Utility Maximizer's guide to replicators, networks, game theory, and civilization
Every boat is copied from another boat. . . . Let's reason as follows in the manner of Darwin. It is clear that a very badly made boat will end up at the bottom after one or two voyages and thus never be copied. . . . One could then say, with complete rigor, that … Continue reading Design vs Darwinism and “skin in the game”
You may have heard that symmetry is scientifically attractive. This statement is true, but incomplete. Symmetry is just a smaller component of a broader trait. Here, I will revisit a website I have linked previously on my blog, this. It allows you to combine faces. Personally, I think that all of the people’s faces are … Continue reading What is Attractiveness?
The first thing you need to know is that personality is mostly genetic. I recently watched this interview with Michael Woodley. I cannot verity the veracity of his claims, but they are interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOudO5EPI0M&t=1s There is a lot of controversy, in the study of evolution and society, about the term “group selection.” Mostly unfair. Here’s … Continue reading Smart, Religious, and Gay: Was there Group Selection?
I get jubilant whenever I discover an ideology I was previously unaware of, no matter how loony it is.
My hypothesis is that dogmas raised human IQs. To explain why, I'll begin here: One of the most powerful driving forces in evolution is called an evolutionary arms race.
Have you ever wondered why there is still a royal family in the UK? One that doesn’t ostensibly holds no power, and “rules” over (several) otherwise democratic countries? Have you ever wondered about seemingly arbitrary cultural practices, like marriage? Why businessmen wear a suit and tie? These things seem normal because they are the way … Continue reading Traditions and Junk DNA
A biologist I admire, Bret Weinstein, employs a four-part test to determine whether a trait is the product of evolution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtdOhBoZfNg Is it complex? Does it have a cost? Is there variation in the amount of cost that is spent? Does it persist over evolutionary time? If a trait has all of those characteristics, then … Continue reading The errors with Bret Weinstein’s four-part test of adaption
Epiphany a Week 