On Wednesday 15 April, 09 6:19 PM Krimel writes: <snip> [Krimel] I would say the humans have added almost nothing in terms of social evolution. Our social behavior differs very little from the behavior of other primate species. We organize ourselves into small groups and live within socially prescribed dominance hierarchies. We have similar patterns of rearing our young and interacting, similar emotional responses. There has been a great deal of interest in how and why humans have developed the unique intellectual skills that our species does seem, uniquely to possess. There is no universal agreement but Platt for example, is just mistaken to suggest that the matter has not and is not being studied. Among William James great contributions to psychology was his emphasis on Darwinian theory and the importance of the function that behaviors and patterns of thinking serve. His lasting legacy in the field of psychology is found in evolutionary psychology that has had a big resurgence in recent years. Steven Pinker, Michael Shermer and Michael Tomasello are among the many mainstream writers who have brought this to the public in recent years. But I take your point to be that evolution at higher levels depends utterly on stability at lower levels. If the average annual surface temperature of our planet varied even slightly from what it has been over the past several million years, we would see very different life forms here now. It is this particular static range of fluctuation that gives rise to the life we see about us.
Hi Krimel and all¹ Compare the surface of the Sun to the surface of Earth. I would surmise that the Earth evolved before the Sun, and cooled down so that the surface is firm enough to support organic life. I don¹t think Beethoven heard the music of the planet in his later life. Joe On 4/15/09 6:19 PM, "Krimel" <[email protected]> wrote: > [Krimel] > I would say the humans have added almost nothing in terms of social > evolution. Our social behavior differs very little from the behavior of > other primate species. We organize ourselves into small groups and live > within socially prescribed dominance hierarchies. We have similar patterns > of rearing our young and interacting, similar emotional responses. There has > been a great deal of interest in how and why humans have developed the > unique intellectual skills that our species does seem, uniquely to possess. > There is no universal agreement but Platt for example, is just mistaken to > suggest that the matter has not and is not being studied. Among William > James great contributions to psychology was his emphasis on Darwinian theory > and the importance of the function that behaviors and patterns of thinking > serve. His lasting legacy in the field of psychology is found in > evolutionary psychology that has had a big resurgence in recent years. > Steven Pinker, Michael Shermer and Michael Tomasello are among the many > mainstream writers who have brought this to the public in recent years. > > But I take your point to be that evolution at higher levels depends utterly > on stability at lower levels. If the average annual surface temperature of > our planet varied even slightly from what it has been over the past several > million years, we would see very different life forms here now. It is this > particular static range of fluctuation that gives rise to the life we see > about us. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
