A rose and a thistle

Is a rose better than a thistle? Is a moth more desirable than a cockroach? Evolution is amoral. It built an incredible variety and complexity on a few initial solutions like DNA, the cell and symmetry in its living creations. As long as life survives, evolution throws out possibilities and sees what happens.

And so it is with the human species. Evolution doesn’t pick white over black or skinny over fat or genius over commonplace. Every newborn is a marvel of randomness and potentiality.

But we humans, in our cultural evolution, do make social and moral choices to build the society we decide we need. In history, we’ve  seen that sometimes abuse of women has been acceptable and sometimes not. Sometimes cannibalism has been acceptable and sometimes not. Sometimes slavery has been acceptable and sometimes not.

Humans are capable of the most horrific things and the most beautiful things. It’s not evolution’s job to care. It’s all part of the mess of possibilities that make up human nature. But it is our job to decide what humans can be and make the decisions to make that happen. Fortunately, the arc seems to be reaching toward a high vision of humanity at its best.