Philosophy Now Forum

Why do we live for 50 to 80 years? Why do human beings live for 70 years on an average when the lifespan of a mayfly is less than a day? A butterfly can live for a couple of weeks or a few months; dogs can live between 8 to 15 years - why is it that different animals have different lifespans?

I wonder about this sometimes and then realize that there is no point in thinking about this for that is how the creator has created it: it is a design of the lord, of the creator, the master, the artist who has designed this beautiful world. Now instead of questioning and wondering why this world has been created the way it is, is it not better to appreciate the beauty around us? Look at the flowers for instance - the artist must be truly amazing to have thought of so many colors and shapes, and created so many diverse flowers. Look at the birds - the way they fly, the sounds they make, the music they create. It really needs a very creative mind to have created all these birds. If you are still not convinced, then go under water and look at the colorful fish that swim in the corals. You will be amazed to find all that the creator of this universe has so beautifully created. Such art and artist should put our mind to rest, shouldn’t it? Should we wonder and question why all this is the way it is? Should we try to prove and scientifically understand everything or should we simply surrender, accept and enjoy this wonderful creation for the limited lifespan that we have?

AiR

AiR wrote:Why do we live for 50 to 80 years? Why do human beings live for 70 years on an average when the lifespan of a mayfly is less than a day? A butterfly can live for a couple of weeks or a few months; dogs can live between 8 to 15 years - why is it that different animals have different lifespans?

I wonder about this sometimes and then realize that there is no point in thinking about this for that is how the creator has created it: it is a design of the lord, of the creator, the master, the artist
AiR

This is exactly the sort of moronic blinkered attitude that kept us in the dark from the beginnings of science in the ancient world across the ossified and moribund Christian period until the Enlightenment began to roll back the stupid people like AiR- Head

Realizing that anything after 66 is gravy motivates the need to help your old dog savor its remaining ration.

AiR wrote:Why do we live for 50 to 80 years? Why do human beings live for 70 years on an average when the lifespan of a mayfly is less than a day? A butterfly can live for a couple of weeks or a few months; dogs can live between 8 to 15 years - why is it that different animals have different lifespans?

AiR

Because we evolved that way, mayflies are an r-selected species that spreads its genes by pumping out as many offspring as possible as fast as possible and it's more efficient to use their resources to produce more offspring than to keep that individual alive for longer.
We are a k-selected species that produces fewer offspring but invest the resources to keep as many as possible alive to produce the next generation, we live longer so we can nurture and protect our children and grandchildren.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R/K_selection_theory

To deny evolution is to deny reality in favor of some fictional fantasy.

To evolve implies slow development into a more advanced state, which requires change. However, I think people can mistakenly think that all change is evolution when evidence shows that some change is rot.

Walker wrote:To evolve implies slow development into a more advanced state, which requires change. However, I think people can mistakenly think that all change is evolution when evidence shows that some change is rot.

No, evolution is just the change in an organism to adapt to a changing environment. Sometimes that change appears to be to an advanced state but it is only to better fit the conditions that the organism is living in. People don't always understand the whole picture that an organism is facing, and draw incorrect conclusions about the fitness of an organism to the environment.

I wish I had evolved into a lily pad on a pond. Great life. Float on the water all day, and soak up the sun. For them, life really is a beach lol!

Dalek Prime wrote:I wish I had evolved into a lily pad on a pond. Great life. Float on the water all day, and soak up the sun. For them, life really is a beach lol!

So you obviously live in a world where that was necessary, though it does add filler to recent missives.

thedoc wrote:

Walker wrote:To evolve implies slow development into a more advanced state, which requires change. However, I think people can mistakenly think that all change is evolution when evidence shows that some change is rot.

No, evolution is just the change in an organism to adapt to a changing environment. Sometimes that change appears to be to an advanced state but it is only to better fit the conditions that the organism is living in. People don't always understand the whole picture that an organism is facing, and draw incorrect conclusions about the fitness of an organism to the environment.

Can the nature of this change ever be devolution? If so, then the change would not be evolution to a more advanced state, but it still would be change in adaptation to environment.

Walker wrote:

Dalek Prime wrote:I wish I had evolved into a lily pad on a pond. Great life. Float on the water all day, and soak up the sun. For them, life really is a beach lol!

So you obviously live in a world where that was necessary, though it does add filler to recent missives.

So you obviously live in a humourless world. Big whoop.

Is stalking posters something Randians often do?

Walker wrote:To evolve implies slow development into a more advanced state, which requires change. However, I think people can mistakenly think that all change is evolution when evidence shows that some change is rot.

Evolution does not have to produce an "advanced state" - only a different and more fit one. When you realise the evolution is not a force or a cause, but is an effect, then you will see things more clearly.

evolution
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution

2a : a process of change in a certain direction : unfolding
b : the action or an instance of forming and giving something off : emission
c (1) : a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state : growth (2) : a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance

AiR wrote:Why do we live for 50 to 80 years? Why do human beings live for 70 years on an average when the lifespan of a mayfly is less than a day? A butterfly can live for a couple of weeks or a few months; dogs can live between 8 to 15 years - why is it that different animals have different lifespans?

I really like this question. Obviously all species have evolved based on "who's left standing" (well, breeding). How many offspring produced, how many survive to breeding age and how many successfully breed. After countless iterations of this dynamic we have our current species with their particular properties.

AiR wrote:I wonder about this sometimes and then realize that there is no point in thinking about this for that is how the creator has created it: it is a design of the lord, of the creator, the master, the artist who has designed this beautiful world.[

My heart sank when I read this after the initial interesting question.

"Creator". "Lord". The language of Iron Age mythology. Hoary old superstitious cliches that say nothing, just repetition from the hymn book. Sorry to be so blunt but I will be pleased when philosophy forums are free of theistic non-philosophy. IMO you'd do well to keep your deity within because that's the only place it exists.

Greta wrote:

AiR wrote:Why do we live for 50 to 80 years? Why do human beings live for 70 years on an average when the lifespan of a mayfly is less than a day? A butterfly can live for a couple of weeks or a few months; dogs can live between 8 to 15 years - why is it that different animals have different lifespans?

I really like this question. Obviously all species have evolved based on "who's left standing" (well, breeding). How many offspring produced, how many survive to breeding age and how many successfully breed. After countless iterations of this dynamic we have our current species with their particular properties.

AiR wrote:I wonder about this sometimes and then realize that there is no point in thinking about this for that is how the creator has created it: it is a design of the lord, of the creator, the master, the artist who has designed this beautiful world.[

My heart sank when I read this after the initial interesting question.

"Creator". "Lord". The language of Iron Age mythology. Hoary old superstitious cliches that say nothing, just repetition from the hymn book. Sorry to be so blunt but I will be pleased when philosophy forums are free of theistic non-philosophy. IMO you'd do well to keep your deity within because that's the only place it exists.

There's also the aspect of unnecessary walls that mere concepts can trigger. Thoughts so strong they just gots to be physical.

One can’t help but notice that when bias is absent and with the proper premise the reasoning is refreshingly clear. Suspension of disbelief can be a formidable method for one so evolved; a method leading to counter-intuitive insights that are also truly in accord with reality.

*

Funny thing though. Evolution is gradual but evolutionary change happens in a blink. It’s like water dripping into a balloon one drop at a time. Takes a long time to fill up but when it does, the change is fast.

In evolutionary terms the fast change is that moment of light at conception. Everything pre and post is one drop at a time for in the linear world attention is singular though muti-tasking is fast: the glance, the fragrance, the touch, the wine, the cigarette ... all evolving to the big biological balloon flash burst of evolutionary change.