Human Evolution Myths and Realities Debate Guide
From PhiloWiki
Human evolution has been a concern in the philosophy of science since the inception of Darwins Theory of Evolution in the late 1800s.
Evolution is change in populations of organisms over generations. Offspring differ from their parents in various ways. When these differences are helpful, the offspring have a greater chance of surviving and reproducing, making the differences more common in the next generation. In this way, differences can accumulate over time, leading to major changes in a population.
Evolution occurs through changes in genes, the "recipes" for constructing the organism. When an organism reproduces, small random changes in the genes make the offspring different from the parent. Sometimes these changes help the offspring survive to reproduce. When this happens, the genes for the beneficial traits are passed on to the organism's own offspring, becoming more common in the next generation. Genes that do not help organisms reproduce may become rarer or be completely eliminated from the population. This is called natural selection, a major part of evolution. Through natural selection, populations of organisms slowly change over time as they adapt to changes in their environments.
- As a cultural activity, technology predates both science and engineering, which are attempts to formalize some parts of technological endeavor. This is not to imply that technology is the only or the necessarily dominant culture-forming activity. Indeed, culture itself acts strongly upon, and shapes the form and nature of technology. But, because of the increasingly widespread use of ever more complex technologies and their frequently unintended or unforseen consequences, problems arise in their use, which have been and are being separately studied. Such topics include but are not limited to technological ethics, environmental effects, technological byproducts, and technological risk. The cultural force of technology (e.g., as seen in the invention of writing) may be said to be the driving force that sets us apart from the rest of the flora and fauna of Earth.
Definitions: (adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org)
- Luddite – term used to describe anyone opposed to technological progress and technological change. The Luddites were a social movement of English workers in the early 1800s who protested — often by destroying textile machines — against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution that they felt threatened their jobs.”
- Neo-luddism - perceived as a modern movement of categorical opposition to technology, both in particular and in general. Since there is no self-described group of "neo-luddites," it is not a political movement per se. On the other hand, when controversial issues arise, advocates of one policy or another tend to group and agglomerate their efforts to effect policy. As a result, an amalgamation of liberal, conservative and radical elements appear falsely as a cohesive, anti-technology, neo-luddite group.
- Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. Chip-based RFID tags contain silicon chips and antennas. Passive tags require no internal power source, whereas active tags require a power source.
- Post-human (post human evolution) - A posthuman or post-human is a hypothetical future being whose capabilities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer human by current standards. Posthumans could be a symbiosis of human and artificial intelligence, or uploaded consciousnesses, or the result of making many smaller but cumulatively profound technological augmentations to a biological human, i.e. a cyborg.
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Technology & Values
- Is technology value-free? This is similar to the “Are guns in themselves evil?” question. Is technology beneficial, detrimental, or neither except for how humans use it? Are there underlying ideologies in technologies that stem from their creation, development histories, and purposes?
- Is there any technology or technological procedure where you would take a “neo-luddist” stand? (See the definitions above.)
Opposition to neo-luddites consists largely of those who believe that technology is either value-free or beneficial. This opposition has sometimes been hindered by a focus on specific issues, and on occasion by a belief that the benefits of certain new technologies are obvious when in fact many people do not understand the technology in question.- from wikipedia
- Neil Gaiman’s book American Gods depicts a struggle between ancient gods and modern gods such as “Technology” and “Marketing.” Is technology a “new religion?” How does technology impact religion?
- Are we as individuals, as a society, too dependent on technology, e.g., financially, emotionally, physically?
- Is technology invasive?
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Communication Technology
- Does this type of technology fill some need in us as humans to always be connected to others / never alone? Are we headed towards a “Borg-like” civilization?
- Teachers have complained about IM Speak showing up in student papers. Has email, chat, IM helped or hurt writing skills?
- How have communication technologies from the telephone to email and the cell phone impacted society’s expectations, and behaviors? For example: How soon do we expect responses to emails? How often do we check email? Do you know people who are “addicted” to email / cell phones? How do we feel about people talking on the phone while driving? While in restaurants?
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Business & Technology
- How has technology impacted business positively / negatively?
- What are the implications of technology allowing us to be more productive? Does it help us complete our work more efficiently? Create more work for us? Both?
