5 ms·

Everything is a chuckle if you replace phrases like "plausible evolutionary mechanism" with "pachinko machine".

defrost 4y ago
It's a valid equivalence. The paper could equally describe an plausible evolutionary mechanism by which the male sex evolves to be tiny in comparison to females who consume them after snu-snu. While this has zero bearing on the reality of human evolution it has an example in nature in the spider kingdom.
- AinderS 4y ago
  > While this has zero bearing on the reality of human evolution It does have bearing. It is proof by example that biology and evolution does not rule out such a possibility. For the actual paper in question, it is proof that such an outcome is not (yet) ruled out even in the specific case of humans.
  - defrost 4y ago
    The possibilities are endless (albeit enumerable), sure - that's the chuckle - it's a given from the outset and flows from the axioms of the game. This paper doesn't take a broad view and show that many things are possible, it takes a narrow view and demonstrates that one specific thing (among many) is possible. ie. a dull trite result. The fact that many possiblies can follow from evolution does bring any specific light to bear on the actual extent reality of human evolution as it is today. The same arguments here that show it is possible for a mechanism of weights to favour more variation in males can equally be used to show that weights exist to favour more variation in females, or, as in the case of spider, that weights could exist to favor a size variation in which females dwarf males. Fascinating .. but an abstract result that sheds nothing on the current extant actuality.
    - V-2 4y ago
      It's a math paper, not one in evolutionary biology. Only the mathematical aspect is of relevance here, and either it holds water or it doesn't. You can assume a seven-dimensional space, and for analyzing the geometry of such space it is irrelevant whether it actually exists somewhere in the universe or beyond.

It's a valid equivalence. The paper could equally describe an plausible evolutionary mechanism by which the male sex evolves to be tiny in comparison to females who consume them after snu-snu. While this has zero bearing on the reality of human evolution it has an example in nature in the spider kingdom.

AinderS 4y ago
> While this has zero bearing on the reality of human evolution It does have bearing. It is proof by example that biology and evolution does not rule out such a possibility. For the actual paper in question, it is proof that such an outcome is not (yet) ruled out even in the specific case of humans.
- defrost 4y ago
  The possibilities are endless (albeit enumerable), sure - that's the chuckle - it's a given from the outset and flows from the axioms of the game. This paper doesn't take a broad view and show that many things are possible, it takes a narrow view and demonstrates that one specific thing (among many) is possible. ie. a dull trite result. The fact that many possiblies can follow from evolution does bring any specific light to bear on the actual extent reality of human evolution as it is today. The same arguments here that show it is possible for a mechanism of weights to favour more variation in males can equally be used to show that weights exist to favour more variation in females, or, as in the case of spider, that weights could exist to favor a size variation in which females dwarf males. Fascinating .. but an abstract result that sheds nothing on the current extant actuality.
  - V-2 4y ago
    It's a math paper, not one in evolutionary biology. Only the mathematical aspect is of relevance here, and either it holds water or it doesn't. You can assume a seven-dimensional space, and for analyzing the geometry of such space it is irrelevant whether it actually exists somewhere in the universe or beyond.