Disrespecting Modernity

[Phage0070]

Originally Posted by Flint

To me, the question is whether we are living in a way that is compatible with our evolutionarily aquired psychological characteristics, i.e. our programming. Because that stuff isn't going to change.

Actually, I have to disagree on this point. One of the hallmarks of sentience is the ability to behave and react in a way not completely governed by evolutionary characteristics. Our intelligence in turn shapes our "programming" as we continue through life. Intelligence allows us to act against our natural instincts and get into a car; it would be lunacy to act in a way "compatible with our evolutionarily aquired psychological characteristics" and flee under a bush to gnaw on a twig or something.

Evolutionary programming changes over time (that is kinda the point), so we should instead make sure that our society is created in a manner beneficial to us in the evolutionary long run. Reward those who create progress, reward those who protect and aid us, and we can expect that 400 years from now those qualities will be in great supply.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Flint

To me, the question is whether we are living in a way that is compatible with our evolutionarily aquired psychological characteristics, i.e. our programming. Because that stuff isn't going to change.

Originally Posted by Phage0070

Actually, I have to disagree on this point. One of the hallmarks of sentience is the ability to behave and react in a way not completely governed by evolutionary characteristics. Our intelligence in turn shapes our "programming" as we continue through life. Intelligence allows us to act against our natural instincts and get into a car; it would be lunacy to act in a way "compatible with our evolutionarily aquired psychological characteristics" and flee under a bush to gnaw on a twig or something.

Evolutionary programming changes over time (that is kinda the point), so we should instead make sure that our society is created in a manner beneficial to us in the evolutionary long run. Reward those who create progress, reward those who protect and aid us, and we can expect that 400 years from now those qualities will be in great supply.

Our evolutionary "programming" has rewarded us with the gift of being highly curious and adaptable; we quickly assimilate new information and thrive under previously unimaginable conditions. This doesn't constiture a departure from our evolutionary traits, rather it is a confirmation of exactly what they are--how we came to be so successful.

We are the same creature, the same design, in our modern culture, as what we have been for longer than it is possible for us to imagine. The lunacy is in assuming that our ancestors were frightened, stupid apes--and this is a dangerous lunacy, because it attributes to us a superiority that we haven't demonstrated and don't deserve.

Learning to speak Portugese, or play the Cello, or juggle chainsaws while riding a unicycle doesn't mean a person has "re-programmed" themself in an evolutionary sense; it means there are more culturally acquired, learned abilities that one has the opportunity to be exposed to.

Verbal, then written, and now electronic exchange of information has accumulated for us a massive stockpile of information that we now have access to, and are exposed to from birth. We aren't "genetically" superior to a primitive hunter gatherer just because he's never seen a TV before.

Evolutionary programming changes over time...

But it doesn't change over a lifetime, or a hundred lifetimes. Evolution s l o w l y grinds out changes over an unimaginably extended period of time.

And unfortunately, as successful as the process of natural selection has been in creating us, we no longer live under a set of circumstances where we are "evolving" towards loftier ambitions and more noble traits. Have you seen the movie Idiocracy?