Evolution

[alxian]

on a quick scale

its come to my attention that most species wide, major mutations, that create new species involve major environmental factors. solar flares, epidemic, distruction of habitat...

what if the flood happened and humans were kulled so that modern man was spared and allowed to evolve in a world with no competition? (save for large mammals which we apparently had little trouble competing with).

would the bible story of rapture possibly involve some major catastrophy that would claim billions? leaving the survivors in a world of excess? starting over with all the knowledge we have built up i think a world with an obidient and small population would switfly evolve into much more than it is now. basically right now not much evolution is tolerated because of all that we've built. incorporating all the flaws and avoiding change because of the difficulty of implementation. should our world be rended from beneath our feet, we could rebuild with the bets of our ability. the world would lack in population.. would that mean a baby boom or cloning?

should human evolution come down to rebuilding our population with genegineered hordes or a more natural man and woman approach?

(this also considering same sex couples being able to marry, they would need a way to merge their genetics, meaning at least for them modifying the young would be par for the course, while a man-woman combo would forgo (unless you do it with viruses attacking and modifying the emplanted developing embryo).

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by alxian

would the bible story of rapture possibly involve some major catastrophy that would claim billions? leaving the survivors in a world of excess? starting over with all the knowledge we have built up i think a world with an obidient and small population would switfly evolve into much more than it is now.

In my opinion, if there was a major disaster that killed off 99% of the population, the survivors would be too busy tilling the soil to spend time using all the information resources at their disposal. I think in a very short time, a couple of hundred years or so, society will degrade to the point where the majority is illiterate. Those still able to enjoy the luxury of studying and reading will eventually become regarded as mystics, or priests, as such - and the control they have over the physical world due to their advanced knowledge of, say, electricity or engineering, will enforce that perception.
Evolution will come into play where there is outbreaks of disease and a few lucky stiffs are immune by some genetic chance. They will survuve, and pass their genes on.

But I think the opportunities we have currently for study is dependent on millions of labourers freeing us up from the toil of agriculture, hunting, etc. Once those support systems collapse, students and teachers will become a rarity.

[alxian]

i'm certain that people would maintain their level of advancement. as long as their is power (which we know how to generate) our books, cd-roms, dvds and hdds will remain. we'd get them back up and running. it would just be a matter of rebuilding the nifrastructure of nations without resorting to fossil fuels, monarchs, etc you know those things that plague modern societies but seems so appealing to smaller groups where such institutions offer the simple answers and absolute power.

[Boerseun]

Think about it:

All the devices in your home, how much do you know about their operation?

Assuming, by some chance, it was possible to keep the power on, when your toaster blows up, how would you fix it? Your microwave? Your fridge, or even computer? Where would you find food? How long will it take after such a disaster for all the stored food to run out?

Any such hypothetical disaster would wipe out enough of the techhies to make the systems dependent on them collapse altogether.

Sure - there might be a rocket scientist somewhere who can build a rocket to go to the moon, but would he have enough knowledge of chemistry to liquify the needed fuel?

I think that civilization is balanced on a very thin tightrope, and any such disaster as you propose would send it over the edge, back into the so-called "Dark Ages" if we lose enough techhies, farmers, teachers, doctors, nurses, everything we tend to take for granted.

[Fishteacher73]

Sounds suspiciously Atlantian....

[bumab]

But the knowledge of what COULD exist would certainly encourage the survivors to free up as much people as soon as possible to get back what was lost. In the middle ages, nobody could envision a gas powered economy, so nobody looked for gas. We know it's there, we'd figure it out pretty quick.

[Fishteacher73]

I guess the best you could hope for is 3rd world conditions. They know about tthe existence of such things, but do not have them. Knowing and producing are two different feats. I know about nuclear reactors, but I doubt I could make one (no matter where I looked or what I studied).

[Skippy]

Originally Posted by Fishteacher73

I guess the best you could hope for is 3rd world conditions. They know about tthe existence of such things, but do not have them. Knowing and producing are two different feats. I know about nuclear reactors, but I doubt I could make one (no matter where I looked or what I studied).

What you seem to forget is that the biblical rapture you refer to will take all of the hayseed Bible thumpers to Heaven and leave all the geniuses behind. That being the case, you'll have all the science oriented people you need to run a nuke plant, for about 7 years anyway.

[alxian]

and then the ground opens up and we get hell on earth.. ya ya..

but

i never thought of god taking away only the 600 million or so faithful.. and then only a fraction of them. false christians abound. they are amoung us.

legend has it that he promises he won't flood us again but cosmic radiation did the job too. otherwise disease or war (if amoung the taken are the leaders of the world, a power struggle would ensue, world war 3 or something).

in its aftermath even if god only took a handful of the faithful many would die. the population would crash.

as long as enough of the infrastructure remained rebuilding would take less than a generation or two.


as for our preparedness... good question. we seem to no longer panic in the face of disaster. either years behind televisions, or school training, or fluoride in the water supply, or something has tamed us some. people don't "freak out". they calmy register the emergency situation and follow directions... at least in the developed world. when the power went out not too long ago people remained calm. as long as whatever is to come is similar even if its on a grand scale i think people would live through it easily.

only in the case of true earth shatterring calamity where huge swathes of infrastructure are destroyed and fire falls from the sky would people panic.

[IrishEyes]

in its aftermath even if god only took a handful of the faithful many would die. the population would crash.as long as enough of the infrastructure remained rebuilding would take less than a generation or two.

But if He did take, even only a handful of the faithful, then there would not be even a generation to rebuild. I think that's the point that Skippy was trying to make. If there was a Rapture (like I believe there will be ), the people that are left will have 7 years at best to prepare for the end. Not nearly enough time to do what you are suggesting.

Barring a Rapture, a WWIII might do the deed, thinning the population enough for your purposes. Then you'd have your generations to re-build. I think Fish is more right though... 3rd world countries know about most of the 'advances' that we already enjoy (take for granted?), yet they can do little to attain what most of us have. They are too busy trying to stay alive to worry about what package DirecTV is offering this month. They stress about their children dying in the night from starvation, while we worry about the baby having a food allergy from a certain colored dye in the M&Ms.

If you took away the extra people, many of the people that make sure your day run smoothly (the people at the power plant, the dairy farmers, Juan valdez, the 24/7 Dell support guys), would be gone. How far could you get in the morning without that Venti Espresso Double with a shot of vanilla? Ugh! Perish the thought!!! I can't run a Starbucks cappucino machine. Can you?