Humanity’s defining project is escaping its entrapment by species destiny

Evidence

Unique native plants that have evolved over eons are disappearing as agribusiness supplants them with genetically uniform hybrids and clones. Not only are humans cutting and splicing nature’s genetic material, but through synthetic biology they are also creating new types of genomes. In a budding biotechnology that is forging ahead to bypass evolutionary genetic processes, humans are even toying with the prospect of fashioning some aspects of their own biological nature by genetic design. In short, humans are an agentic species that can alter evolutionary heritages and shape the future. Were Darwin writing today, he would be documenting the overwhelming human domination of the environment for better or worse. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 188 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Humanity’s defining project is self-surpassing, not mere survival — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 153; Humans now alter evolutionary heritages and can shape their own biological futures. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 188

Broader Connections

• Humans now alter evolutionary heritages and can shape their own biological futures. #expands (0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 188