc.!  In short, we evolved to believe in all kinds of gods -- including the Free Market God. Reg Morrison wrote the book I wanted to write.  The forward is written by Lynn Margulis.  Morrison's book is endorsed by E.O. Wilson of Harvard, and Thomas Eisner of Cornell.  If you are ready for some answers, read http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801436516/brainfood.a The Spirit in the Gene : Humanity's Proud Illusion and the Laws of Nature by Reg Morrison, Lynn Margulis Cornell University Press , March 12, 1999 Hardcover - 286 pages (June 1999) Comstock Pub Assoc; ISBN: 0801436516 >From the jacket: >From famines and deforestation to water pollution, global warming, and the rapid rate of extinction of plants and animals -- the extent of the global damage wrought by humankind is staggering. Why have we allowed our environment to reach such a crisis? What produced the catastrophic population explosion that so taxes the earth's resources? Reg Morrison's search for answers led him to ponder our species' astonishing evolutionary success. His extraordinary book describes how a spiritual outlook combined with a capacity for rational thought have enabled Homo sapiens to prosper through the millennia. It convincingly depicts these traits as part of our genetic makeup -- and as the likely cause of our ultimate downfall against the inexorable laws of nature. The book will change the way readers think about human evolution and the fate of our species. Small bands of apes walked erect on the dangerous plains of East Africa several million years ago. Morrison marvels that they not only survived, but migrated to all corners of the earth and established civilizations. To understand this feat, he takes us back to a critical moment when these hominids developed language and with it the unique ability to think abstractly. He shows how at this same time they began to derive increasing advantage from their growing sense of spirituality. He convincingly depicts spirituality as an evolutionary strategy that helped rescue our ancestors from extinction and drive the species toward global dominance. Morrison concludes that this genetically productive spirituality, which has influenced every aspect of our lives, has led us to overpopulate the world and to devastate our own habitats. Sobering, sometimes chilling, consistently fascinating, his book offers a startling new view of human adaptation running its natural course.