Transition

Introduction

This book includes an analysis of:
Human Ecology
Human Genetics
Human Survival Strategies, known as Moralities
Humans and Gods

Everyone knows that the world is changing. We are heading into the unknown and anyone aware of it must know some fear. We know a little bit about where we have come from. We certainly don't know where we are going let alone the path to get there. We have only a limited idea of why we are here or why we live. New beliefs, especially science, have called into question the underpinnings of the moralities and beliefs of millinea. Humanity has lost an innocence. We will not survive without being able to answer these things. This book is intended to show how to answer those particular questions. These are not questions of science. These are questions of morality and survival. Luckily, some of these questions can be answered by science, but not all.

Since humans created agriculture, animal husbandry and cities, we have lived in a fundamentally changing ecology that is not stable and that we are not adapted to. This book is about how we can again achieve a stable ecology that we are adapted to. Some of that is about what we will require in an ecology and part of it is about what humans will have to do to adapt genetically and behaviorally to survive in this new ecology.
Fortunately, an analysis of human ecology and technology suggests that we have most of the components we will require to create a long term stable ecology. We are mostly missing an adequate energy source. Unfortunately, an analysis of human genetics and ecology show that we are in extreme danger and that we have a great deal of genetic and behavioral adaptation we must accomplish regardless of the material resources we have available. Luckily, all the pieces are in place for not just survival, but also great development.
Currently, humans are very like they have been for all their history. We are basically ignorant tribalists. Still, we have developed new philosophies and understandings. Also, the changing ecology has created new selective pressures and new potentials that have caused extremely rapid genetic adaptation and evolution.
The problem is that much of what we call human progress, especially medicine, have come to act to negate natural selection. This will naturally lead to a genetic disaster. Humans are going to have a hard time surviving as more than animals.

Humans are not only their genes and instincts. The mark of a human is that we survive by what we know and believe. We survive by the use of learned survival strategies called Moralities. The question is do we have or can we develop a survival strategy and method, or morality, that will allow us to survive into the future ecologies. It seems that we do have at least one existing morality that will. The problem is that most existing moralities, most of which are known as religions, are based on precedence and authority. For many reasons, in the future, moralities will also have to be based on logic and reason. Describing the reason and logic of morality has required a lot of analysis in the second section of the book.

Just as logic verifies science, humans have ways to verify moralities. I try to tell people what they already know, but have never been able to put into words. Here are the words.

Many people, especially when young, feel that there is a better way for humanity to act and survive. Many people have looked for these same answers in many places, especially religion. Religions can provide many answers about how a person can live, but no explanations about why. If you are a person who needs explanations, you will need to look further. Science is a great tool for developing an understanding of the unknown. Unfortunately, the question of how humans can survive, is incredibly complicated and little science about it has been developed. Many people have devoted their lives to trying to figure it out though and we can stand on their shoulders. The basic concepts behind how genetics work are quite recent and have not been integrated with the rest of human knowledge. What would it look like if religion was compared to our scientific knowledge of life and survival? What would it look like if our scientific knowledge of life and survival was compared to our religion? Understand, this exploration took the path of science rather than the path of religion, but because it is a view of morality, where it ended up would look very familiar to any person of faith. How familiar is for you to decide, but I did the same thing that so many people have done when they wanted to understand more than what they were taught as children. All of this is supposed to sound familiar, because it is something that you have thought of before, but have not been able to put into words or make complete.

I'll tell you up front that much of what we need to know about human survival relates to what makes us human, morality and genetics. Most of the rest of the required information has already been well explored.

Originally, I asked "why is that person different from me"? But then I was trained as a biologist and I put the question in another form. I then asked "how could humans again achieve a relatively stable ecology"? I asked that first question over 32 years ago. What I found since then might amaze you. Many unexpected and very important answers arise.

Actually, that is why this web page was made. I want to find out who might be interested in this topic. If you are interested, email me at seahunt@diver.net.

The first part of this book is a set of summaries. These is a general summery, a summary of the ecology, a summary of artificial selection and a summary of morality.
The second part of the book is that the first chapter describes something about the massive "Changes" going on in the world. The next two chapters talk about what humans are and how they have gotten to this point, through "Pre-history" and "History". Socially, we are still basically tribalists. The fourth chapter talks about our use of "Technology" in terms of the resources we use to survive and the limitations these impose. These chapters are all just to lead up to the fifth chapter, which talks about "Genetics and Natural Selection". This is the kicker. The human world has undergone massive change, but human genetics change much slower. This is where the book really starts. In biological terms, natural selective effects have drastically changed. This book is about how must respond to these changes. We have a genetic disaster coming soon and a disaster from disease coming sooner. The solution to that problem though, will open up other potentials. We can become more than tribalists and almost certainly must. There are amazing potentials that can be easily realized. That leads to the second part of the book, which is about how humans can develop morally to survive in a post tribal society.

Remember that when all is said and done about genetics and morality, this started as a question of how humans could survive the problem of disease. Trying to solve that, led to recognition of the problems and amazing potentials of human genetics. Numerically, the population density of civil populations is the biggest change in human ecology. The next biggest is antibiotics. Both of those change the biggest selective factor effecting humans and present out biggest challenge.
The equation is simple. The increased population density and increased population numbers of the city ecology, equals massively increased vectors for the spread of disease. Human memory may not be long enough to remember, but civil humans have always been ruled by disease. That has not changed, but must. We will adapt behaviorally and genetically.
The equation of humans is dominated by the high investment of raising children. This has increased with our technology. We cannot afford to pay the price of disease.

Transition

Introduction

Part 1 - Human Ecology and Genetics

Part 2 - Human Morality