path_of_one
Embracing the Mystery
As for the whole evolution thing, I tend to think we are not on the top of the spiritual or otherwise ladder. So many versions (both scientific and religious) put humans at the apex of creation. From a scientific viewpoint, I find us weak and puny, with poorly developed senses and little instinctual common sense. We make all sorts of irrational and disadvantageous choices due to faulty intellect. We're abominably selfish in a way that is not useful to group survival. We're singularly inelegant and clumsy too, a point always brought back to me when I hang out with any animal, bird, or fish. From a spiritual viewpoint, everything else seems to glorify God (i.e., partake in the oneness) automatically while we waste all our time on the details.
And while the lion/tiger and dog/wolf are considered different species, this sort of thing is debated in biology and evolutionary science. The fact is, we don't have clear boundaries that define species, and each one is a judgment call. There's a lot that can interbreed that doesn't due to behavioral difference, and while they are different species in the old Linnean system, evolutionary scientists that base their species distinctions on cladistics often contest the old divisions. Overall, I don't think people have changed much, at least in the ways that matter. Despite seeming cultural differences, humans have always had no problem mixing it up sexually. I don't see any evidence of that trait slowing down in modern populations.
Bruno-
Thank you so much for the post and information. I will have to review it in a bit. I only had time for this first post and now I'm off to the barn to spend a little time on horseback.
The lovely thing about horses is they are such "in the moment" critters. And they are so willing to act like the prey animals they are, shying and snorting at the slightest provocation, which draws us inevitably in to that "now" with them...
And while the lion/tiger and dog/wolf are considered different species, this sort of thing is debated in biology and evolutionary science. The fact is, we don't have clear boundaries that define species, and each one is a judgment call. There's a lot that can interbreed that doesn't due to behavioral difference, and while they are different species in the old Linnean system, evolutionary scientists that base their species distinctions on cladistics often contest the old divisions. Overall, I don't think people have changed much, at least in the ways that matter. Despite seeming cultural differences, humans have always had no problem mixing it up sexually. I don't see any evidence of that trait slowing down in modern populations.
Bruno-
Thank you so much for the post and information. I will have to review it in a bit. I only had time for this first post and now I'm off to the barn to spend a little time on horseback.
The lovely thing about horses is they are such "in the moment" critters. And they are so willing to act like the prey animals they are, shying and snorting at the slightest provocation, which draws us inevitably in to that "now" with them...