Quite, economic crash =/= end of times.
In fact, when the economy is working it's doing more damage than when it's completely broken.
If humanity hadn't evolved the potential to utilise tools, we would be "devolved" (as you put it) in our current physical state, as humans are nowhere near as effective physically as most creatures of their approximate size.
As it happens, we do use tools, nothing else uses tools to the extent that we do, ergo superiority. It's really that simple.
One problem that you've unintentionally highlighted is the concept that humans are cause for mass destruction; this isn't "devolution" as such, but rather the opposite - if
any creature was as superior to everything else as humans are, it would cause mass destruction, for example, mass extinctions. For most creatures, it's the fact that they are
not superior, the fact that they are
not perfectly adapted to their environment or their "purpose" (for lack of a better word) that keeps them in check and stops them from "damaging the world". It's an ironic product of our superiority that we cause so much damage.
Last edited by 3vi1; Oct 30, 2008 at 02:15 PM.