Are human beings an evolutionary mistake?

[Cyrano]

After a mere handful of millennia of inhabiting this planet, I believe we are still as primitive as we were when we lived in caves and killed each other with clubs.

We’ve advanced in the arts and sciences, but our main accomplishment has been to invent more sophisticated ways in which to kill each other.

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans made tremendous strides in the arts and sciences, but also in methods of carrying out war and inflicting death.

Over time came The Crusades, The Inquisition, countless wars of conquest, revolutions and civil wars. And finally came the insane slaughterhouses of WWI and WWII, ending with the dropping of nuclear weapons on cities filled with civilians.

Today, we are called “The most powerful country in the world.” That title has been bestowed on us because of our military might and our nuclear arsenal. However, during the 20th Century, we moved humanity forward scientifically, and with plans such as social security, the minimum wage, the right to unionize, Medicare, Medicaid, the civil rights act, the voting rights act, and so much more. And in the meantime, we also managed to put a man on the moon. Almost all of this was accomplished by progressive people acting int the best interests of human beings.

But for the past few decades, we have seen the return of the Huns of death and destruction, tearing down what was built. It seems that for every step we take forward, we take two, three, or ten backward. Today’s cavemen rule, not with clubs, but with the power of the state. Surveillance, fear, invented threats, the exploitation of ignorance, bigotry and ancient hatreds are their weapons of choice.

Today, we are on the verge of perhaps the most momentous election in our lifetimes. If a Democrat wins, I don’t expect the world to suddenly become sane overnight. But think how many steps backward we would be taking if we lose.

Either way, it will probably be at least a few more centuries before humanity outgrows its love affair with death and destruction. The problem is that we might not have that much time left. So I guess my question is: Is the human species a product of evolution that just didn't work out?

On edit: If the "Intelligence Design (i.e., fundies) are correct, at least we'll have someplace to lay the blame other than ourselves.

[ItNerd4life]

1. Answer: No, we aren't a mistake

You mentioned history, but missed out on what I consider key points.
1000 years ago torture was done by all countries. Now, it's limited to 1/2 the countries.
200 years ago, blacks weren't considered human by 90% of the population. Now, it's only 10% or so.
100 years ago, women weren't considered equal to men by 90% of the people. Now it's only 50% or so.
40 years ago, humans were considering nuclear war and wiping us off the face of the earth. We've realized that was a stupid way of looking at things.

Over time, things slowly improve and get better. I don't think it will be a few more centuries till we outgrow our love affair with death & destruction, I think it will be thousands of years. But we are a young species on the evolutionary scale, we still have hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of years till we reach middle age.

Besides, it makes life fun and interesting living through the species infant years.

[Cyrano]

15. I agree with much of what you have said. HOWEVER...

I really don't consider Auschwitz and the other death camps part of the "fun and interesting living through the species infant years."

[slackmaster]

30. Evolution is change in the frequency of alleles in a population over time

It has no will, no long-term goals, and can't make "mistakes".

Over time, things slowly improve and get better.

That is not necessarily true.

[Angela Shelley]

2. The population of the USA makes up about 5%

of the world´s population.

Most of the world´s population is extremely sane and has already outgrown its love affair with death and destruction.

[Bobbieo]

9. Angela- Please tell that to the women of the Middle East and Africa.

[Angela Shelley]

36. Hi Bobbieo ... to avoid a misunderstanding

I was only trying to point out that most of the people on this planet are sane, not obsessed with death and destruction. Most people seek for comfort and enjoyment and peace.

Yes, unfortunately there are still too many victims.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

27. are you kidding

Tell women / no muslims in the middle east
Political dissidents in China
victims of the Khmer Rouge
Members of Lower Caste in India
Aboriginals in Australia
Minority Tribes in Africa

About the only really stable place in the world is Europe and they own that stability to two things

1) Exhaustion from starting most of the big wars over the past 200 years
2) Built up wealth from raping the world for hundreds of years

[Angela Shelley]

37. Hi DadOf2LittleAngels ... to avoid a misunderstanding

I was only trying to point out that most of the people on this planet are sane, not obsessed with death and destruction. Most people seek for comfort and enjoyment and peace.

Yes, unfortunately there are still too many victims.

[rockymountaindem]

38. Oh please

Practically every country has had some kind of violent conflict in the last 100 years. Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe have all had violent struggles in the past 15 years, some of which are still going on now. Get real.

