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What is winning and what is losing? Yeah there are actions that persist our genetics but there's no rule saying that's what needs to happen, just that it's som

What is winning and what is losing? Yeah there are actions that persist our genetics but there's no rule saying that's what needs to happen, just that it's something that happens. If you widen out to society, yeah, there are other people who will come after us, maybe we can have purpose in helping those people to survive even if they're not our kids. Humans evolved as a collective, there are parts of our DNA that exist to help the group even if it means we ourselves don't have kids. Evolution is a much more complicated thing than just specifying exactly what genes -you- pass on.

Turing_Machine 3y ago
> What is winning and what is losing? Yeah there are actions that persist our genetics but there's no rule saying that's what needs to happen, just that it's something that happens. All of us are descended from billions of years of ancestors (long before humans) that were motivated to reproduce. Those who didn't left none of their genes behind (other than ones they might have shared with relatives). That's exactly what "losing" means, in the evolutionary sense.
- AnarchismIsCool 3y ago
  Not at all. Simple example: ants. Most of them don't reproduce, but they still work to pass on their genes. In the case of humans... Why do you think there has always been a part of society that seems predisposed to violence and nationalism. It's not beneficial to the individual to go get in fights, but if it keeps the group alive then it's advantageous. (Note, this is not a license to be a violent nationalist asshole, but this is the internet so...) Similarly, autism and ADHD. There are very real theories that those conditions were beneficial to early society even if they were detrimental to mating because it's helpful to have people around who are hyper focused and hyper unfocused. So yeah, helping pass on your relative's genes, however distant, is still part of the game.

Turing_Machine 3y ago

> What is winning and what is losing? Yeah there are actions that persist our genetics but there's no rule saying that's what needs to happen, just that it's something that happens. All of us are descended from billions of years of ancestors (long before humans) that were motivated to reproduce. Those who didn't left none of their genes behind (other than ones they might have shared with relatives). That's exactly what "losing" means, in the evolutionary sense.

AnarchismIsCool 3y ago
Not at all. Simple example: ants. Most of them don't reproduce, but they still work to pass on their genes. In the case of humans... Why do you think there has always been a part of society that seems predisposed to violence and nationalism. It's not beneficial to the individual to go get in fights, but if it keeps the group alive then it's advantageous. (Note, this is not a license to be a violent nationalist asshole, but this is the internet so...) Similarly, autism and ADHD. There are very real theories that those conditions were beneficial to early society even if they were detrimental to mating because it's helpful to have people around who are hyper focused and hyper unfocused. So yeah, helping pass on your relative's genes, however distant, is still part of the game.