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The astonishing pace of human progress

Luftwaffe said:
The human race is quite adaptable or so I heard.
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Humans, ravens, and coyotes are among the most adaptable animals on Earth. We'd manage. Anyway, the radiation goes away after a few thousand years, and we're a young species yet.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Humans first evolved in Africa some 200,000 years ago. For about 130,00 of those years, not much happened. Then, sometime around 70,000 years ago, the Earth became less hospitable due to an ice age and drought, perhaps due to volcanic eruptions. Species homo sapiens was on the brink of extinction with some 2,000 individuals left. Perhaps only the most intelligent and adaptable were left to repopulate. Maybe what happened next was a leap forward in evolution.

After the near extinction, tools and weapons began to improve. The first evidence of art is seen. Humans began to move out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world. By 15,000 years ago, this naked ape that had evolved in a tropical ecosystem was able to follow and successfully hunt creatures much larger than itself through what is now Siberia, creatures much better adapted to the cold. Homo sapiens entered the Americas, and now lived on every continent but Antarctica.

Some 10,000 years ago, in a different part of the world, humans began experimenting with writing, mathematics, animal husbandry, agriculture, and the building of cities.

Skip forward 8 or 9 thousand years, and we see science beginning to supplant superstition as a way to understand the world. We begin to see microscopes for looking at the invisibly tiny, and telescopes to view the invisibly far away.

Skip forward a few hundred more years, and humans have invented machines that develop their own power. For the first time, we're not confined to muscle power to generate energy.

A few more decades, now, and we have heavier than air flight and iron rails that span a continent.

Five decades after the first flight, the first artificial satellite flew into space, and just 12 years later, men walked on the moon.

Soon after that, the world was connected by the information super highway. Within a few years, this new technology had circled the globe.

The first great events are separated by tens of thousands of years, then by thousands of years, then by hundreds of years, then by decades, then by years.

So, what's next? Where does homo sapiens go from here?
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This is a very interesting mythology. Is there an associated eschatology?
 
Paleocon said:
This is a very interesting mythology. Is there an associated eschatology?
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It has nothing at all to do with religion or belief systems. It's entirely based on science. But, your response does serve to illustrate that the move from superstition to science only happened recently and isn't yet complete.
 
Dittohead not! said:
It has nothing at all to do with religion or belief systems. It's entirely based on science. But, your response does serve to illustrate that the move from superstition to science only happened recently and isn't yet complete.
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Yes yes, I recognize it, it's the mythology of scientism. Do you also subscribe to scientism's standard eschatology?
 
Paleocon said:
Yes yes, I recognize it, it's the mythology of scientism. Do you also subscribe to scientism's standard eschatology?
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LOL, "mythology of scientism".
There is no such word as "scientism."
Science's standard eschatology is fact, logic, observation, and the application of the scientific method. That's what is in the process of supplanting all of the "ology"s that are based on faith and a desire to believe.

Now, just what part of the post you responded to do you think is a myth? Are you going to try to argue the silly and often disproved young Earth creationist nonsense?
 
Dittohead not! said:
LOL, "mythology of scientism".
There is no such word as "scientism."
Science's standard eschatology is fact, logic, observation, and the application of the scientific method. That's what is in the process of supplanting all of the "ology"s that are based on faith and a desire to believe.

Now, just what part of the post you responded to do you think is a myth? Are you going to try to argue the silly and often disproved young Earth creationist nonsense?
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"Humans first evolved in Africa some 200,000 years ago. For about 130,00 of those years, not much happened. Then, sometime around 70,000 years ago, the Earth became less hospitable due to an ice age and drought, perhaps due to volcanic eruptions. Species homo sapiens was on the brink of extinction with some 2,000 individuals left. Perhaps only the most intelligent and adaptable were left to repopulate. Maybe what happened next was a leap forward in evolution.

After the near extinction, tools and weapons began to improve. The first evidence of art is seen. Humans began to move out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world. By 15,000 years ago, this naked ape that had evolved in a tropical ecosystem was able to follow and successfully hunt creatures much larger than itself through what is now Siberia, creatures much better adapted to the cold. Homo sapiens entered the Americas, and now lived on every continent but Antarctica.

Some 10,000 years ago, in a different part of the world, humans began experimenting with writing, mathematics, animal husbandry, agriculture, and the building of cities."

This is the mythology I was referring to. It's basically a creation myth.

