Discussion»Questions»Science and Technology» If cockroaches are only species to survive nuclear annihilation, do you think could be evolution into human species over millions of years?
Very unlikely...They could possible evolve into the top predator on this planet ,but it's highly unlikely they would resemble humans... Im pretty sure somewhere out there in the universe that there are other life forms that resemble humans and every other life forms living or growing on our planet.... If the gravity or type of air they have or even the quality of the water ,it will all have a drastic effect on how what ever grows or lives will be or even looks like.... It could even be that they use to look like us ,but over time have evolved into something entirely different ,maybe mo so if wars ,famine ,pollution or pestulace has changed their planet to slowly over the years...
Hmm. It's harder for very bright people. Let's say you, Element 99, have an IQ of 130 or above. I reckon that could be probable. That would put you in the top 2% of the population. Which would mean that 98 out of every 100 people are dumber than you. And if that's the case, naturally it would seem that stupid breeds with stupid. But consider this - how many smart people get the chance to meet and have kids with someone as smart as themselves? Even though the numbers of very smart people are equal between men and women, there is still a tendency for smart men to prefer less smart women. This means very bright women have a tougher time finding a partner or have to pretend to be less bright than they are. And a larger number of dumb men end up not finding a woman willing to have their kids.
Then there are the statistics which show all kinds of odd things. Two low IQ parents can give birth to a kid brighter than themselves, while two very bright parents will have exactly the same proportion of mentally defective babies as the rest of the population. And actual intelligence has less to do with genes than with environment and early opportunities.
I don't think humanity is devolving. I think it's on a crash course to self-annihilation along with the rest of life on this planet via global warming. That's a special kind of stupidity - denial - the unwillingness to face global facts and deal with them on an individual and local level. It really should be considered a crime and a sin to pollute nature.
This post was edited by inky at February 14, 2020 8:21 AM MST
Thank you - but even the pleasure I feel in hearing that is proof to me that I'm still far short of the mark. I haven't reached that wonderful state yet. If there's one thing I'd like to attain before I die it is wisdom. Right now, I'm as likely as the next person to make mistakes in my first impressions about others. I still make foolish choices from time to time and usually don't realise it 'til it's too late and then it's a race to patch things up. I frequently have to rely on research, thinking and evaluation and how to apply basic principles of ethics to complex situations. I rarely experience intuition. Often I have to reign in my emotions. It's never easy.
I would define wisdom as knowing how to behave in a way that supports the well-being of life and choosing to do so at every opportunity. It mostly comes down to understanding how people tick and how they relate and then trying to respond appropriately. In my life at home with Ari, I fall short of the mark every day. Amid friends, I make frequent mistakes, though (thankfully) rarely serious ones. I spend a bit of time at the end of every day in review - which helps me learn. As a would-be writer, I struggle with my characters and plots. I'm sure a wiser person would find it easier.
Examples of people I call wise: Buddha, Lao Tsu, Solzenytsin, Koestler, Chomsky, Singer. Not an easy mark to meet. I highly doubt that I'll ever achieve their depths of insight into human nature and social behaviours.
I've never heard of any of those six people you talk of....Mostly I take a leaf out of my parents and grand parents books if I feel I need any good advice....Sir David Attenborough as well has always had a strong influence on me to...I cannot fault any of his thinking... I watched a program on China and its great rivers and the dams it built and currently still building.... There are for sure to many people being born there and they are devastating the fish population with the dams that stop fish returning to their spawning grounds and nomatter how tiny the fish they catch ,they eat them.... It said also the streams that feed these gaint rivers are all drying up.... I dread to think what things will be like in another hundred years ,Starvation for the masses are almost certain I think... Maybe Solent Green will be the only way of getting protein eventually and we will all have to become cannninbals to survive..... In the Himalayas they take their dead up mountains and break open human bodies and feed them to the vultures....It might sound horrid ,but nomatter how we are disposed of ,we will eventually be/ get eaten by something...
I watch all of Attenborough's films many times each -- LOVE his work. What a brilliant way to spend a life -- vividly presenting the discoveries of scientists about the natural world and its critical and dynamic balances, and its vital importance.
Solent green in space-age synthesised mock-meat, fish and poultry, fleshy textured & flavoured... Insects fried crisp and salty, dipped in chocolate or dissolved in curries... Soya bean products by the billions of tons... if we're lucky.
Nice Jugs, sadly, I think you're right about the potentially catastrophic near future. Predictions show an exponential curve in the anticipated rate of change. This year, we've passed the tipping point for a relatively slow rate of change. From now on, the rate of acceleration accelerates. It's a continual feedback loop with no drainage plug. And the only thing that can slow it is a global effort on a scale far larger than any agrarian, industrial, or IT revolution we've seen in the past. Businesses and farmers are recognising the need for change and starting already. Thousands of people (hippies and alternatives) have been converting to greener lifestyles for the last forty years and, in the last ten years, the uptake of solar technologies has suddenly boomed. But it's the governments who could help the most if only they'd pull their fingers out. Which means it's up to us, the voters, to put massive pressure on the politicians irrespective of which "side" they're on. You're one of the luckiest - at least in Britain global warming has been seen as a factual universal issue, not a partisan-belief - meaning the UK is now far ahead in its contributions toward combatting greenhouse gas emissions. You may be among the ones who survive better and for longer.
Guy Macpherson was Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. He's written 16 books on ecological topics since 1990. A list appears on his website, Nature Bats Last. There, one can access his major essay which collates the research of eco-scientists around the world, and which shows exactly why he believes scientist have been extremely conservative in their forecasts.
This post was edited by inky at February 17, 2020 5:43 PM MST
All governments worldwide are basically controlled by big businesses I think....When ever governments take control ,every thing becomes a major cock up ,messed up and ruined by bureaucracy and fools given top jobs because of who they know and not because of thier knowledge and what they are capable of. What will happen if China or any other huge country runs out of fuel, food ,places to build homes ....will they then look around for other countries to pillage .. Blue Gold will be the next thing people will be fighting over...I don't think the world will ever be free of armed conflicts ,big or small
One of the advantages of being in that 2% is being intelligent enough to figure out how to marry an attractive, cultured, equally intelligent woman who is as interested in being a mother as I am in being a father.
It's worked very well for going on 39 years so far.
I think it would be unlikely. Due to Earth's gravity, exoskeletons cannot work at sizes large enough to permit the evolution of complex brains. It takes an internal skeleton to get the necessary size.
Maybe via evolutionary process and time* these insects could develop into many thousands of different kinds of species and eventually into some kind of primitive animal and continue till reaching a basic primate type.
Yes Cockroaches are said to be unaffected by nuclear radiation, and Scorpions and Nematodes too. But when we are gone, yes, probably by our own hand in some way or other, we should hope that any subsequent highly evolved lifeform, in the remaining period of this planet's existence, will be nothing like humans. We are the last kind of deadly destructive parasite any planet needs.
There will only be cockroaches and Cher. And maybe Marshmallow "Peeps". Realistically though, if one has Cher what more could one need. Long may she reign!