Long-lost cousins

The Guardian ^ | Adam Rutherford

[Soliton]

At Nature, we often find that our most read, downloaded or listened to studies are those about our more ancient relatives, whether it's the hobbit of Flores or the oldest human ancestor, Toumai. Last week, a paper in the journal Cell uncovered the first completed sequence of the Neanderthal genome, and some fascinating insights into our evolutionary cousins. Expect more revelations from this project very soon.

The demise of the Neanderthals is one of the great mysteries about the origin of our species. They were on a side branch in the human tree, co-existing with our direct ancestors for maybe 100,000 years. Their physical appearance has helped generate a bad rep, their being short, stocky and heavily browed. But these traits are only unattractive to us in the same way that a chimp might not fancy an orang-utan.

[dljordan]

There’s a pretty cool picture at the link. Looks like a pro wrestler.

[DManA]

But these traits are only unattractive to us in the same way that a chimp might not fancy an orang-utan. So, racism is natural?

[Liberty1970]

What does learning about our evolutionary origin tell us about ourselves today? There are some things that we can understand: such as how western obesity is an artefact of our evolutionary past. Very recently and very quickly, our social development has led us to spend a lot of time eating cheeseburgers and mucking around on the internet. But our bodies are still stuck in a time when fatty and salty foods were hard to come by and therefore were sought out. Now, they are everywhere and our bodies can't cope. That's not to excuse unhealthy behaviour, merely to explain why it is unhealthy.

This is an example of how evolutionists fool themselves into thinking evolution "explains" something that any other alternative does not. In any creation model in which living things are created to persist for more than a transient period, obviously those life forms are going to have to be created to be fit for their environment. Insofar as we were created in a 'natural' setting, adopting an 'unnatural' lifestyle like cheeseburgers and donuts is going to put us at risk of negative effects like obesity.

One doesn't need "evolution" to explain this. Unfortunately evolutionists constantly think "evolution" has some kind of explanatory power because they think natural undirected changes are capable of designing given biological features/characteristics. The key point is that biological characteristics are designed for a given environment, not how the designing was done, even if evolution were a capable designer.

[bert]

The flaw in your piece is insisting on design.

There is no design. There is random change over very long periods of time with an occasional extraordinary success that takes place in a relatively short time.

[Wholly Ghost]

Leftist twaddle posing as science reporting is about as attractive as a beauty queen with a booger hanging from her nose.

[central_va]

Can't go this long without Helen Thomas picture bump.

[Nakota]

“There’s a pretty cool picture at the link. Looks like a pro wrestler.”

Jesse Ventura????

[Soliton]

So, racism is natural?

Of course racism is natural. Racist persist through racism. Once racism ceases to exist, interbreeding occurs and the races merge.

[Soliton]

Insofar as we were created in a 'natural' setting, adopting an 'unnatural' lifestyle like cheeseburgers and donuts is going to put us at risk of negative effects like obesity.

Evolution isn't perfect and can't see into the future. God supposedly is perfect and can see the future. Evolution is a better explanation for the observed phenomena.

[MaineConservative]

The demise of the Neanderthals is one of the great mysteries about the origin of our species --

Not really....

Just ask the GEICO caveman why they aren't around!! :-)

[SunkenCiv]

uncovered the first completed sequence of the Neanderthal genome

guffaw.

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Pontiac]

So what brought about the fall of the house of Neander? Of the many theories, one stands out as being distinctly modern: genocide.

Some lines of evidence suggest humans hunted their low-browed but smart cousins into oblivion. It's not difficult to argue that humans are an unusually aggressive species.

Our desire to conquer, kill or forcibly impose our will upon others is probably culturally universal, and goes well beyond survival.

I would say that it is gentic

This is a point that should go with out question but our Liberal Pacifist brethren seem to find this fact totally unfathomable.

Humans will never be able to totally live in peace with each other. Whether it is competition for resources differences in ideology or simply the need to dominate, something will drive us to war with each other.

Those that refuse to acknowledge that fact will be enslaved if their political view point gains dominance.

[MEGoody]

There is no design.

::::snort::::

[SunkenCiv]

Scientists map mitochondrial DNA of prehistoric Neanderthal
AFP | Aug 7, 2008 | Unknown
Posted on 08/07/2008 12:37:19 PM PDT by decimon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2058184/posts