Evolution, then, is simply a consequence of diversity. All organisms are subject to “dumb luck,” and untold heritages of the world were pre-emptively snuffed out by rocks falling at the most inopportune moments. Yet, the diversity of populations of organisms played with the probability of that dumb luck. Falling stones did not kill the swift and the slow in equal measure. Trees with flame-removedant seeds inherited the earth after enough forest fires had gone through. Evolution happens, as the inevitable consequence of a diverse world. As Dawkins abstracted it in The Selfish Gene, the diversity of possible chemical reactions meant that, eventually, a reaction would occur that reproduced itself. Such a reaction would have a higher probability of occuring again, as it was no longer relying on pure chance to do so. Anything that reproduces itself — even ideas — are subject to natural selection and evolution.
There's no self-determination in evolutionary contexts. Diversity is just a range of variation. Self-determination would only be relevant insofar as it produces diversity, which he describes as a blind behavior of the universe, not just choices made in human society.
If diversity required self-determination, there'd be no biodiversity. Plant species can't be diverse because they can't self-determine, etc.
Sure, more often than not, but not always. Choosing to conform to a norm would reduce diversity, choosing to maintain American society would reduce diversity, etc. Self-determination is secondary at best, so we end up having to justify things just on the basis of whether they increase or decrease diversity, not on the basis of whether they're compatible with self-determination.
And I mentioned why I think abuse, trauma, disease, and other awful shit meet the mark for diversity.
Mentally ill people definitely add diversity on the whole to society, in terms of contributions to different aspects of culture, in terms of introducing a greater range of behaviors than only mentally healthy people would, in terms of having a wider range of internal experiences than mentally healthy people - and that has nothing to do with self-determination. If anything, self-determination would get in the way of that diversity. And this all applies to trauma, specifically. It absolutely can be disabling, but I don't think disability necessarily reduces overall diversity. Almost always the opposite.
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There's no self-determination in evolutionary contexts. Diversity is just a range of variation. Self-determination would only be relevant insofar as it produces diversity, which he describes as a blind behavior of the universe, not just choices made in human society.
If diversity required self-determination, there'd be no biodiversity. Plant species can't be diverse because they can't self-determine, etc.
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Sure, more often than not, but not always. Choosing to conform to a norm would reduce diversity, choosing to maintain American society would reduce diversity, etc. Self-determination is secondary at best, so we end up having to justify things just on the basis of whether they increase or decrease diversity, not on the basis of whether they're compatible with self-determination.
And I mentioned why I think abuse, trauma, disease, and other awful shit meet the mark for diversity.
Mentally ill people definitely add diversity on the whole to society, in terms of contributions to different aspects of culture, in terms of introducing a greater range of behaviors than only mentally healthy people would, in terms of having a wider range of internal experiences than mentally healthy people - and that has nothing to do with self-determination. If anything, self-determination would get in the way of that diversity. And this all applies to trauma, specifically. It absolutely can be disabling, but I don't think disability necessarily reduces overall diversity. Almost always the opposite.
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deleted by creator