The Repercussions of Evolution

I don’t believe we look often enough at the repercussions of our being a naturally evolved species in a world of technology.  For instance, Stephen Hawking tipped me off to this idea in his talk on Ted.com.

We evolved our tendencies for violence and aggression in a world without massively destructive technologies.  In this environment, these tendencies aided the survival of the individual and were not especially detrimental to the species.  Today, however, a few acts of such aggression, leveraged by nuclear and chemical weapons, have the capability to wipe out the human race.  Our evolved tendencies toward violence and aggression, while once adaptive, may now lead us to sabotage all the progress we have made.

~ by djstrouse on April 7, 2008.