Re: KV, Humans, and Political Divisions

G'day Roger,

>This is one of the biggest myths I have seen.	Think about the
Neanderthal
>versus Cro-magnon.  The archaelogists claim that it didn't need to be
>warfare that wiped out the Neanderthals, a 1% advantage over the course
>of 800-1000 years was enough. 

I think the numbers on that are getting higher (2% over 1000s of years,
but
given geological time its a quibble) - stems mostly from their differing
attitudes to resource management and how that impacted upon infant
mortality rates as far as I remember.

>Do you know for sure that there isn't 
>some group of humans who has a 1% advantage over the rest of the human
>race such that they will absorb the rest of us?  And then there could
>be some subgroup or minor mutation...

Let alone genetic engineering which may well lead to another homo
species
based purely on the economics of the whole thing.

>We can't "conquer" our environment any more than we can conquer
ourselves.
>About all we seem to be able to do is to destroy our environment, much
>like a bacteria culture in a petri dish.

Which may well lead to a new dominant species in itself. From an
ecosystem
point of view, all those places we've trashed (Black Sea etc) work just
fine, they just don't work the way they used to and in such a way that
is
profitable or comfortable (or even necessarily habitable) for us. 

Better get back to work

Beth

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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART 
TASMANIA 7001
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03) 6232 5018 International +61 3 6232 5018
Fax 03 6232 5053 International +61 3 6232 5053

email: beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au