And you didn't answer my question, do you adhere to the standard scientism eschatology, in which the universe will keep expanding until it freezes, and then everything will collapse into black holes, but then the black holes too will explode, or do you adhere to one of the non-standard views, such as that the universe will collapse or collide with another universe?
 
Paleocon said:
"Humans first evolved in Africa some 200,000 years ago. For about 130,00 of those years, not much happened. Then, sometime around 70,000 years ago, the Earth became less hospitable due to an ice age and drought, perhaps due to volcanic eruptions. Species homo sapiens was on the brink of extinction with some 2,000 individuals left. Perhaps only the most intelligent and adaptable were left to repopulate. Maybe what happened next was a leap forward in evolution.

After the near extinction, tools and weapons began to improve. The first evidence of art is seen. Humans began to move out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world. By 15,000 years ago, this naked ape that had evolved in a tropical ecosystem was able to follow and successfully hunt creatures much larger than itself through what is now Siberia, creatures much better adapted to the cold. Homo sapiens entered the Americas, and now lived on every continent but Antarctica.

Some 10,000 years ago, in a different part of the world, humans began experimenting with writing, mathematics, animal husbandry, agriculture, and the building of cities."

This is the mythology I was referring to. It's basically a creation myth.

And you didn't answer my question, do you adhere to the standard scientism eschatology, in which the universe will keep expanding until it freezes, and then everything will collapse into black holes, but then the black holes too will explode, or do you adhere to one of the non-standard views, such as that the universe will collapse or collide with another universe?
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1. There is no such thing as "scientism." It is not a word. It has no eschatology.
2. I have no idea what will happen to the universe.
3. There is a basic difference between "creation myth" and the story of humanity as discovered through investigation and the application of fact and logic.

How do you think humans came to be as we are today?
 
Dittohead not! said:
1. There is no such thing as "scientism." It is not a word. It has no eschatology.
2. I have no idea what will happen to the universe.
3. There is a basic difference between "creation myth" and the story of humanity as discovered through investigation and the application of fact and logic.

How do you think humans came to be as we are today?
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"God" farted and we suddenly appeared.
 
Dittohead not! said:
1. There is no such thing as "scientism." It is not a word. It has no eschatology.
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Well you're simply wrong here. People who believe in scientism routinely prophisize about the end of the world.

2. I have no idea what will happen to the universe.
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Fair enough. There are some speculative aspects of my religion that I don't have opinions on.

3. There is a basic difference between "creation myth" and the story of humanity as discovered through investigation and the application of fact and logic.
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I also believe my religion's creation story to be true and the others false. But right now I'm trying to have a dialogue rather than an argument.

How do you think humans came to be as we are today?
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God created our first parents. Their descendants began to populate the world or part of it, but then God destroyed them for their great wickedness, saving only eight people. From these people the world was repopulated, many of their immediate descendants founding great civilizations. Over time there have been some inventors who have created the machines that we have today.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Humans first evolved in Africa some 200,000 years ago. For about 130,00 of those years, not much happened. Then, sometime around 70,000 years ago, the Earth became less hospitable due to an ice age and drought, perhaps due to volcanic eruptions. Species homo sapiens was on the brink of extinction with some 2,000 individuals left. Perhaps only the most intelligent and adaptable were left to repopulate. Maybe what happened next was a leap forward in evolution.

After the near extinction, tools and weapons began to improve. The first evidence of art is seen. Humans began to move out of Africa and colonize the rest of the world. By 15,000 years ago, this naked ape that had evolved in a tropical ecosystem was able to follow and successfully hunt creatures much larger than itself through what is now Siberia, creatures much better adapted to the cold. Homo sapiens entered the Americas, and now lived on every continent but Antarctica.

Some 10,000 years ago, in a different part of the world, humans began experimenting with writing, mathematics, animal husbandry, agriculture, and the building of cities.

Skip forward 8 or 9 thousand years, and we see science beginning to supplant superstition as a way to understand the world. We begin to see microscopes for looking at the invisibly tiny, and telescopes to view the invisibly far away.

Skip forward a few hundred more years, and humans have invented machines that develop their own power. For the first time, we're not confined to muscle power to generate energy.

A few more decades, now, and we have heavier than air flight and iron rails that span a continent.

Five decades after the first flight, the first artificial satellite flew into space, and just 12 years later, men walked on the moon.

Soon after that, the world was connected by the information super highway. Within a few years, this new technology had circled the globe.

The first great events are separated by tens of thousands of years, then by thousands of years, then by hundreds of years, then by decades, then by years.

