VampireDCLXV - "The way Bonobo society works seems to be an ideal BUT I wonder how successful the Human species would be if we didn't have this so-called 'dark side'."
I find it interesting that the "dark side" characteristics humans share with chimps are most pronounced in "authoritarian personality types". It suggest very strongly to me that authoritarianism was an evolutionary adaptation that - in humans' recent history - brought certain short-term advantages to the advancement of our species' survival and success.
However, in the age of global conflict, I would argue that - as adaptations go - the trait is very quickly outliving its usefulness.
VampireDCLXV - "What he's saying is that the amount of energy required to propel even a sub-atomic particle to the speed of light (C) would approach infinity and THAT is impossible... by known conventional means. I'm saying that there might be a loophole discovered in the future somewhere that doesn't require "conventional" means."
Hasn't this been done several times in the past decade using the big particle accellerator at CERN?
Satanus - "Maybe, neanderthals were really just big friendly lugs, the peaceful branch of the human family. And we hypersapiens outcompeted them for food, territory, women and booze."
Close, but not quite.
There's compelling evidence that Neanderthals, like our ancestors, practiced cannibalism. You're right, though; there is also evidence that our ancestors did, in fact, outcompete them; we were more adaptable. Rather than completely wiping them out, however, recent genetic research (the Neanderthal Genome Project) indicates that they were similar enough to us (genetically speaking), that Cro-Magnon humans assimilated them into their - and thusly our - genome through interbreeding between species.
