Is it possible to overcome our "animal nature"?

[zackli]

It is often said that through empathy we can overcome our animal nature because that is basically the difference between animals and humans (the fact that some animals DO experience empathy, or otherwise that they show all of the tell-tale signs is a fairly ironic lack of empathy on the part of the individuals who do claim such things). The fact that it is impossible to tell the difference between "showing all of the tell-tale signs" and genuinely experiencing it, even in humans, is also fairly ironic and indicative of a complete lack of it. Empathy is a topic for another day, though...

The question is, what does it mean to "overcome" our animal nature? Another question, somewhat related, is how would we know if we did and how do we tell the difference between our genuinely overcoming our animal nature and "thinking" and "feeling like" we've overcome our animal nature? There would be no apparent difference between "overcoming" it and deluding ourselves into thinking we've overcome it.

Is this just another campfire the neanderthals build to gather around in order to not realize how insignificant they really are?

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

technically, that what culture is, us programming ourselves to behave in a way we otherwise wouldn't in the wild. though again, people don't do anything that at least some species of animals do, just on a larger and more complicated scale. the only different is the amount of foof-ah-rah (how do you spell that?)

[zackli]

technically, that what culture is, us programming ourselves to behave in a way we otherwise wouldn't in the wild. though again, people don't do anything that at least some species of animals do, just on a larger and more complicated scale. the only different is the amount of foof-ah-rah (how do you spell that?)

This is where the trouble comes in, though. IS our culture overcoming our animal nature, or is it a mere delusion of overcoming our animal nature, while at the same time expressing it fully? I find it hard to believe that IF people are special and above animals in the universe, that they would still make such a big deal out of such petty differences.

[Pæs]

What is our animal nature?

I thought that part of the nature of the human animal WAS culture. Can you define 'our animal nature'?

[hooplala]

Wouldn't anything we did to "overcome" our animal nature just be trading one animal nature for another?  We are animals... not much is going to change that.

[Banned User 1]

Wouldn't anything we did to "overcome" our animal nature just be trading one animal nature for another?  We are animals... not much is going to change that.

If you were to overcome our animal nature by developing cell walls, we would indeed be trading it for something which is not animal nature.

[hooplala]

Wouldn't anything we did to "overcome" our animal nature just be trading one animal nature for another?  We are animals... not much is going to change that.

If you were to overcome our animal nature by developing cell walls, we would indeed be trading it for something which is not animal nature.

True, but I don't think that's what the OP meant.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Overcome? No. Reprogram? Yes. It's all interconnected. Unless you've got some safe method of ripping out the entire limbic system, and still being alive at the end of it, you're pretty much stuck with the demented reptile. The neocortex can be employed to override most of the command impulses, tho.

[wudgar]

If we did the radical right would fall upon us with knives and forks. Their low cunning does not allow for even the possibility of change on that level.

[Banned User 1]

If we did the radical right would fall upon us with knives and forks. Their low cunning does not allow for even the possibility of change on that level.

lolwut

[zackli]

If we did the radical right would fall upon us with knives and forks. Their low cunning does not allow for even the possibility of change on that level.

lolwut

Exactly my thought. I was unaware the gub'mint was trying to steal my viagra, but I suppose if everything is true, false, meaningful and meaningless it is true. I can't imagine what they would do with it, and don't want to. After all, they ARE getting on in years...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

We are animals. Our social constructs emerge from our nature as animals. This is a stupid question.

[Eater of Clowns]

We are animals. Our social constructs emerge from our nature as animals. This is a stupid question.

I think we should overcome our animal nature by killing ourselves - then we'd just be a bunch of carbon.

[Junkenstein]

So how do we overcome our carbon nature?

Paging Dr P3nt, Dr P3nt's silicon lecture please.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Hey, y'all know I'm a massive fan of substrate transfer but that's a long-term solution. Short term we progressively dilute the control exerted by the base systems. We already do that. As I said - neocortex already runs a lot of overrides. Reptile wants to kill, reptile wants to fuck, reptile wants to eat. Neocortex says "NOPE!"

Short term (compared to uploading at least) we add layers of logic computation on top of the neocortex. The Exocortex. We already have this but it's a bit fragmented. The internet. Even before that we had books. Progressive interface integration will bring the exocortex into direct connection. The bridged-exocortex. At this point the sky is the limit. At some point our bridged-exocortex will match neocortex performance. Our higher level-consciousness will be exactly twice as powerful. Two years after that three times, two years after that 5 times and so on. Meanwhile the reptile lumbers on.

Even without the exocortex, we are currently capable of running rings around the reptile, however, because of the way our mental systems are stacked and integrated it takes a fair bit of effort. It's shadow-boxing. Wrestling with oneself. Our race achieves varying levels of success in this endeavour. With the exocortex, however, control mechanisms will be downloadable from the app-store.