- Do some business technologies, such as email, blur the lines between work and leisure? How has the increasing portability and accessibility of technology impacted when and how we work? Think about places that are now getting wireless (ballparks, restaurants, airports). What are negative and positive implications of these changes in how we view work? Does it also impact how we bring personal aspects of our lives into the workplace?
- What are the implications of email and IM on the business letter and the memo? How has email impacted formality? Think about salutations, and closings of emails vs. letters.
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Human & Technology Integration
- Does technology impact the evolution process in beneficial/detrimental ways? For example some social critics of the Internet have discussed whether or not people learning to ignore pop-up/ animated ads online will impact humanity’s evolutionary response to movement. Humans generally pay attention to movement in case it is a threat, such as a huge predator stalking us, or a car swerving into our lane.
- Is there a point where using implanting / attaching technology to humans becomes “dangerous,” “unethical,” or just “unnecessary.” Just because we can, should we?
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Phone Tooth
Phone tooth
- Tired of having to wear a cell phone on your belt wherever you go? In the future, you may not have to. Two British researchers have developed a prototype "phone tooth" that can be embedded in a molar and receive cell-phone calls. The signals are translated into vibrations that travel from the tooth to your skull to your inner ear—where only you can hear them.
- Also, see Excuse Me, Is Your Tooth Ringing?
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags
For humans and for dogs - which is which?
- There are two glass encapsulated RFID tags pictured above. One is intended for human flesh, the other for the scruff of your pet's neck. Which is which?
- Answer: The chip pictured at the top is VeriChip's VeriMed chip that former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson would like to see implanted in all Americans. Directly below the human chip is the animal chip marketed by Schering-Plough under the "Home Again" brand name.
- Should humans be implanted with RFID tags for any reason?
- Medical reasons?
- Should children be implanted with RFDI tags in case of kidnapping, or to monitor their attendance / security reasons in schools?
- Article on California students being tracked in an elementary school
- Immigrants -to verify identity of immigrants and guest workers
- Should animals be implanted with RFID tags?
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Surveillance Technology
- Should RFID tags be used for marketing? Should products have an RFID tag that remains on them once you take them from the store?
- Should cell phones have GPS?
- Should the government have access to cell phone records? Library check-out records?
- Should companies be able to read your email messages sent while at work? Use them in court cases? Monitor what’s on your screen? Record your keystrokes? Does it matter whether you are using the company equipment at work or at home?
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Technology & the Younger Generations
- What are the impacts of children using technology earlier – pros and cons? How does it impact both the individual and society?
- With how many “friends” from high school are you still in contact? Will websites like Facebook impact how the way humans stay connected in the future?
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Technology & Science Fiction
- Bradbury’s works often blend science fiction themes with social criticism, portraying the destructive tendency of humans to use technology at the expense of morality. Although Bradbury’s writing tends to be critical of technology, it also promotes the benefits of space travel and the creativity of science. One of his recurring themes is the clash between society and the individual in a technologically advanced civilization.
- Is science fiction important in warning us about the social and cultural implications of creating certain types of technologies? Do you agree with the following opinion of Ray Bradbury?
- "PEOPLE are afraid of fantasy," says Ray Bradbury. "A lot of intellectuals think science fiction is trivial. And it's pivotal! People are walking around the streets with phones to their heads talking to someone ten feet away. We've killed two million people with automobiles. We're surrounded by technology and the problems created by technology, and science fiction isn't important?"
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Article from Ray Bradbury |
- Does science fiction predict technology, determine it, or both? The following is an excerpt about a woman’s existence that is affected by technology, including her relationship with her husband.
- Mildred wears two of them; none of that painful reality stuff for her. The little mosquito-delicate dancing hum in the air, the electrical murmur of a hidden wasp snug in its special pink warm nest. The music was almost loud enough so he could follow the tune.
- Without turning on the light he imagined how this room would look. His wife stretched on the bed, uncovered and cold, like a body displayed on the lid of the tomb, her eyes fixed in the ceiling by invisible threads of steel, immovable. And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. The room was indeed empty. Every night the waves came in and bore her off on their great tides of sound, floating her, wide-eyed, toward morning. There had been no night in the last two years that Mildred had not swum that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time.
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Fahrenheit 451 from Fahrenheit 451 (1953) Ray Bradbury |
