4 ms·

> Regarding you, evolution's drives are that you pass your genetic material down to your offspring, that you have as many offspring as possible, and that they r

by hu3 8y ago

> Regarding you, evolution's drives are that you pass your genetic material down to your offspring, that you have as many offspring as possible, and that they repeat the cycle after you are gone. It also doesn't help that lower IQ correlates to higher offspring, according to some studies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_and_intelligence#International_research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_and_intelligence#Int...

barry-cotter 8y ago
That’s only true since the 1800’s. From the dawn of agriculture to industrial civilisation there might have been very weak selection for intelligence. It can’t have been strong because otherwise we’d all be Von Neumanns. Gregory Clark's work on social mobility is fascinating if you find this topic interesting. Start with either A Farewell to Alms or The Son Also Rises.
- XaoDaoCaoCao 8y ago
  "It can’t have been strong because otherwise we’d all be Von Neumanns." But the type of intelligence that secures safety and access to reproductive opportunities is the sort which wages war and waits for the right time to backstab and/or do away with one's rivals. With agriculture you get the monopolization of surplus resources which greatly increases the rewards for autocratic and oligarchic formations.
- chongli 8y ago
  Funny that you mention von Neumann. His background is Hungarian Jewish, a trait he shares with a number of other super-geniuses. In fact, von Neumann went to the same Budapest high school as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner. Quite a few other geniuses and Nobel laureates hail from Budapest. Scott Alexander has a fascinating write-up on this phenomenon [1]. [1] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/26/the-atomic-bomb-considered-as-hungarian-high-school-science-fair-project/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/26/the-atomic-bomb-consid...

4 ms·

> Regarding you, evolution's drives are that you pass your genetic material down to your offspring, that you have as many offspring as possible, and that they r

by hu3 8y ago

barry-cotter 8y ago
That’s only true since the 1800’s. From the dawn of agriculture to industrial civilisation there might have been very weak selection for intelligence. It can’t have been strong because otherwise we’d all be Von Neumanns. Gregory Clark's work on social mobility is fascinating if you find this topic interesting. Start with either A Farewell to Alms or The Son Also Rises.
- XaoDaoCaoCao 8y ago
  "It can’t have been strong because otherwise we’d all be Von Neumanns." But the type of intelligence that secures safety and access to reproductive opportunities is the sort which wages war and waits for the right time to backstab and/or do away with one's rivals. With agriculture you get the monopolization of surplus resources which greatly increases the rewards for autocratic and oligarchic formations.
- chongli 8y ago
  Funny that you mention von Neumann. His background is Hungarian Jewish, a trait he shares with a number of other super-geniuses. In fact, von Neumann went to the same Budapest high school as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner. Quite a few other geniuses and Nobel laureates hail from Budapest. Scott Alexander has a fascinating write-up on this phenomenon [1]. [1] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/26/the-atomic-bomb-considered-as-hungarian-high-school-science-fair-project/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/26/the-atomic-bomb-consid...