Stephen Pearl Andrews hits it right on the nose

"There are mainly three ways of effecting changes in human habits: first, maternal force directly applied; secondly, legislative injunction or prohibition, with its moral sway first exerted and then backed by an ulterior appeal to force; and, thirdly, what is loosely named and conceived of at present as moral suasion.  This last subdivides, however, into, first, mere unorganized, unscientific and individual appeal, and, secondly, scientifically-founded opinion taught and morally enforced through a competent special organization to that effect."

"Let science decide on and distinctly define what ought to be; let, then, the religious sentiment of mankind, the most universal and powerful of our sentiments, be converged on the persuasion and conscientious devotion of the whole people in behalf of the truth so defined; and let the Church be re-organized into the potent instrument for so converging the religion of the world upon that conduct, the necessity or desirableness of which science may have determined.
Religion is able, to-day, to keep millions of ignorant men and women from eating meat on Friday."

This of course leads to the prediction of cloning:
“Desirable as it might be to see the programme of Mr. Andrews carried out, we have no faith in its voluntary adoption. If it be deemed advantageous to stirpicultivate the human race up to the highest point of physical and mental excellence, it is folly to rely on moral suasion. Surgery is surer. If man and woman are to be bred like [sic] the farmer breeds cattle, then we must deal with our scrub men as the farmer deals with his scrub pigs. If the question were left open, every man would deem himself “physically and mentally” qualified for the work of improving the stock, whatever he might think of his neighbor.”

http://www.spirithistory.com/stirps.html for more

Great stuff, really

Past Point B

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else."

Leonardo de Vinci said that. And he did a lot of shit for this world.

The statement reminds me of a premise me and a friend were talking about. I call it 'getting past point B.'
You see, in life we can become successful and make money. That should be the starting point. There is a whole point C that most people never shoot for. It's what you do with your life after you've made the money. There's gotta be something past the point of being financially successful. I'm not talking adopting a kid from africa, nor am I talking about donating money. I'm talking about YOUR GREAT CONTRIBUTION. the thing that you will be written about in books for.

That is point C. Most people are content at point B. But point B should be achieved as soon as possible. and u cannot stop once you reach it.

As a member of this society, it is my duty to change the world

History does not lie. Upon viewing the film 'There Will be Blood' my notions of what is necessary to continue the cycle of evolution proved true.

Evolution rules all. It is the river on which we float, we do not know where it will lead us. Evolution requires a few things:

First off,it requires changers. People that will change the flow of history. They are few and far between, I'd say less then 1% of the population. It is these few people that continue human civilization, allowing the others to survive, carrying them on their backs.

Secondly, evolution requires the breaking down and changing of prior practice and knowledge. This occurs through individual evolution, viewing the group status quo, and recognizing faults in it. We continue to live, survive, and evolve simply through the reparation of past failings. Through this process, the power of our machines and the possibilities inherent in our society strengthen and grow.

It is survival on the macro level. In the capitalist society we live in here in America, it is possible for anyone-let me say it again-ANYONE, to prosper thousands and thousands times more then those around him or her. It is only through this person's thoughts and will to succeed that the evolution continues of the human species.

As I and a colleague discussed this notion of current evolution, a few things came up. Firstly, if we are teaching history classes in all the schools to all the youth, why are we not teaching a future class. Why are we, in the year 2008, not able to predict where things will go EVEN WITHIN the next 3 years. How is this not possible yet? So in essence, we must focus as much on future developments as much as we focus on past ones. Secondly, we are not predicting history right now at a fast enough or deep enough level. Global warming has suddenly crept up on us. And how long was it before we knew it existed that we started to act, even in the least bit. Will we be prepared for the next step in this cycle? And the growth rate of weapons of mass destruction in the world. In 100 short years, how far have we advanced in this field. From nothing at all to what we currently have. And it does not stop.

Where will you be in 30 years when the needs of society outgrow their current boundaries? What will you say when the births of 2020 are more versed and wise in technology then you will ever reach? Will there be certain members of our generation that will set the boundaries for survival?

And will one of those people be you?