Thursday, November 22, 2018

Human History and Species-Origination

Bergson's concept of Evolution is not Darwinist, but still includes a distinct that is relevant to Darwinism.  He recognizes and distinguishes the possibilities of both Evolution and Survival, positing that some species continue to develop, while others reach a stage of development that they thereafter merely repeat.  The distinction is plainly applicable to Darwinism, i. e. to any species that has ceased to mutate, e. g. apes that have remained as such after the origin of the Human species.  So, the significant question is: which of the two principles applies to Human history?  And, while it may be a long time before it is definitively clear whether or not the Human species has leveled off, there is strong evidence that it has not.  That evidence is that after originating at one location, and then spreading to a degree of control of much of its terrestrial environment, it has recently begun to venture beyond that environment, a development that is already as radical as that of marine organisms venturing onto dry land.  So, if the latter is classified as 'evolving', and not merely 'surviving', then so, too, must the former be.  Accordingly, there is strong evidence that Human history is being determined by an Evolutionary principle, or, in other words, that it is itself a process, ongoing, of Species-Origination, and not merely a postscript to one, subsequently seeking merely the survival of the species.

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