if we can agree that the continuance of life in general is considered to be good. — CasKev
the good can be highly subjective — Andrew4Handel
There are many planets that have no life on them and we still appreciate them. — Andrew4Handel
Your view seems to depend entirely on the continuation of human consciousness. — Andrew4Handel
People can be discontented with any aspect of existence. (Especially a lack of purpose and meaning). (Me for example) — Andrew4Handel
Throughout its history it has been used in various ways to justify ideologies and actions. The worst examples stem from The Nazis ( "Alles leben ist kampf"), eugenics and communists. This should concern us I think, when a theory can be interpreted in such a damaging way. This is not usually the case with ideas in science such as gravity or Quantum physics. — Andrew4Handel
On one account evolution is deflationary and destructive of purpose and meaning and all action can be seen in the light of attempts at brute survival. I have not heard pf a positive account of evolution although some people talk as if it involved progress which is controversial. — Andrew4Handel
In a trivial way it easy to claim anything we do is ultimately a survival trait regardless of our intentions. i don't like being in service of this system. — Andrew4Handel
As far as being in service to it, I' don't know what that means either, (..). — Reformed Nihilist
Not entirely true. Quantum physics is being interpreted in such ways that basically say "magic is real" and then being used by con artists and hucksters to fleece people — Reformed Nihilist
I don't understand what this means. I have no idea why evolution is destructive of purpose or meaning, unless you are suggesting that purpose and meaning can only come from a creator, and evolution makes the likelihood of a creator less. — Reformed Nihilist
Design makes purpose and meaning somewhat inevitable. A spoon has a purpose and meaning for us. — Andrew4Handel
If we are here solely by chance and with no intention we are here for no reason with no purpose. Any meaning is accidental. — Andrew4Handel
. If we can accept that life really is meaningless, we can shift our focus toward satisfying our instinctive biological needs and desires (food, water, shelter, family, community, procreation). — CasKev
You've already established that purpose is created, not inherent with your spoon analogy. Why is a spoons purpose ok when we create it, but creating purpose for ourselves not ok? — Reformed Nihilist
The theory of evolution by natural selection doesn't imply that all traits are best suited for survival (adaptive). There are non-adaptive traits: — Reformed Nihilist
On one account evolution is deflationary and destructive of purpose and meaning and all action can be seen in the light of attempts at brute survival. — Andrew4Handel
There is professional evolutionary biology: mathematical, experimental, not laden with value statements. But, you are not going to find the answer to the world's mysteries or to societal problems if you open the pages of Evolution or Animal Behaviour. Then, sometimes from the same person, you have evolution as secular religion, generally working from an explicitly materialist background and solving all of the world's major problems, from racism to education to conservation. Consider Edward O. Wilson, rightfully regarded as one of the most outstanding professional evolutionary biologists of our time, and the author of major works of straight science. In his On Human Nature, he calmly assures us that evolution is a myth that is now ready to take over Christianity. And, if this is so, “the final decisive edge enjoyed by scientific naturalism will come from its capacity to explain traditional religion, its chief competition, as a wholly material phenomenon. Theology is not likely to survive as an independent intellectual discipline”.
What implications do you think can be validly be drawn from the theory of evolution?
Throughout its history it has been used in various ways to justify ideologies and actions. The worst examples stem from The Nazis ( "Alles leben ist kampf"), eugenics and communists. This should concern us I think, when a theory can be interpreted in such a damaging way. This is not usually the case with ideas in science such as gravity or Quantum physics.
On one account evolution is deflationary and destructive of purpose and meaning and all action can be seen in the light of attempts at brute survival. I have not heard pf a positive account of evolution although some people talk as if it involved progress which is controversial.
In a trivial way it easy to claim anything we do is ultimately a survival trait regardless of our intentions. i don't like being in service of this system.
I am not keen to save someone from harm just so they can go on and mindlessly reproduce. — Andrew4Handel
That's not 'on one account', — Wayfarer
Evolution does not "imply" anything other than genetic material being produced and distributed through a particular mechanism. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
What implications do you think can be validly be drawn from the theory of evolution? — Andrew4Handel
Survival isn't a good thing? Religion seems to be all about survival, too - the survival of your soul. Believing that you will continue to survive after your death, and behaving in a way to achieve that, isn't much different from running away from a predator to survive.On one account evolution is deflationary and destructive of purpose and meaning and all action can be seen in the light of attempts at brute survival. I have not heard pf a positive account of evolution although some people talk as if it involved progress which is controversial. — Andrew4Handel
I'm not too keen on being in service to some entity that created me just for me to be indebted to it for all eternity. Neither one of us was asked what kind of system we'd like to be born into, nor guaranteed that the system we are born into would be something that we like.In a trivial way it easy to claim anything we do is ultimately a survival trait regardless of our intentions. i don't like being in service of this system. — Andrew4Handel
We don't "mindlessly" reproduce. Many animals don't reproduce when resources are scarce.I am not keen to save someone from harm just so they can go on and mindlessly reproduce. — Andrew4Handel
We don't "mindlessly" reproduce. Many animals don't reproduce when resources are scarce. — Harry Hindu
Survival isn't a good thing? Religion seems to be all about survival, too - the survival of your soul. Believing that you will continue to survive after your death, and behaving in a way to achieve that, isn't much different from running away from a predator to survive. — Harry Hindu
What is the point of reproducing? — Andrew
I'm not too keen on being in service to some entity that created me just for me to be indebted to it for all eternity. — Harry Hindu
But it shows this desire to encroach on everything with evolutionary motives. — Andrew
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