(August 17, 2013 at 10:37 am)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:Humans are Homo Sapiens. Homo Erectus was not human.
Until we get a sample of HE dna we will not be certain of that. It was only a few years ago that the Neanderthal Genome Project demonstrated that HSS and HNS had interbred.
People are too quick to throw the word "species" around.
If there is one thing that Darwin teaches us it is that there are only assemblies of genes, interacting at random with each other and their shifting environments. 'Species' are drifts in the genetic tide that will pass as easily as they arrived.
The idea of 'species' is an abstract notion we assume science has made concrete.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
