Comments on: Future Human Evolution: Eugenics in the Twenty-First Century http://www.toqonline.com/blog/future-human-evolution/ Western Perspectives on Man, Culture, and Politics Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:11:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Burrhus http://www.toqonline.com/blog/future-human-evolution/comment-page-1/#comment-7531 Burrhus Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:38:48 +0000 http://www.toqonline.com/?p=9152#comment-7531 Freudianism, Marxism, B. F. Skinner’s Behaviorism, Franz Boaz’s cultural history, and Margaret Mead’s anthropology all stressed the marvelous “plasticity” and even “programmability” of Homo sapiens. It was explained over and over that human minds differ little in their innate qualities, and that it is upbringing and education which explain the differences among us. Software is everything; hardware is identical and thus meaningless. Including B. F. Skinner with Freud, Marx, Boaz and Mead is a gross misrepresentation of his work. On many occasions, Skinner wrote about the role of genetics in determining the potential repertoire of the individual. Environmental factors select behavior from that pool of genetically possible behaviors. He clearly recognized that an individual's genes set the parameters of his behavior and that individuals differ in potential as a result of genetic variation. Freudianism, Marxism, B. F. Skinner’s Behaviorism, Franz Boaz’s cultural history, and Margaret Mead’s anthropology all stressed the marvelous “plasticity” and even “programmability” of Homo sapiens. It was explained over and over that human minds differ little in their innate qualities, and that it is upbringing and education which explain the differences among us. Software is everything; hardware is identical and thus meaningless.

Including B. F. Skinner with Freud, Marx, Boaz and Mead is a gross misrepresentation of his work. On many occasions, Skinner wrote about the role of genetics in determining the potential repertoire of the individual. Environmental factors select behavior from that pool of genetically possible behaviors. He clearly recognized that an individual’s genes set the parameters of his behavior and that individuals differ in potential as a result of genetic variation.

]]> By: Larry Petersen http://www.toqonline.com/blog/future-human-evolution/comment-page-1/#comment-7521 Larry Petersen Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:22:33 +0000 http://www.toqonline.com/?p=9152#comment-7521 Another title, of a similar nature, heralding "Our Inevitable Genetic Future", that gave me great hope for the future, is "Redesigning HUMANS" by Gregory Stock; ISBN 0-618-06026-x; Houghton Mifflin; 2002. In spite of all other forces, and the decomposition we see in our daily lives, almighty nature combined with our Faustian spirit shall reign supreme ! Another title, of a similar nature, heralding “Our Inevitable Genetic Future”, that gave me great hope for the future, is “Redesigning HUMANS” by Gregory Stock; ISBN 0-618-06026-x; Houghton Mifflin; 2002.

In spite of all other forces, and the decomposition we see in our daily lives, almighty nature combined with our Faustian spirit shall reign supreme !

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