Ancient die-off blamed on climate, not humans - LiveScience - MSNBC.com
Anthropocentric Influence on the Decline of Species
According to this article, Ancient die-off blamed on climate, not humans - LiveScience - MSNBC.com, we humans probably didn't have much to do with the extinction of megafauna such as mammoths and mastodons. Conventional dogma relates major extinctions such as this to the migration of humans and their subsequent hunger for meat that was readily available. If new studies such as this one prove correct, perhaps we aren't the viral monsters we have been portrayed as being. I've often thought it makes no sense that one species, even a successful invasive one such as ourselves could drive others to the brink of extinction and beyond unless there were other environmental and biological factors contributing to the decline. I have no doubt that we humans are a factor in this phenomenon, but I do have reservations about this underlying assumption that we are the absolute cause of all ills.
The great thing about science is that as we learn more we come to realize that, in fact, we know very little. It is far too easy to accept ideology as absolute truth when actually there are very few absolutes. The really great thinkers (author not included) out there are those who not only understand this, but are willing to grow and adapt their world view- those who are flexible enough not to fall into the ideological nooks and crannies. Theories and hypotheses are just theories and hypotheses until rigorously and repeatedly tested with the same outcomes consistently shown to occur. While some lines of thought are patently absurd (think intelligent design), they are still lines of thought and should be treated as such since they stimulate us to seek more answers, not less.
According to this article, Ancient die-off blamed on climate, not humans - LiveScience - MSNBC.com, we humans probably didn't have much to do with the extinction of megafauna such as mammoths and mastodons. Conventional dogma relates major extinctions such as this to the migration of humans and their subsequent hunger for meat that was readily available. If new studies such as this one prove correct, perhaps we aren't the viral monsters we have been portrayed as being. I've often thought it makes no sense that one species, even a successful invasive one such as ourselves could drive others to the brink of extinction and beyond unless there were other environmental and biological factors contributing to the decline. I have no doubt that we humans are a factor in this phenomenon, but I do have reservations about this underlying assumption that we are the absolute cause of all ills.
The great thing about science is that as we learn more we come to realize that, in fact, we know very little. It is far too easy to accept ideology as absolute truth when actually there are very few absolutes. The really great thinkers (author not included) out there are those who not only understand this, but are willing to grow and adapt their world view- those who are flexible enough not to fall into the ideological nooks and crannies. Theories and hypotheses are just theories and hypotheses until rigorously and repeatedly tested with the same outcomes consistently shown to occur. While some lines of thought are patently absurd (think intelligent design), they are still lines of thought and should be treated as such since they stimulate us to seek more answers, not less.
posted by Dr. Joe at 6:18 AM
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