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Politics : Evolution
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To: TigerPaw who wrote (228)9/14/1999 10:10:00 AM
From: MikeH  Read Replies (1) of 69300
 
I don't like to think of humans as just intelligent. A horse is intelligent, it can solve problems, identify opportunity, and some say, has a sense of mortality.

But, humans are sentient. We are able to predict the outcome of uncertain events. This is our unique trait.

And that is a good subtle point, sentience probably will not develop without a harsh and sudden change in the enviorment. A calm world will probably develop life, but a chaotic world with evolve sentience.

Sentience is not a really advantageous trait. It only becomes neccessary when a species is underdeveloped for the harshness of its enviorment. Then it is forced to develop tools to take advantage of its surroundings, or become extinct.

Without harsh surroundings, a sentient species has been shown to grow lazy and fat.
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