Do the Gods Have a Plan for You?

To what extent do you have “fate?” And no, I’m not talking about free will and determinism. I mean the expectation that your experiences are going to follow a certain trajectory. You can experience a bit of existential dread: you are not the character of a movie or novel, and nothing is going to happen … Continue reading Do the Gods Have a Plan for You? →

Smart, Religious, and Gay: Was there Group Selection?

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? →

The paradox of interconnectedness

Imagine you could only interact with the other people in a small town. The personalities, interests, and hobbies that you could be exposed to are limited by geographical location. In a small population, there may be some people with fringe ideas or unusual interests, but not in great enough numbers to form dedicated communities. But … Continue reading The paradox of interconnectedness →

Speech: Bret Weinstein on cycles of civilizations

All species have gone through oscillations: periods of zero-sum growth, and periods of positive-sum growth. This means we must have “programs within us that deal with both phases.”
#technology #racism #political_compass #economics #zero-sum #bottlenecks @BretWeinstein

Adaptive Valley: Why Do Males Exist?

Why do males exist? It doesn't make any sense. Introduction: Convergent Structures Convergent Structures are where two species develop the same characteristics, separately. They acquired like traits because they worked, not because of any shared ancestor. This should be familiar from high school bio. Birds evolved wings - but so did many and mammals (with the bats). … Continue reading Adaptive Valley: Why Do Males Exist? →

The errors with Bret Weinstein’s four-part test of adaption

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 →