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This is very much true in my own experience. I have an incredibly sensitive nose especially to alarming things. I once woke up from my sleep due to a LPG gas l
by hrjet 13y ago
This is very much true in my own experience. I have an incredibly sensitive nose especially to alarming things.
I once woke up from my sleep due to a LPG gas leak in a different floor, and alerted them of the leak! People who were awake hadn't noticed the smell; but once alerted they could easily smell it.
Also, once when I was working on a new Dell laptop, it started giving out an acrid smell when running CPU-intensive apps. Most people couldn't believe that, but one another guy in my office floor could detect that smell as well.
I think there is a larger hypothesis that can be made: it is optimal for the survival of a species if individuals of the species exhibit slightly different behavior from each other. As a group, it helps cover more ground in the event of a threat or opportunity. It is also a way to jump out of a local optimum.
Is there any established terminology for what I am describing above?
- jdale27 13y agoIt depends on where the "different behavior" originates from, but in the case of traits like olfactory acuity that probably have a large genetic component, it's related to the general idea of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_diversity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_diversity. I am also reminded of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher%27s_fundamental_theorem_of_natural_selection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher%27s_fundamental_theorem_....
- snikeris 13y agoSure, it might be optimal for the species; however, individuals are not going to adapt "for the good of the species" [1]. If your gas smelling genes have no disadvantages and they help you survive in situations where you might not otherwise, they might as well just spread to everyone and the "slightly different behavior" gets exhibited everywhere. In other words, it doesn't really matter if something is optimal for the survival of the species since no one is optimizing at that level. As an aside, our capability for rationality means we have the ability to optimize for the survival of our species, but it doesn't seem like we do so. [1] http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq.php#b4 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq.... Edit: I don't know how to quote so I removed it.
- hrjet 13y agoIndividuals need not voluntarily adapt for the good of the species, and that's not what I am suggesting. I am suggesting an emergent phenomenon that leans towards behavioral diversity within a species. An example: Ant colonies exhibit wide diversity in behavior between workers, keepers and queens. Something similar but subtler might be at work in all species.