Evolutionists! Round Two!?

Question

Hello again...friends....I have a serious question about evolution. If the evolutionary process eliminates things that aren't neccessary or useful, why do human beings have the capacity for higher thought, unneccesary to survival? And please, I implore you, don't refer me to websites, I want to hear from you.

Oh, insults, how suprising. And honestly, miss or maam or whatever you are, I understand evol;ution as much as anyone can understand an unjustrified theory that has become a religion. Finally, if we need higher thought to survive, how did "cave men" survive, with supposedly primitive brains, for thousands upon thousands of years?

Answer 1

Are you suggesting that the capacity for higher thought is unnecessary for survival? Maybe that's why you are having so much trouble getting your tiny brain around the idea of evolution...lol... Best wishes


You didn't say the possession of higher thought...you said the capacity for higher thought. Cave men had the same capacity for higher thought, that's how they developed tools, and new techniques for survival... without the capacity for higher thought we would NOT have evolved at all. I didn't mean my answer to be insulting to you, but maybe it was necessary.

Answer 2

You have a misconception about evolution:

"If the evolutionary process eliminates things that aren't neccessary or useful"

It does not eliminate things that are uncessary or useful. Consider the appendix and wisdom teeth in humans. They are unecessary and not useful.

Evolution is a natural process by which living things survive via natural selection. What this means is a living thing acquires traits that ensure its survival to maturity so that it can reproduce and carry its genes on to the next generation.

The traits that enhance survival become dominant, traits that do not enhance survival are eventually eliminated in time. Since living things evolve, there are oddities like the appendix or wisdom teeth that do not enhance survival but still exist because of the genetic link to a previous ancestor.

You can find many unneccesary and useless things on many living things, but overall you'll see that most living things are pretty well adapted to their respective environments, and that is why they continue to thrive and have not gone extinct.

As such, it's evident that life was not the result of an intelligent designer. For example, engineers do not put unused parts in cars. Everything has a purpose. In living things, you'll find all sorts of useless things that hang around because of ancient ancestry.

Answer 3

Intelligence is indeed a successful adaptation, a trait that has allowed humans to expand out of their original range in Africa and adapt themselves to a wide variety of different climates through the use of technology and modifying their environment.

It has also allowed humans to essentially build their own ecosystem, and spread this adaptation over the entire globe and even beyond the Earth itself. This is something no other species has been able to do.

The human brain is indeed an energy intensive adaptation, taking huge amounts of food, and blood to keep nourished, and the development time to impart cultural and technological learning into the juvenile Homo sapiens sapiens gives them the longest juvenile period of any living species. The human brain would definitely be an evolutionary disadvantage if it did not provide a larger advantage to the species that possesses it.

Many other species have been quite successful without intelligence, but humans have used their exceedingly large brain and capacity for rational thought to transform hostile regions into areas that they can thrive in, and have become quite successful with this evolutionary development. They have carved themselves the unique ecological niche as a sentient creature using nothing but this brain.

I seriously doubt that anyone could call the obvious successes that Homo sapiens sapiens has had using its brain as an adaptation that is not useful. Since it is useful to the survival of the species, natural selection has developed the trait to the level seen today.

Answer 4

It doesn't eliminate things that aren't necessary or useful. It reduces the frequency of characteristics that are detrimental to survival.

You need to be referred to websites frankly, your understanding of the mechanisms involved in biological evolution is flawed.

Our capacity for higher thought is our only real biological specialization, well, that and being able to walk for long distances. The ability to plan and predict cyclic occurrences or behavioral patterns of food animals relies on higher brain functions.

Succeeding in a competitive social structure is greatly aided by the ability to out think rivals for food, breeding rights and other privileges that greatly improve the odds of survival of an individual or their genes.

Abstract thought allows a deeper understanding of ones environs than simple observation alone would allow.

Answer 5

Higher thought is a byproduct of a more evolved brain. As I'm sure you've noticed, the human being is neither the fastest, strongest, or deadliest creature in the world. Higher thought process is what kept us from being dinner. Can't outrun the cheetah that wants to eat us, build a cheetah trap. Bear wants to maul us? Learn to hide in a shelter. Sharks want to eat us, learn to build a boat.

Answer 6

actually, it is necessary for us to do higher degree of thinking.
we do not have talons, fangs, or tough skin like armadillos or even particularly good hearing/sight or smell. we need to think to survive. we can make tools. we can ward off enemies with foul smelling chemicals. we can build a 'civilization'.

I think, therefore I am. so thinking is not unnecessary for survival at all. but philosophy is another thing. where do we come from, where do we go? most of us have our own beliefs, but why?
i personally think of it as security reasons. if a dog does not know its place in the family, it becomes aggressive because it is insecure.

some oppose knowing too much, for it could render their beliefs useless and wrong. we usually stick to our childhood religious beliefs, even if we know it is wrong. we subconsciously deny it.
the reason for it is security. if something we learned as truth was wrong, what else is?

we can deduce lot of answers for this question many tried to solve over the ages. keep thinking- you could be the one that solves THE problem.

keep thinking! it burns 1.5 calories every minuite!

Answer 7

I believe brain has become the stage of eveolution these days. The higher functions like attention, memory retrieval ,mathematical faculties etc help in better survival..for example take competitive exams..if u have better brain U do well..U get good job..U get a good partner..U take care of Ur progeny in a better way..and it progress that way...this is the usual pattern ..though there are exceptions...

Answer 8

What, you're saying humans are *not* surviving because we have higher thought? Jeez, and here I believed in all the talk about humanity being the dominant species, having evolved through the use of tools and weapons.

Answer 9

Intelligence is the difference..unnecessary things disappear and new things appear...
We can force evolution to do the evolving in a specific way , or direction too , by simply interfering with nature.
i imagine if Hitler got what he wanted we would already have seen the changes starting to happen...
What about parents being able to choose the genes and gender and character of their children ?
How boring the future would be if everybody were clever, no more weirdos. no more dumbos etc...
Vultures lay three eggs in good times, and raise all three chicks.They lay three eggs in bad times, rear the strongest chick and kick out the weaker...
Mankind lays six eggs anytime and raises all the chicks irrespective of good or bad times...got to catch us eventually ?

Answer 10

No, natural selection eliminates characteristics that are harmful, that do not allow the species to survive and reproduce. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are many characteristics unnecessary for survival. Think of it this way... natural selection selects against, not for.