3 ms·
"In some competition optimizing for X, the opportunity arises to throw some other value under the bus for improved X. Those who take it prosper. Those who don’t
by svachalek 10y ago
"In some competition optimizing for X, the opportunity arises to throw some other value under the bus for improved X. Those who take it prosper. Those who don’t take it die out. Eventually, everyone’s relative status is about the same as before, but everyone’s absolute status is worse than before. The process continues until all other values that can be traded off have been – in other words, until human ingenuity cannot possibly figure out a way to make things any worse."
Insightful and depressing.
- nostrademons 10y agoAnother way to look at that statement is "All values that do not lead to continued existence are competed away", which is basically exactly what the theory of evolution says. We know that this statement is false, BTW, because of the existence of organs like the appendix, which AFAWCT are completely vestigial. Also, it ignores the part of the dynamic where new values are created because they allow you to throw some other values under the bus. Cooperation, empathy, creativity, intelligence, and pretty much everything that makes us human are all examples: our non-primate ancestors didn't have these, but the evolution of them allowed us to fight more fiercely than a lion, move more quickly than a cheetah, live in colder places than a penguin, and go without foraging longer than a bear.
- 3pt14159 10y agoThe appendix is not vestigial. But your argument could have used Art, which is vestigial other than as a signalling mechanism for pattern abstraction ability and excess resources.