Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Altruism is just another form of manipulation?

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In our continuing series of inspirational sermonettes from (and for, presumably)Darwin’s followers, we learn not only that human brains are “ hardwired for empathy, friendship” and that “generosity leads to evolutionary success”, both of which statements are evidently untrue in life experience, we also discover that “Altruism may have origins in manipulation”:

In evolutionary biology, manipulation occurs when an individual, the manipulator, alters the behavior of another individual in ways that is beneficial to the manipulator but may be detrimental to the manipulated individual. Manipulation not only occurs in humans and animals but also at the cellular level, such as among cells in a multicellular organism, or in parasites, which can alter the behavior of their hosts.

Consider the case of the parasitic roundworm Myrmeconema neotropicum, which once ingested by the tropical ant Cephalotes atratus in Central and South America, causes the ant to grow a bright red abdomen, mimicking berries. This bright abdomen constitutes a phenotype manipulated by the roundworm. Birds eat the “berries,” or infected ants, and then spread the parasite in their droppings, which are subsequently collected by foraging Cephalotes atratus and fed to their larva, and the cycle of manipulated behavior begins anew.

There, that explains it all.

Where would Darwinian evolution theory be if people were not compelled to support it through their taxes?

If evo psych sermonettes were not exactly what you needed to hear just now, try this:

Comments
semi OT: Just finished reading this book. Very spiritual, yet very human. Highly recommended. Appointments With Heaven by Dr. Reggie Anderson - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCDW8MjjGvI Appointments with Heaven: The True Story of a Country Doctor's Healing Encounters with the Hereafter by Dr. Reggie Anderson http://www.amazon.com/Appointments-Heaven-Country-Encounters-Hereafter/dp/1414380453/bornagain77
September 22, 2013
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The Origin of Species offered a fresh outlook on human behavior. Why does one nation succeed in conquering another nation? Why does one race prevail over another race? The Origin of Species, with its emphasis on natural selection and survival of the fittest, gave explanations that stirred the leading philosophers of the 19th century such as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Karl Marx (1818-1883). Historian Will Durant called Nietzsche a “child of Darwin.” The book Philosophy—An Outline-History summarized one of Nietzsche’s beliefs: “The strong, brave, domineering, proud, fit best the society that is to be.” Darwin believed—and wrote in a letter to a friend—that in the future “an endless number of the lower races will have been eliminated by the higher civilized races throughout the world.” He used as a precedent the European conquest of others and chalked this up to “the struggle for existence.” The powerful were quick to latch on to such statements. H. G. Wells wrote in The Outline of History: “Prevalent peoples at the close of the nineteenth century believed that they prevailed by virtue of the Struggle for Existence, in which the strong and cunning get the better of the weak and confiding. And they believed further that they had to be strong, energetic, ruthless, ‘practical,’ egotistical.” Thus, “survival of the fittest” took on philosophical, social, and political overtones, often to an absurd extent. “To some war became ‘a biological necessity,’” said the book Milestones of History. And this book noted that during the next century, “Darwinian ideas formed an integral part of Hitler’s doctrine of racial superiority.” The book Clinging to a Myth commented on De Chardin’s optimism: “De Chardin must have been quite oblivious of the history of human bloodshed and of racist systems such as apartheid in South Africa. He sounds like a man who is not living in this world.” Rather than progress toward unity, humanity in this century has experienced racial and national division on an unprecedented scale. Consider: More than 100 million people have been killed in the wars of this century, some 50 million in World War II alone. Also consider the recent ethnic slaughter in such places as Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. But the acceptance of the theory of evolution, this brutal struggle-for-existence mind-set, this survival-of-the-fittest idea, has not served to improve man’s lot. So while evolution cannot be blamed for all of man’s ills, it has helped push the human family into ever greater hatred, crime, violence, immorality, and degradation.Barb
September 22, 2013
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OT: Lawrence Krauss vs. John Lennox on this weeks Unbelievable radio podcast - Science, the universe & The God Question - Unbelievable? http://www.premierradio.org.uk/unbelievable.aspx mp3 audio http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/55f3974b-a4bc-4d80-9546-f1f1543eb2c0.mp3 let's see if Lawrence Krauss can let his opponent answer a question without constantly interrupting him like he did with Dr. William Lane Craig in his debates with him: Lawrence Krauss Constantly Interrupts William Lane Craig - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMXK7M-HMXs of related note; Richard Dawkins Knows Nothing About Nothing? - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v34QjYPuiEAbornagain77
September 22, 2013
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