[ExI] Ants for spike! Dawkins and Wilson

spike spike66 at att.net
Sat Nov 14 19:27:14 UTC 2009


...
> Damien Broderick
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Ants for spike! Dawkins and Wilson
> 
> On 11/14/2009 11:55 AM, Keith Henson wrote:
> 
> > If due to some group selection effects a group has an 
> accumulation of 
> > advantageous genes in their gene pool, it is lost to nearby 
> competing 
> > groups as the women take the advantageous genes with them when they 
> > are swapped.  QED.
> 
> Endogamy prevents or slows that. Ashkenazi Jews, Japanese, 
> QED. I wonder if Flynn-effect changes might have 
> contributions from the decline of strict religious/cultural 
> endogamy restrictions, which might have more to do with 
> reckless lustful males than "exchanged" females.
> 
> Damien Broderick


Hmmm, ja.  Damien this example makes me squirmy in the context of group
selection in evolution, for it uses as an example the human species.  Humans
are such a weirdo oddball species in so many ways, four sigma on so many
scales, we almost need to toss us as a bad data point.  We amaze me, I am
constantly astonished by us.  

We almost need to have two nearly separate bodies of theory, one dealing
with non-human evolution and one dealing specifically with human.  We get
all tangled up in the special cases of human evolution because of our
species' behavior being so influenced by memes instead of just genes.

The species that understand evolution aren't doing it.  The species that are
doing evolution don't understand it.  

As you point out in your book, perhaps we humans will eventually create a
new species that can overcome this fundamental roadblock, assuming it can
manage to overcome the problem that everything it knows it learned from
humans.

Your fellow bad datum,

spike


 




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