Re: Biodiversity and the Fossil Record

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You are, of course, correct in that all changes to the earth's biota are,
in a sense, natural. I was merely adopting the widespread distinction made
by other scientists, conservationalists, and the media that extinctions
resulting from the impact of human activities differ qualitatively and
quantitatively from those caused by non-human factors. The same
philosophical distinction is present in the debate over paleontological
mass extinction mechanisms (e.g., terrestrial vs. extraterrestrial).

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "human technology was not meant to be
part of the evolution of natural history." Evolution is an algorithm that,
in a very profound sense, doesn't "mean" anything. It would seem that your
philosophical stance (humans are part of nature) would preclude the
possibility that their technology is contrary to natural processes. You
see, for better or worse, we all seem to view ourselves as standing apart
from nature. Perhaps that's a synapomorphy of being human ;->

Norm MacLeod



>On Mon, 18 Mar 1996, N. MacLeod wrote:
>
>> As with the mess extinction debates in the fossil record, the real nub of
>> the problem is trying to figure out what proportion of extinctions were due
>> to "exogenous" causes (e.g., human activities) and what proportion would
>> have come about as a result of "normal" factors.
>
>Hi Norm,  While I know you are trying to make an important distinction
>here, I fail to see the difference between these two causes as humans are
>merely part of the natural world.  What I'm trying to say, is that the
>humans' technological advances are merely an extension of their "normal"
>capability.  If human technology was not meant to be part of the
>evolution of natural history, perhaps it would not been part of our
>"design" to advance technologically.  Perhaps, if we destroy our
>selves and the living world with us, then this would be natures' way of
>ridding the planet of a species that couldn't adapt!



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Norman MacLeod
Senior Scientific Officer
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (Internet)
N.MacLeod@uk.ac.nhm (Janet)

Address: Dept. of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum,
         Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

Office Phone: 0171-938-9006
Dept. FAX:  0171-938-9277
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