[ExI] USA Census Projections and consequences

[John Clark]

On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 3:42 PM Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:

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> And that would make things even more dangerous, when people become angry they
>> start doing irrationally counterproductive things like voting for Trump.
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> * > As most of you know, I can't consider problems with humans without
> recourse to evolutionary psychology.  Irrational is exactly the right word,
> but it is not obvious where it comes from since irrational acts very often
> get you killed and your gene line ended.*
>

I think the opposite of hate is not love but fear, both emotions are along
the same dimension. When an animal encounters a predator it must make a
very quick decision to fight or flee and have the accompanying emotions.
That's why both hate and fear can strike more quickly that other emotions. And
that's fine if you encounter a leopard in the bushes because a mediocre
decision made right now on how to deal with that situation is better than a
perfect decision that takes a hour to figure out.  But if you're
considering a more complex modern issue issue, like who would make a better
president, more time for consideration is needed but intense hate or fear
may not allow it.

i don't think there is anything special in human evolutionary history that
causes this, it must be true for all animals, its just that it doesn't
cause them much of a problem because they are not capable of long
concentrated thought on the same subject anyway.

John K Clark


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