Here: evolution, shmevolution

Here

And then this Bear, Pooh Bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, F.O.P. (Friend of Piglet's), R.C. (Rabbit's Companion), P.D. (Pole Discoverer), E.C. and T.F. (Eeyore's Comforter and Tail-finder)--in fact, Pooh himself--said something so clever that Christopher Robin could only look at him with mouth open and eyes staring, wondering if this was really the Bear of Very Little Brain whom he had know and loved so long.

Friday, June 03, 2005

evolution, shmevolution

while i generally think all of this is silly, and i would like to see a mathematical-type model of the strength of pressures necessary to maintain mutations with these adverese effects based solely on the advatages the allegedly confer in terms of survival (though such models are themselves highly speculative, i think), i have often wondered, in a less serious way, if the selective pressures for intelleigence in the ashkenazi, or general jewish, community, might not be sexual - ie, everyone wants to marry the best bochur in lakewood ;)

i think that might be the longest sentence on this page... sorry, and good shabbos.

2 Comments:

At 12:52 AM, Shmuli said...: I am mean on 3W. Your hypothesis has apparently been suggested before. The Utah crew doesn't reject it, but suggest that it is almost impossible to test for.
At 1:57 PM, miriam said...: I respond on 3W as well. The Utah folk do suggest that historical information on marriage preferences is lacking, hence its hard even to say thaqt being marter = getting a better (=higher chance of surviving offspring) marriage. However, as I pointed out, all their historical info. on the direct benefits of intelligence (smarter = more money = more surviving kids) still can't necessarily prove that those benefits were, mathematically, enough to make these otherwise bad genes so common without the presence of other (eg, random) evolutionary forces.
the sexual selection hypothesis (ie, how much more likely were you to have surviving offspring, based on your marriage alone, if you were smart?) would be equally as unquantifiable as the Utah hypothesis (how much more likely were you to have surviving offspring if yo were smart?), plus it would be harder to support the initial hypothesis that survival via marriage was more likely for smarter people, yes.
That might be why I made the initial comment somewhat tongue in cheek ;)
miriam

Post a Comment

<< Home

About Me

Name: miriam

"Bother!" said Pooh, as he opened it. "All that wet for nothing. What's that bit of paper doing?" He took it out and looked at it. "It's a Missage," he said to himself, "that's what it is. And that letter is a 'P,' and so is that, and so is that, and 'P' means 'Pooh,' so it's a very important Missage to me, and I can't read it. I must find Christopher Robin or Owl or Piglet, one of those Clever Readers who can read things, and they will tell me what this missage means. Only I can't swim. Bother!" Then he had an idea, and I think that for a Bear of Very Little Brain, it was a good idea. He said to himself: "If a bottle can float, then a jar can float, and if a jar floats, I can sit on the top of it, if it's a very big jar." ... "All boats have to have a name," he said, "so I shall call mine The Floating Bear." And with these words he dropped his boat into the water and jumped in after it. For a little while Pooh and The Floating Bear were uncertain as to which of them was meant to be on the top, but after trying one or two different positions, they settled down with The Floating Bear underneath and Pooh triumphantly astride it, paddling vigorously with his feet.

Here

Friday, June 03, 2005

evolution, shmevolution

2 Comments:

About Me

Previous Posts

past lives

current life

other people, places, and things