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About every 18 months someone in the popular press feels the need to point out "exciting new research" that shows that nature isn't really red in tooth and claw

by ajarmst 10y ago

About every 18 months someone in the popular press feels the need to point out "exciting new research" that shows that nature isn't really red in tooth and claw, but that evolutionary biology even seems to show that cooperation and even altruism can be adaptive! Except that's hardly news. Darwin himself pointed it out. It's nice that we keep confirming it and exploring its complexity, but could we just stop being so shocked by it? If nothing else, explain that the problem is that people have weird preconceived ideas about evolution, not that evolutionary theory keeps getting revised.

good_vibes 10y ago
It keeps coming up because I believe media is a self-fulfilling prophecy for civilization. As much as we keep being reminded of this truth, we are also SOLD the idea of competing by consumption and status. Social media breeds this mentality more and more while also making the world more connected. There is a lot of cognitive dissonance happening on a global scale like never before right now.
- samirillian 10y ago
  This isn't just a social media mentality; it's a capitalist mentality and an American mentality.
  - good_vibes 10y ago
    True. I tend to see the world through the lenses of media and technology more and more. I feel they have the largest influence over us. I agree that is this a byproduct of capitalism and America as well.
gech 10y ago
Because we need to keep reinforcing this in order to override the already established frame that it's dog eat dog and that we shouldn't pay for the healthcare of others or pay taxes etc.
- visarga 10y ago
  > dog eat dog Or "law of the jungle". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_jungle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_jungle
arjie 10y ago
In The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt argues that it's not about altruism, it's about parochial altruism. Niceness is okay. Niceness aimed narrowly at your own gang is fantastic. He mentions that it isn't new, though. I thought it was a neat observation since it was new to me.
visarga 10y ago
The same phrase "survival of the fittest", which was so much misinterpreted, could be fixed by adding one extra word: group, family, clan, team, company or country. "Survival of the fittest family" or "fittest group" implies both competition and cooperation to an equal measure. But I love the shock value in "Survival of the friendliest". Good title, and good to drive this point again and again through the mind of the public.
- skynode 10y ago
  As usual, another title selection that has been passed through the finely tuned media/techno filters for maximum shock value. Survival of the Fittest Group is actually more to the point.
  - ajarmst 10y ago
    Except that group selection isn't a non-controversial idea in evolutionary biology, and shouldn't be causally invoked unless you're prepared to get into multi-level selection theory, kin-selection and haplodiploidy, replicator theory, cultural evolution, etc. The idea that this is simple or obvious really needs to be resisted.

by ajarmst 10y ago

good_vibes 10y ago

It keeps coming up because I believe media is a self-fulfilling prophecy for civilization. As much as we keep being reminded of this truth, we are also SOLD the idea of competing by consumption and status. Social media breeds this mentality more and more while also making the world more connected. There is a lot of cognitive dissonance happening on a global scale like never before right now.

samirillian 10y ago
This isn't just a social media mentality; it's a capitalist mentality and an American mentality.
- good_vibes 10y ago
  True. I tend to see the world through the lenses of media and technology more and more. I feel they have the largest influence over us. I agree that is this a byproduct of capitalism and America as well.

gech 10y ago

Because we need to keep reinforcing this in order to override the already established frame that it's dog eat dog and that we shouldn't pay for the healthcare of others or pay taxes etc.

visarga 10y ago
> dog eat dog Or "law of the jungle". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_jungle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_jungle

arjie 10y ago

In The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt argues that it's not about altruism, it's about parochial altruism. Niceness is okay. Niceness aimed narrowly at your own gang is fantastic. He mentions that it isn't new, though. I thought it was a neat observation since it was new to me.

visarga 10y ago

The same phrase "survival of the fittest", which was so much misinterpreted, could be fixed by adding one extra word: group, family, clan, team, company or country. "Survival of the fittest family" or "fittest group" implies both competition and cooperation to an equal measure. But I love the shock value in "Survival of the friendliest". Good title, and good to drive this point again and again through the mind of the public.

skynode 10y ago
As usual, another title selection that has been passed through the finely tuned media/techno filters for maximum shock value. Survival of the Fittest Group is actually more to the point.
- ajarmst 10y ago
  Except that group selection isn't a non-controversial idea in evolutionary biology, and shouldn't be causally invoked unless you're prepared to get into multi-level selection theory, kin-selection and haplodiploidy, replicator theory, cultural evolution, etc. The idea that this is simple or obvious really needs to be resisted.