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What is not seen is that for this homo sapiens to be writing this book his ancestors had to cheat themselves for him to be here. Killing off the Neanderthals an

What is not seen is that for this homo sapiens to be writing this book his ancestors had to cheat themselves for him to be here. Killing off the Neanderthals and whoever/whatever stood in the way is how humankind got here. I think his observations are correct but the conclusion wrong. Cheating is the way to go but unfortunately this cannot be said out loud. Homo Hypocritus(hat tip to Robin Hanson) at work here.

chii 14y ago
I m not sure that cheating "is the way to go" - you are right in the sense that there is no such a thing as cheating in nature. But this very reason is why humans had to have civilization - otherwise, the lives of each individual would be brutal and paranoid. To me, cheating is like achieving a local maxima, whilst full cooperation, when cheating would give an individual a slightly better pay off at the cost of the whole, is achieving a global maxima.
sneak 14y ago
"Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly." --Heinlein
ubernostrum 14y ago
It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection, because it's not a thing and doesn't have rules; it's just a mathematical fact that's true. And, like the other reply pointed out, human societies have systems of rules because the results are worse when they don't (to stretch your example, a species which consumes or destroys too much of a limited resource dooms all its members, whether they "cheated" or not).
- cerebrum 14y ago
  > It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection You are right but the same can be said for winning in contests. The only real rule is "to win" all the rest are social contracts that you can break if you can get away with it. In that sense the smarter, more capable more hypocritical individuals will win, so yes, you are selecting for those same traits. I take objection with the author for his moral preaching.
6ren 14y ago
More success has come from cooperation. Families, tribes and civilisations that cannot harness the contributions of its members are defeated (or out-competed) by those that can. In cynical terms, good wins because it is stronger. Note that it need not be perfectly fair or perfectly good, simply that better cooperation beats worse cooperation.

chii 14y ago

I m not sure that cheating "is the way to go" - you are right in the sense that there is no such a thing as cheating in nature. But this very reason is why humans had to have civilization - otherwise, the lives of each individual would be brutal and paranoid. To me, cheating is like achieving a local maxima, whilst full cooperation, when cheating would give an individual a slightly better pay off at the cost of the whole, is achieving a global maxima.

sneak 14y ago

"Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly." --Heinlein

ubernostrum 14y ago

It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection, because it's not a thing and doesn't have rules; it's just a mathematical fact that's true. And, like the other reply pointed out, human societies have systems of rules because the results are worse when they don't (to stretch your example, a species which consumes or destroys too much of a limited resource dooms all its members, whether they "cheated" or not).

cerebrum 14y ago
> It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection You are right but the same can be said for winning in contests. The only real rule is "to win" all the rest are social contracts that you can break if you can get away with it. In that sense the smarter, more capable more hypocritical individuals will win, so yes, you are selecting for those same traits. I take objection with the author for his moral preaching.

6ren 14y ago

More success has come from cooperation. Families, tribes and civilisations that cannot harness the contributions of its members are defeated (or out-competed) by those that can. In cynical terms, good wins because it is stronger. Note that it need not be perfectly fair or perfectly good, simply that better cooperation beats worse cooperation.