My first post
So the original idea for this blog actually occurred before blogs really existed. It was about 20 years ago at university when I thought it might be interesting to apply evolutionary concepts to the human race and compare how we stack up against other animals. I even wrote a couple of chapters of it, which are probably still stored on an old computer somewhere. However, sadly other more mundane life things took over and so the world was denied what might have been a revolutionary book (though to be honest I doubt it – the pretentious musings of a 20 year old who think they understand both the human race and evolution are probably best left on that computer).
That said, the idea has stayed in my mind for all these years and I have sometimes thought it would still be a good idea to write something on the subject. It then occurred to me that it would be quicker and easier to set it up as a blog and probably more appropriate for these modern times.
What has really spurred me into action is the COVID-19 outbreak we are currently experiencing. I feel it has thrown up so many questions about the human race and about it’s future. I can’t help but feel in many ways we have ended up a flawed species if you look at it from an evolutionary point of view. The human race has achieved many great things and I think undoubtedly of all the animals on the earth is it the most intelligent and has evolved further than the others. However, I also feel that in doing so it has also created many of the problems we see today, both in its own species and the wider world. David Attenborough said in 2013 that humans had stopped evolving. I’m not sure that’s entirely true but I do think it’s a different sort of evolution – it’s not genetic or about individuals, it’s now about the population as a whole and, instead of physical characteristics, it’s an evolution of how we think and view things. I’m not sure where such an evolution ends up but I am not sure it will end well.
So I decide now was the time to write down some of my thoughts on the subject. Whether anyone will ever read them I don’t know but at least I will have done what I started all those years ago and written them down. So in future blog posts I intend to write about all sorts of things, such as whether the idea of natural selection can still be applied to humans and whether over population will ultimately lead to a population crash. Basically anything I feel I want to write about but with the basic principle of looking at humans as an animal and applying some of the concepts from other species to our own.
So if you do read this post or any other I hope you find it interesting and perhaps shapes your own thinking in some way, even if you completely disagree with it. Thanks for reading.