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Originally posted by Saka When humans show compassion isn't that going against evolution?

Depends on what you treat as the unit of selection. If the unit of selection is the gene, then such an act is evolutionarily "stupid" because you risk your genes getting shot out of the gene pool. But if the unit of the selection is some kind of group, then it is good for organisms to behave in that way, since such an attitude to caring for others would be good for group survival.

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Originally posted by diggerz Not at all, In fact it's a re-affirmation that humans make greater use of their 'consciousness' than a dog or a fox. If the soldier is willing to risk his life to save a partner, it shows how evolved a species has become. A species that can think outside the realm of self-interest & instead act upon those feelings of 'love' and 'courage', which have distingushed the human race amongst other less consciousness mammals

Thank you.

Imagine humans transcending speech all together and communicating solely through the mind. Instantaneous communication would definitely be an evolutionary jump. To say that consciousness can't evolve is absurd, we hardly know what it is! To be honest, we hardly know what ANYTHING is. Everything is always changing. We have only reached the tip of the iceberg in understanding what we already know.

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Originally posted by Saka When humans show compassion isn't that going against evolution? So, a soldier is injured, and another soldier, without thinking runs out to drag the man to saftey, without a thought to his own survival... Doesn't that go against survival of the fittest, and protecting ones own gene's while eradicating anothers.... Just thoughts.

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for a better understanding of evolution

from my understanding charles darwin drew out how different species would gradually change throughout time to adapt to any given environment on his 'evolution of the species & the voyage of the beagle', a book i've owned for about four years now...

i don't think he discussed 'compassion' and the such, this could be due to the fact that he focused on physical traits (colors, size increment/decrease, ability to perform certain tasks better than others) focused on birds (in it's majority)

the book is fucking big and I didn't read it all, but i don't think Darwin discussed 'compassion', mainly because that's not really a trait that's new to the human species. 'compassion' is a trait of any mammalian mother so it's a given. maybe not.

Compassion depends on the situation. Lots of mammals will kill defective or diseased young...

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Compassion depends on the situation. Lots of mammals will kill defective or diseased young...

duly noted, sir.

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Originally posted by diggerz from my understanding charles darwin drew out how different species would gradually change throughout time to adapt to any given environment on his 'evolution of the species & the voyage of the beagle', a book i've owned for about four years now... i don't think he discussed 'compassion' and the such, this could be due to the fact that he focused on physical traits (colors, size increment/decrease, ability to perform certain tasks better than others) focused on birds (in it's majority) the book is fucking big and I didn't read it all, but i don't think Darwin discussed 'compassion', mainly because that's not really a trait that's new to the human species. 'compassion' is a trait of any mammalian mother so it's a given. maybe not.

agreed, the link I posted is Dawkins talking about Darwin, and covers the misconception of "survival of the fittest" and how altruism is prevelant in a large number of mammals, particularly the ones closest in relation to Humans.
I'd watch all 3 parts if you get a chance, fascinating stuff

yeah, i watched the 1st part and it was really good. for the most part i enjoy bbc documentaries but i wouldn't be able to right now, it's just not my cup of tea on a saturday morning now'wa'm'sayin?

These types of threads are a breath of fresh air. Glad you all enjoyed the essay.