28/09/2011

Homo sapiens are wise in name only - Opinion - Editorial - General - The Canberra Times

.Homo sapiens are wise in name only
BY JULIAN CRIBB Humans can no longer lay claim to be 'Homo sapiens'. We have not acted wisely for a long, long time.
It is time the human race had a new name. The old one, Homo sapiens - wise or thinking man - has been around since 1758 and is no longer a fitting description for the creature we have become.
When the Swedish father of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, first bestowed it, humanity no doubt seemed wise when compared with what scientists of the day knew about both humans and other animals. We have since learned our behaviour is not as wise as we like to imagine - while some animals are quite intelligent. In short it is a name which is both inaccurate and which promotes a dangerous self-delusion... Lire (anglais).

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire

Ce blog est ouvert à la contradiction par la voie de commentaires. Je tiens ce blog depuis fin 2005. Tout lecteur peut commenter sous email valide et sous anonymat. Tout peut être écrit mais dans le respect de la liberté de penser de chacun et la courtoisie. Je modère les commentaires pour éviter le spam et d'autres entrées malheureuses possibles. Cela peut prendre un certain temps avant que votre commentaire n'apparaisse, surtout si je suis en déplacement.