The problem of change was argued by the ancient Greek Philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides. Heraclitus believed that the fundamental character of reality is change, that nothing could remain the same; he said, "One cannot step twice into the same river." On the other hand, Parmenides believed that permanence is the fundamental character of reality, change is an illusion perceived by the sense, and truth is unchanging and know to reason.
Parmenides' belief that permanence is the fundamental character of reality is flawed; nothing can ultimately remain the same. The universe changed from several particles jumbling about to the universe we know today with solar systems and planets and life. Darwin's theory of evolution contradicts his belief stating that species have mutated throughout the ages to adapt to their environments, their changing environments. The world goes through periods of cold and hot; thus, the ice ages and global warming. Mutations in species develop an organism to become more adapt to living in certain environments. In addition to evolution, we as humans undergo processes of development every day. Most of the cells in your body, in fact, are typically around 7 to 10 years old even if you're middle aged; therefore, every 10 years, your body is actually almost brand new. (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/science/02cell.html?pagewanted=all) Changed has occurred throughout this human developmental process.
Maddy,
ReplyDeleteCould one argue that every human that has ever lived has experienced the same responses to the task of survival over the millions of years of evolution whether from homo heidelbergensis down to the current version of humans?
Yes, the basics of human survival have not fundamentally changed since the beginning of our species. We require food, water, and shelter and humans have always had similar responses to those needs; today, we just make extravagant shelter that addresses much more than the basic need.
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