Death - A Requirement of Evolution

I (used to: note added 18.01.2012) accept the philosophy of evolution (Darwinism). The modern human is proposed to have evolved over millions of years from the earliest primate and before that: back to the sea where it is imagined to have all begun.

Or Africa, perhaps. Though what evidence is there for that? Apes come from Africa and humans come from apes, so humans originate in Africa? That constitutes a very weak argument. A dog and a cat both have four legs and a tail; two eyes, two ears and a digestive system that provides energy. Similarity is not a criterion for commonality. The similarity of DNA may be a common feature (around 98%), but that does not 'prove' that humans and apes are in any way linked. Anymore than a dog with a cat: these are recognised as completely different species.

It does seem that a basic requirement of such a theory must involve death. It has to happen. Within the same living life form it is not possible to make genetic change. This is managed by the next or later generation. Between one generation and the next there may be minor genetic alteration, some good and maybe some bad. Over time the bad changes are removed and the useful survives. Evolution theory demands a long time measured in many, many thousands of years.

If 'tinkering' with genetics doesn't stop, then the logical conclusion is the end of the species. Something that has taken millions of years to arrive at what it is today is being changed rapidly by the intervention of the species trying to modify itself. The playing God scenario.

It is not much to imagine the rise of the machines: computers improving themselves to achieve consciousness. And that's supposed to be fantasy.