[niyad]

3. well, SOME of them certainly seem to be.

[Kashka-Kat]

4. What do you mean by "mistake" - we like all species are a work in progress

What once ensured our survival now threatens it. Like the dinosaurs its likely the remnants of homo sapiens would evolve into something else over time.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. "evolutionary" mistake:

Darwin wrote, "Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations; (mistakes) she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps."

On "Intelligent Design" I see no point in them blaming God for human mistakes.

[FlyingSquirrel]

6. For myself, I can only think of the Far Side cartoon

where the bottle drops out of the clouds, two humans escape, a deer looks up - startled - and a voice from above is saying: "Uh Oh."

(It's difficult to find this kind of stuff on the internet, and Gary Larson thinks of them as his children - http://www.portmann.com/farside/ - so probably better not to actually try and dig it up and post it. Most have seen it anyway.)

[Cyrano]

34. Gary Larson is a genious. I don't know why he quit doing "The Far Side."

[Johonny]

7. No

Most of evolutionary history is evolution of more creative ways to eat and avoid getting eaten. Weapons and violence aren't the only ways to win and as other posters pointed out Human society does appear to be evolving other evolutionary solutions. Humans society allows for strong Lamarckian evolution through culture and thus what appears a more alarming rate than most other animals for which change only comes from Darwinian evolution. Needless to say the Duckbill wasn't happy to see the T-Rex pop around regardless of it's politics.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. America's time is over.

And we are not an evolutionary mistake, regarding either humanity or America. We have certainly abused everything enough to justify the loss of our "greatness", but the potential is still there for said greatness.

Bush giving China so many IOUs makes me wonder with a very small corner of my mind, if they'll "help" us the way they "helped" Tibet. Is our karma as bad as Tibets?

[pitohui]

10. well evolution is a chance thing, it's not about mistakes

that said, considering the massive extinction of species of higher animals and plants, it would have certainly been better for the planet if we had never existed

most of human history is the story of pain and misery, as bad as lower middle class and poor people have it in the usa, it's even worse in much of the world, especially africa, where it seems that the wild is literally being eaten to the last thorn tree (of course, people can't eat thorn, so the goats eat it, and then people eat the goats, and then it's just the sand blowing around, a desert)

in kenya, considered an economic powerhouse of east africa compared to uganda and tanzania, people are chopping each other up with machetes over who belongs to what tribe -- and that is considered one of the relatively advanced african nations! there are others where people are still living in mud huts without clean water or electricity

i don't know what to tell you, the majority of people in the majority of places in the world and for the majority of history have lived in terrible miserable circumstances, so that we have badly injured the planet and yet there are relatively few of us who even have happy meaningful healthy lives to show for it

if that isn't a "mistake" somehow, i don't know what is

if you have the resources, you have at least the duty to be happy and to enjoy life and try to make those around you a little bit happier -- otherwise we are still paying a horrible cost in human and animal lives and yet for what?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. The mistake is that we humans like to think we're the peak of evolution.

Which is merely a way of telling ourselves that we're important in the cosmos.

[GaYellowDawg]

12. LOL, far from it.

Evolution isn't concerned with any kind of morality. An evolutionary success is an organism that thrives in multiple environments and has a high chance of succeeding to the next generation. We're generalists, are highly adaptable, and breed like there's no tomorrow. In terms of evolution, humans are a tremendous success at the present time. We're on every continent and are the apex predator in virtually every environment. Whether we're a short-term or a long-term success is yet to be determined.

[immoderate]

13. Evolution is doing what evolution does.

We either survive or we don't.

--IMM

[spin]

14. To travel to the stars,

our civilization has to pass the test. The technology required for interstellar travel will destroy us if we are not mature enough to overcome our aggression.

When I study history I find that war does appear to the natural state of man. The art of warfare has led to many advances in science and knowledge. Perhaps we would still live in grass huts and caves if not for our aggressive drive and our desire for conquest and power.

We do seem to be making some progress in philosophy but I fear we have a long way to go before we no longer fear the dogs of war. As the ability to produce nuclear weapons (and other weapons of mass destruction) spreads to more and more countries the fate of our civilization will become questionable.

Perhaps flying saucers are merely anthropologists from some other star system observing and recording our progress or failure. Might make an interesting series for their Discovery Channel.

[aikoaiko]

16. I don't what you're really asking?

There are no evolutionary mistakes; traits are or are not.

