Are Americans less-evolved?

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If by evolved we mean survival of the “species,” then are American’s less-evolved than other nations?

Procreation here is less than many other, particularly 3rd world countries. We contracept and even advertise methods in magazines, radio, etc… We abort. Many American men look for consequence-free sex. Porn doesn’t reproduce. Women commit to professional work far more than raising children than in decades past. The Europeans could fall under this umbrella too with the Pope a few years ago urging them to reproduce more.
 
Depends whether you even believe the term ‘evolution.’ 😃

What you say may indeed be true, but I am sure other countries lead the way in abortion and the killing of the innocent inconvenient. Look up the Groeningen Protocol.
 
I just mean we’ve abandoned a culture of family and procreation. Although there are certainly other countries like China who have child-limits too, you could throw them in the mix. If this Groeningen culture is similar, then you could lump them in with us too. 😊
 
MarcoPolo said:
I just mean we’ve abandoned a culture of family and procreation. Although there are certainly other countries like China who have child-limits too, you could throw them in the mix. If this Groeningen culture is similar, then you could lump them in with us too. 😊
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I believe it was Danish, and allowed a ‘defective’ child to be ‘euthanized’ up until age TWELVE.

I need to check the facts on this, but most people can’t believe such a thing exists.
 
Here. I knew it; just got the country a bit wrong:
WHEN NEWS of the Groningen Protocol surfaced in October, it was reported in the Grand Forks Herald,though I didn’t read of it, nor apparently did many others. The Groningen Protocol could have been the stuff of a fine presidential debate question, or a series of questions, but I doubt if any of the debate moderators or either of the presidential candidates had heard of it either. It is an intriguing title, but it should enter the history books as shorthand for an appalling brutality, so appalling in fact, that “The Groningen Protocol” could have been an entry on the agenda at the Wannsee Conference.
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The Groningen Protocol is the proposal of doctors in the Netherlands for the establishment of an “independent committee” charged with selecting babies and other severely handicapped or disabled people for euthanasia. The original article provides some of the key details:
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Under the Groningen protocol, if doctors at the hospital think a child is suffering unbearably from a terminal condition, they have the authority to end the child’s life. The protocol is likely to be used primarily for newborns, but it covers any child up to age 12.
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The hospital, beyond confirming the protocol in general terms, refused to discuss its details.
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Rest of article here.

I can see why you would think we’ve become anti-family in the USA, and in a sense we have—but there are still people with big families, and I think they might be happier.
 
When a fellow person or other creature is suffering unbearably, we ourselves ‘bleed’ (I am not concerned in this post with nationality). Without a prepared response we are likely to become desperate in order to know what to do. Doctors and Others, may feel this, I imagine, if they encounter a situation that is new to them.

The question is what is the right thing to do in such a situation. For persons without for example, a Catholic faith, they may be tempted to end life as humanely as possible. This is done for the best reasons that the person is capable of summoning. They want the best for the sufferer and for themselves.

I think that the Catholic faith has access to a more enlightened way. Yet, I am not sure. I can think of reasons why this path is better, but I am not sure how I would act in the future if I was called upon to decide.

As a version of The Lord’s Prayer has it: “…and do not bring us to the test…”.
 
I am sorry to have ‘hijacked’ the thread (though it was traveling my way). In answer to the title question, as far as I understand it: No. Nor are any other nationals ‘less-evolved’. That’s my view.

👍
 
Andrew_Lorimer said:
When a fellow person or other creature is suffering unbearably, we ourselves ‘bleed’ (I am not concerned in this post with nationality). Without a prepared response we are likely to become desperate in order to know what to do. Doctors and Others, may feel this, I imagine, if they encounter a situation that is new to them.

The question is what is the right thing to do in such a situation. For persons without for example, a Catholic faith, they may be tempted to end life as humanely as possible. This is done for the best reasons that the person is capable of summoning. They want the best for the sufferer and for themselves.

I think that the Catholic faith has access to a more enlightened way. Yet, I am not sure. I can think of reasons why this path is better, but I am not sure how I would act in the future if I was called upon to decide.

As a version of The Lord’s Prayer has it: “…and do not bring us to the test…”.
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What version is that?

If there is one thing to hold fast to in Holy Mother Church, it is her position on life issues. I am both chilled and horrified by that Protocol, as I was with the killing of Terri Schiavo.

And extremely wary of that sort of ‘compassion.’
 
The OP is nonsensical. Evolution is nothing more than mutations and genetic change over time. The family structure of creatures and their rate of procreation are not directly relevant, except insofar as they impact survival of the entire species.
 
MarcoPolo said:
If by evolved we mean survival of the “species,” then are American’s less-evolved than other nations?

