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by jayjader 1679 days ago
Hmm. I agree that the problem is larger than capitalism and is closer to human nature, but saying

> The very problem is that humans are form of life and restraining ourselves or worsening quality of life "for next generation" goes against basic instincts and behaviours built by evolution in mammals.

seems a bit pseudo-scientific to me. Life dies out if it over-consumes from its environment, so "by evolution" the life that survives _does_ "restrain itself for the next generation" in a sense.

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> Life dies out if it over-consumes from its environment, so "by evolution" the life that survives _does_ "restrain itself for the next generation" in a sense.

Dawkins deconstructs this argument in The Selfish Gene. Basically, if you restrain yourself, you put your competitors in advantageous position to consume these resources. They will have more children and their non-restraining genes will win.

We have seen ecosystems destroyed by unchecked invasive species - this is especially visible for islands due to their limited biodiversity. Even reindeers introduced on island without natural predators ate everything until they died out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthew_Island