[leftofthedial]

17. mistake? no.

Disaster is more like it.

[iamthebandfanman]

18. im not sure evolution still applies to human beings

seeing as we have anointed ourselves masters of our habitat or environment.

being in weather/climate controlled settings every day, having machines do things for us(even simplistic tasks), and of course our ability to get whatever we want when we want it....

the industrial revolution flipped the chip on evolution...

which is why it seems like we are de-evolving.

[mmonk]

19. Lately

[LeftinOH]

20. Not a mistake, but still evolving through the 'overkill' traits.. maybe in a few

more millennia.

[bryant69]

21. Anybody who answers "No" isn't paying attention

And I think it is pessimistic to think it will take a "few more centuries before humanity outgrows its love affair with death and destruction." Surely it would be better if we wiped our miserable race off the face of the earth well before then?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. Anybody who answers "yes" doesn't understand evolution.

There are no mistakes in evolution, no fixes, no goals. There is only evolution.

And drop the melodrama.

Sheesh.

[bryant69]

25. When people are talking about mistakes they aren't talking about moral mistakes

They are talking about non-adventageous evolutions. The goal of evolution, in so far as an abstract concept can have a goal, is the continuance of life on earth. Humans have proven to be a hazard to the continuation of life on earth.

Bryant

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. Yeah, I know.

It's still underlines unfortunate misconceptions about evolution.

But then, this is the U.S. I don't expect much.

[bryant69]

28. Humans of all races are pretty much ass holes.

Americans are certainly assholes as I prove on a regular basis, but I've never seen any evidence that any other race is less asshole-y than the US.

Bryant

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. Certainly.

But Americans recieve an appallingly low level of science education, particularly w/ regard to evolution in K-12.

[bryant69]

32. Well that is probably part of evolution's plan to wipe out humanity

Keep key facts from Americans, the most powerful tribe, the most likely to actually wipe out everybody.

Evolution's a genius!

Bryant

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. That sneaky random mutation and natural selection.

You never know what it's got up its sleeve.

[tinrobot]

35. It's not about continuance of life on earth.

It's about life adapting to the current conditions... on earth, or wherever.

When climate changes, a meteor hits the planet, or a supervolcano explodes, it affects the survivability of certain species. They go extinct and new species arise to adapt to the new environment. We're here only because other species died off.

These days, we're certainly affecting the environment of the planet, and a because of that, a lot of species are going extinct. New species will arise to fill the void. One example is the cockroach. If it weren't for humans and their heated buildings, cockroaches couldn't survive in cold places, such as New York. Because we have cities that change the environment, cockroaches thrive.

So, essentially, we're good for cockroaches, bad for pandas.

[GaYellowDawg]

41. Evolution has no goals.

None.

Evolution is a phenomenon. It is no more goal-oriented than, say, gravity.

[AngryAmish]

23. If you look at the science, mankind is becoming more peaceful, not warlike

I recommend to you the book "Before the Dawn". It is a look at the current state of evolutionary science re humankind.

We like to think we are more warlike and have higher rates of violence. A look at the evidence is just the opposite. "Stone age" or hunter-gatherer societies had a much higher rate of interpersonal violence than modern societies. Throughout humankind the "stone age" peoples are treated badly by more civilized people. Mostly it is because the less developed people are tremendously violent (some blaming the victim here but it is true). This is true throughout the world (see what the Bantu speaking folks think of the Khosi (Bushmen) people. Hundreds of millions of people were killed in the Holocaust, various Chinese civil wars, Gulag, Killing Fields, etc. The rate would have been much higher if we were hunter-gatherers. This peacefulness is shown on our skulls. The majority of humans have much thinner skulls (room for more brains) than those of just a few thousand years ago.

Bottom line: we are literally evolving away from violence as we speak.

(as for cites, that is too long a job and I gotta do some work).

[tinrobot]

24. There are no mistakes... though there are extinctions.

We could very easily make ourselves extinct, and evolution would still continue.

Maybe the dolphins will take over when we're gone.

[Mountainman]

31. I see a contridiction in you question. Evolution is not planned so how can it be

a mistake or not a mistake?

[Dr. Strange]

40. Exactly. The irony is...

this is a question for Intelligent Design, not Science.

[ReadTomPaine]

39. There are no mistakes in evolutionary biology, just dead ends. n/t

[deaniac21]

42. After reading your post I felling strongly that some are.