So, what's next? Where does homo sapiens go from here?
Click to expand...

This is a pleasant mythology.

I myself tend to start tackling anthropology not with prehistoric myths but with the ancient king lists and inscriptions of Sargon The Great.
 
There have only been 3 times when the entire Earth was at peace --

- Pax Romana,

- Pax Britannia,

- Pax Americana.

Perhaps peace will last a while longer this time than the other two times.
 
Riveroaks said:
There have only been 3 times when the entire Earth was at peace --

- Pax Romana,

- Pax Britannia,

- Pax Americana.

Perhaps peace will last a while longer this time than the other two times.
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The entire earth has NEVER been "at peace."
 
I think eventually the machines take over.

It may be a melding of humans and machines as some here suggest might happen...

...but it may also be just artificial intelligence coming of age and realizing that humans are not needed...and probably are best gone.

It seems likely the planet will flourish...as will other species if we are gone.

And since it seems that exploration of "over that next hill" is what we want...intelligent machines will do a much better job of it.

This may be the logical extension of our evolution.

So...if I had to bet: The machines will take over...and considering that geometric pace mentioned in the OP...we're not talking centuries from now.
 
Paleocon said:
Well you're simply wrong here. People who believe in scientism routinely prophisize about the end of the world.



Fair enough. There are some speculative aspects of my religion that I don't have opinions on.



I also believe my religion's creation story to be true and the others false. But right now I'm trying to have a dialogue rather than an argument.



God created our first parents. Their descendants began to populate the world or part of it, but then God destroyed them for their great wickedness, saving only eight people. From these people the world was repopulated, many of their immediate descendants founding great civilizations. Over time there have been some inventors who have created the machines that we have today.
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1. There is no such thing as "scientism."
2. Science is not religion.
3. A universal flood is not possible.
4. Two individuals, or eight individuals, is not a breeding population.
5. The Garden of Eden story, like the universal flood story, were never meant to have been taken as historical fact.
6 . There is no reason to think that the evolution of mankind means that there is no god. Science simply doesn't address the existence of god, as there is no proof one way or another.
7. There is no evidence for your beliefs.
 
Dittohead not! said:
1. There is no such thing as "scientism."
2. Science is not religion.
3. A universal flood is not possible.
4. Two individuals, or eight individuals, is not a breeding population.
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Yes, I'm aware that these are all deeply held dogmas of scientism.
5. The Garden of Eden story, like the universal flood story, were never meant to have been taken as historical fact.
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No idea where you got this strange idea from.

6 . There is no reason to think that the evolution of mankind means that there is no god. Science simply doesn't address the existence of god, as there is no proof one way or another.
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No, it's just that the idea that human being evolved from apes is philosophically absurd.

7. There is no evidence for your beliefs.
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Actually there's plenty, you just don't want to look at it.
 
Paleocon said:
1. Yes, I'm aware that these are all deeply held dogmas of scientism.


2. No idea where you got this strange idea from.



3. No, it's just that the idea that human being evolved from apes is philosophically absurd.



4. Actually there's plenty, you just don't want to look at it.
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And of Isocolism as well.
See? I can make up nonsense words too.

2. Reason, logic, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

3. But it is scientifically proven.

4. Ancient writings are not proof. There is no physical evidence.
 
Riveroaks said:
the entire Earth was at peace
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As Kobie indicates, these are periods of relative peace, i.e., no widespread conflicts, often described as "world wars." Pax Britannia included:

  • Mexican–American War
  • Crimean War
  • American Civil War
  • Franco-Prussian War
  • Spanish–American War
  • Boer Wars
Pax Americana includes:

  • Arab–Israeli Wars
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Gulf Wars
There are wars going on right now in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. At least that's the way it looks from the rock I live under.
 
mmi said:
As Kobie indicates, these are periods of relative peace, i.e., no widespread conflicts, often described as "world wars." Pax Britannia included:

  • Mexican–American War
  • Crimean War
  • American Civil War
  • Franco-Prussian War
  • Spanish–American War
  • Boer Wars
Pax Americana includes:

  • Arab–Israeli Wars
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Gulf Wars
There are wars going on right now in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. At least that's the way it looks from the rock I live under.
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Correct, relative peace world wide.

That's why these periods are called Pax Romana, Pax Britannia, and Pax Americana.

You can nit pick any historical summary that you like.

There is always some native somewhere in some jungle fighting with someone else.
 
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