Comments on Secondhand Smoke: Your 24/7 Seminar on Bioethics and the Importance of Being Human: The Importance of Roots to the Exceptional Species...

HKR - Here's another way to look at it.We are true...

2007-10-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

HKR -

Here's another way to look at it.

We are truely children of the stars, created by the same carbon they emit, and through the miracle of evolution, we have become an enhanced, intelligent, beautiful race full of diversity and variety, leaving behind the animal world roughly 6 million years ago, to become the exctptional species that we are - the only species capable of understanding, appreciating, and dare I say it? - loving our history. We are truely an amazing species, and should love every member of our species as our brothers and sisters based on the innumerable odds we beat to come into being.

Wesley -

My dad's family hails out of Naples and Roccodaspide (spelling? anybody?) and my grandmother came over in 1917, when she was seven. She got a factory job at the beginning of World War II. She had my father in 1939. Hee. So I know how you feel about looking back at your family line and being amazed.

What is remarkable is that my family's story is un...

2007-10-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

What is remarkable is that my family's story is unremarkable. Immigrants work. And it pays off. When I graduated law school and received my diploma from Senator Cranston, I looked out into the audience and my grandmother stood up, she was so proud. I almost lost it then and there.

The fact that I care so much about this, which is a general human trait, has something to do with our success as a species. It does distinguish us and there would seem to be great value in this aspect of our natures.

I appreciate this story, WJS.The most fascinating ...

2007-10-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

I appreciate this story, WJS.

The most fascinating thing in my heritage beyond my extant family, actually, what fascinates me most, is we have a legend that James Fenimore Cooper's story the "Deerslayer" was in part based on one of my ancestors. I've dabbled in the research thus far to see if there is a kernal of truth to it all.

Sorry, no thoughts on human exceptionalism, not here though. Although, the research might be a bit faster if I were centaurion biocomputer and could plug my finger into the internet socket.

We are a different species regardless of any commo...

2007-10-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

We are a different species regardless of any common ancestor millions of years ago. We have tens of millions of biological differences, and indeed, cannot interbreed with chimps, and so by any measure, they are not us.

But, HKR, since you are bound and determined--for reasons that escape me--to reduce humankind to mere fauna, let's go all the way. In fact, why limit our perceived commonality to denizens of the animal world? We also share a common genetic ancestry with flat worms and carrots. Indeed, let's go all the way to human reductionism and unexceptionalism and agree that there is no distinction to be made between us and any life form on earth since we are all made up of carbon atoms.

We also share our ancestory with chimpazees. Our l...

2007-10-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

We also share our ancestory with chimpazees. Our last common ancestor lived about ~ 6 million years ago. Also we need to eliminate human racism.