tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post1750892469186789913..comments2024-03-02T00:44:55.128-08:00Comments on Pleiotropy: George Williams on pleiotropyBjørn Østmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-54182238290406039492010-09-25T19:03:15.866-07:002010-09-25T19:03:15.866-07:00Well, as I say, Bjorn - I think it's pretty li...Well, as I say, Bjorn - I think it's pretty likely.Jeff Eygeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11967707883565162538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-87463138516645491932010-09-25T18:24:24.785-07:002010-09-25T18:24:24.785-07:00Gotcha. I understand your fear and frustration, an...Gotcha. I understand your fear and frustration, and agree to some extent, but do find it highly unlikely that fundamentalism will mean the end of our species, in any of the scenarios you present, or any other I can think of. Not impossible, just unlikely. The chance that someone, somewhere will somehow survive out of a population of more than 6 billion seems pretty good, no matter what anyone can throw at us all.<br /><br />But let me ask you, how likely do you think it is that the consequences of fundamentalism will doom us all?Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-1083974197799956992010-09-25T06:14:32.563-07:002010-09-25T06:14:32.563-07:00I suppose, if we evaluate success in terms of the ...I suppose, if we evaluate success in terms of the dissemination of genetic material.<br /><br />But I actually did mean "evolutionary". I think we might have talked about this before (I say it all the time, in any case) - in my view, these people are driving us toward extinction. They've spent the past thirty years voting into office the criminals and lunatics chiefly responsible for our current socioeconomic crisis, from which we aren't going to recover - and, due to the interconnected nature of the global economy, as we continue to go down, well be taking everyone else down with us.<br /><br />We're facing, within the next few years, the end of our global civilization, possibly the end of our species - and I'm not even taking into consideration the possibility of a fundamentalist lunatic setting off a nuclear holocaust because he can't wait to meet Jesus in the sky, or he think he's going to get 72 virgins, or whatever.Jeff Eygeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11967707883565162538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-52175398004410081472010-09-25T06:06:59.770-07:002010-09-25T06:06:59.770-07:00You mean 'difficult to accept that there is as...You mean 'difficult to accept that there is a<i>societal</i> advantage to fanatical stupidity'. It is easy to imagine an evolutionary advantage: e.g., if fundamentalism directs how to breed. Like the <a href="http://pleion.blogspot.com/2009/01/quiverfull-envy.html" rel="nofollow">quiverfull</a>.Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-87376773310237735992010-09-25T05:57:26.928-07:002010-09-25T05:57:26.928-07:00There's a growing body of evidence suggesting ...There's a growing body of evidence suggesting a neurological foundation for fundamentalism. I keep saying we need to breed it out of the genome (which, of course, we won't do) for the sake of human continuity, and someone told me the other day that it's a bad idea, because bad mutations are sometimes good for the species, and that removing them can create a genetic bottleneck, and so on.<br /><br />I have to say that I find it difficult to accept that there is an evolutionary advantage to fanatical stupidity.Jeff Eygeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11967707883565162538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-6097061986164761172010-09-17T10:23:24.389-07:002010-09-17T10:23:24.389-07:00I should have linked to that already: Bad mutation...I should have linked to that already: <a href="http://pleion.blogspot.com/2010/04/bad-mutations-are-good-for-you.html" rel="nofollow">Bad mutations are good for you</a>.Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-23302175443495794462010-09-17T09:46:01.970-07:002010-09-17T09:46:01.970-07:00Re: Laymen understanding Fitness landscapes -- tha...Re: Laymen understanding Fitness landscapes -- that animation you posted a while back of a model of a fitness landscape with peaks and valleys, showing the populations eventually leaping to the other peaks, that was awesome. It really helped me to visualize the idea.James Sweethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17212877636980569324noreply@blogger.com