Procreation here is less than many other, particularly 3rd world countries. We contracept and even advertise methods in magazines, radio, etc… We abort. Many American men look for consequence-free sex. Porn doesn’t reproduce. Women commit to professional work far more than raising children than in decades past. The Europeans could fall under this umbrella too with the Pope a few years ago urging them to reproduce more.
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As AntiTheist has already noticed, it sounds like you may not be working from a scientific picture of evolution. Although scientists can measure genetic distance and other biological features (which may be what you have in mind), it’s inappropriate to talk about some populations being more or less evolved than other populations. Those terms lack precise definitions in biology, so it’s hard to guess what you mean by your question.

Although I am not a biologist, I would add that Americans may not be biologically separate from most other human groups. I’m skeptical that we can even talk about valid biological measurements (e.g. genetic distance) between Americans and, say, sub-Saharan Africans. Then again, perhaps we can; you’d have to ask a biologist to be sure.

I hope that helps!
 
AntiTheist said:
The OP is nonsensical. Evolution is nothing more than mutations and genetic change over time. The family structure of creatures and their rate of procreation are not directly relevant, except insofar as they impact survival of the entire species.
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Which is nothing more than your opinion and/or agenda.

A government that will allow, and even encourage, the murder of the innocent for someone’s convenience, will eventually allow anything.

And people who support these horrific acts will be the first to wail and gnash their teeth when they come for you.
 
MarcoPolo said:
If by evolved we mean survival of the “species,” then are American’s less-evolved than other nations?

Procreation here is less than many other, particularly 3rd world countries. We contracept and even advertise methods in magazines, radio, etc… We abort. Many American men look for consequence-free sex. Porn doesn’t reproduce. Women commit to professional work far more than raising children than in decades past. The Europeans could fall under this umbrella too with the Pope a few years ago urging them to reproduce more.
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If you base the success of a species on fecundity, then homo sapiens sapiens is the most successful large mammal. This success is responsible for the largest mass extinction, of non-human animals, since the Cretaceous era.
well.com/~davidu/extinction.html

If you base the success of an individual on fecundity, then Ghengis Khan is the clear winner. But thankfully, with the advent of human culture, we can act contrary to our natural drives

"When we die there are two things we can leave behind us: genes and memes. We were built as gene machines, created to pass on our genes. But that aspect of us will be forgotten in three generations. Your child, even your grandchild, may bear a resemblance to you, perhaps in facial features, in a talent for music, in the colour of her hair. But as each generation passes, the contribution of your genes is halved. It does not take long to reach negligible proportions. Our genes may be immortal but the collection of genes that is any one of us is bound to crumble away. Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Yet it is quite probable that she bears not a single one of the old king’s genes. We should not seek immortality in reproduction.

But if you contribute to the world’s culture, if you have a good idea, compose a tune, invent a sparking plug, write a poem, it may live on, intact, long after your genes have dissolved in the common pool. Socrates may or may not have a gene or two alive in the world today, as G.C. Williams has remarked, but who cares ? The meme-complexes of Socrates, Leonardo, Copernicus and Marconi are still going strong. "

Richard Dawkins -* The Selfish Gene*
rubinghscience.org/memetics/dawkinsmemes.html
 
hatsoff said:
Although I am not a biologist, I would add that Americans may not be biologically separate from most other human groups. I’m skeptical that we can even talk about valid biological measurements (e.g. genetic distance) between Americans and, say, sub-Saharan Africans. Then again, perhaps we can; you’d have to ask a biologist to be sure.

I hope that helps!
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Physical anthropologists and forensic scientists use racial identification all the time, sometimes in courts of law for expert testimony.

pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/gill.html

You don’t fight racism by denying the existence of races.
 
“And do not let us fall into temptation,” is the one I prefer.
 
For the technical atheists here, let’s just go with the sense I meant “evolution” in the OP----survival. Are Americans (and other countries with high abortion rates, contraception, etc…) dwindling relative to other populations due to lack of procreation?
 
MarcoPolo said:
For the technical atheists here, let’s just go with the sense I meant “evolution” in the OP----survival. Are Americans (and other countries with high abortion rates, contraception, etc…) dwindling relative to other populations due to lack of procreation?
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Absolutely. I find it somewhat ironic that such staunch Catholic countries like Italy and Spain are tied with Hong Kong for the lowest fertility rate in the world at 1.2, where 2.1 babies per woman is the magic number to provide population growth.

But why do you think this represents a step backward, or a devolution?

For places like Japan and Hong Kong, unlimited, exponential human population growth would lead to many disasters.

I could argue, and provide sufficient warrants, to support the claim that human overpopulation is the chief cause of many of the planets ecological problems.

The underlying assumption of most politicians and developers is that there are no limits to human population growth. Our consumeristic economic policies rely on such an absurdity.

… sorry, going off on a tangent.

Anyways, if you’re anxious that Caucasians are being overwhelmed by exponential population growth by non-Caucasians, have no fear. As long as Iceland retains its** Zero immigration **policy, there will always be Caucasians around.
 
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