[ExI] shining example and COVID-19

[Keith Henson]

William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com> wrote:

snip

> For instance:  should we be shorter?  Thinner?  More introverted?

This is the wrong class of questions for EP.

We can ask why we are of the size and shape (or rather a range of size
and shape).  That's straightforward evolutionary biology.  Humans come
in a range of sizes and shapes that have been selected by evolution.
Which is to say that the humans on the edge of the distribution for
height don't reproduce as well as those closer to the center of the
distribution.

Our psychological traits such as introversion have also been
selected.by evolution.  Intelligence too.  Statistically, people far
from the center of the intelligence distribution don't reproduce as
well as those nearer the center.  It's fairly clear that people are
not likely to reproduce who are too low on the scale, but it is also
true that really smart people don't reproduce very well either.

Of course, the selection has gone on forever.  One of the things you
have to watch is a mismatch between present conditions and the time a
trait was selected.  Capture-bonding is something that seldom
contributes to reproductive success today, but in the past, it was so
critical that it became universal.

I get the impression that you are not up on this subject as much as
you would like to be.  Want a list of books?

Keith