human behaviour and survival
 

Hello.

Any thoughts we may have about--- which characteristics of human behaviour seem most likely to provide for continuing survival,---and which seem most likely to do the opposite?

good wishes. x

it seems like things are all upside down and backwards. For example, by choosing to allow death in the way we mean it jesus might have ensured his own survival...

whereas we all think survival means NOT dieing in the way we mean death.

so i think this issue can't really be discussed...

Hello FallingLeaves.

Thanks for your response.

On reading your response I feel that my wording of the OP is confusing. My apologies.

After the word "survival" I should have added--of our species.
On now thinking further I would like to modify that to---of our own and other species.
cheers.

Infinite variety embodied by eternal beings.

Hello.
Thanks for your thoughts.

In response to the OP.

Our ability to understand behaviour--both our own and that of others, and resulting from that, our ability to determine possible/probable causes and consequences of behaviour. Our ability to act upon that analysis if we choose to do so, and to understand why we do/do not act upon that choice.

I have often pondered on how the more primitive and basic a life form is, the more likely it would be to survive a global extinction event; whereas the more advanced and complicated (and specialized), the more fragile its existence is.

The human being is a very highly evolved creature. We are propelled through our physical lives by a number of instincts. Those instincts evolved to suit our survival needs, but they can be subverted and used against us.

Testosterone and adrenaline are motivators that drive us to take certain risks in order to obtain certain gains - such as fighting large, dangerous animals, with the consequence of either having meat to eat, or of not getting eaten by the animal. But nowadays men race cars in the Indy 500, driving at high speeds until their car hits the wall and explodes. This neither provides food nor saves their lives, so I see it as an example of instincts being turned against us.

The more advanced a being, the more intricate and specialized its menu of instincts, the more likely some change of environment will render one of those deeply ingrained instincts useless or even detrimental.

Being able to adapt with the tides

Adaptation is that feature of human behaviour that seems most likely to provide for continuing survival

A sentiment captured in Frank Herbert's novel "God Emperor of Dune", where Leto Atreides II - the God-Emperor - commanded his distraught servant Moneo to "Look upward!" into the sky above, then told him "There is no reassuring ceiling over you - only an open sky full of changes. Every sense you possess is an instrument for reacting to change. Does that tell you nothing?"