I am nature... ?

If man is a product of nature, then doesn't it follow that whatever man makes is also a product of nature?

When a beaver builds a dam we call it an act of nature. When a man builds a dam we call it interfering with nature. But both the beaver and the man are themselves creations of nature, and both are merely doing what they evolved to do.

Is it possible that we were chosen to have intelligence for a reason? Is it possible that we have a greater role to play in the future of our world than any of us can yet predict?

Science, like everything else we do, involves a learning process. There is always a period of time when mistakes are made because we are still learning. To not make any mistakes is to not learn anything. But once we have it figured out, incredible things start to happen.

Is it better to pause evolution for fear of making a mistake, or is it better to keep moving forward knowing it's going to hurt from time to time?

The problem with humanity is that we don't allow natural selection to occure. If the weak are on the verge of death, we have social programs to help them. If we use up all the food and resoures in our area, we move on to more rather than dying off and thinning our numbers. Not to mention, we're the only species that takes natural resources and turns them into toxic substances in significant sizes, releasing them into the Earth, water, and atmosphere at a rate faster than any other species. The point is, there's no balance mechanism; if we destroy our environment enough to thin our numbers and reduce the destruction, we stop that from happening by artificial means and thus exhaust resources faster than the planet can replenish them.

th ebeaver builds his damn for his home and to catch food

man builds damn to charge for electricity

so you wouldnt mind if i called you a filthy animal

what people fail to realize is that the earth has seen worse things than dams for electric and styrofoam. when the earth has had enough of humans crawling all over it, humans will be gone.



and cityboygonecountry my answer to your first question is: yes, most defenitely.

and your second question : its better to keep moving forward!

good thread ~ curious to see where it goes.

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Originally Posted by CityBoyGoneCountry

If man is a product of nature, then......

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thank-you, i'm glad someone besides me said it. i won't go into the "chosen" part of your statement, but it's nice to see someone including the human race in the "natural world". now i'm no big fan of asphalt or smog, but these are the "natural" products of our fledgling industrial society. while we should lament the extinction of those species unable to adapt to our influences, we should not stifle our own growth for the sake of an albino pygmy lemming or a spotted belching toad.

let's make our mountains of styrofoam ice chests and disposable diapers, let's dam up all the rivers and fill in the lakes used car chassis and semen stained mattresses, let's turn the oceans into open septic tanks and fill every square inch of earth with shopping malls and over-priced condominiums. in short, let's take what we can before someone else gets it first.

after all, what does it matter if we turn this planet into a toxic wasteland? there are plenty of other empty planets just waiting for our none to tender touch.

and in a few million years, long after we aren't even a distant memory, the planet will heal itself. the air will clear, the seas will calm and earth will be ready for the tread of our successors. once you start thinking in terms of geological time you can overlook even our most grievous sins.

Lightning starts a forest fire. Thousands of acres are burned to the ground. Many animals are killed or displaced. In the short term this seems like a bad thing. But in the long term we see the good it actually accomplished. The ground is now replenished and the forest regrows healthier for it.

Maybe human beings are a natural disaster that looks bad at first, but later on we will see the good they have done, whether they meant it to turn out that way or not.

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Originally Posted by CityBoyGoneCountry

Lightning starts a forest fire. Thousands of acres are burned to the ground. Many animals are killed or displaced. In the short term this seems like a bad thing. But in the long term we see the good it actually accomplished. The ground is now replenished and the forest regrows healthier for it.

Maybe human beings are a natural disaster that looks bad at first, but later on we will see the good they have done, whether they meant it to turn out that way or not.

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Very interesting ideas! The tapestry on the back might look like a bunch of different colored knots, but turn it over and there is a fabulous design:)

My belief is that all things can be turned into growth eventually, even if growth means "destruction" and sometimes that destruction includes mistakes and the learning which results- I just hope we don't have to take it to the limit with actual physical destruction. If we just die out- how has mankind grown? But if we recognize our errors and seek to make them right, then wouldn't the evolution of our species be furthered? Isn't that what nature should do? If most of humanity is annihilated because of our mistakes, and we relocate elsewhere just in time (I thik we are running out of time!) maybe is that how we will continue? That is what the flood myths from all civilizations depict-
Thanks for starting this provocative discussion!

I've always thought that if nature provided us with such startling consciousness and intelligence, we were meant to be part of nature.

But somewhere along the line, we forgot who our parents were.

I beleive that as intelligent beings, we should be able to Shepherd nature.
That remaining within nature's balance is our true destiny.
Not killing our parents.

Who knows though??
Maybe we were nature's retarded crack baby.

Human animals have a thought process wildlife just have survival instincts...

What if the purpose of our (human) evolution to this point was so that we could use our abilities to take evolution to the next step?

Birds evolved wings so they could fly. Humans evolved brains so they could create. When we use our brains and change our world, we are doing the very thing we evolved to do. I hate to use the word "destiny" because I don't believe anything is predetermined. But maybe being intelligent enough to manipulate the world is a necessary step in order for evolution to continue beyond this point. Maybe we are the tools of future evolution. Maybe the future is depending on us to use our brains and create. Who knows what amazing things the world has yet to produce. Things that need us to produce them.