• In total there are 4 users online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 4 guests (based on users active over the past 60 minutes)
    Most users ever online was 789 on Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:08 am

Ch. 5 - The Pros and Cons of Our Evolutionary Heritage

#70: Aug. - Sept. 2009 (Non-Fiction)
User avatar
Chris OConnor

1A - OWNER
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 17016
Joined: Sun May 05, 2002 2:43 pm
21
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 3509 times
Been thanked: 1309 times
Gender:
Contact:
United States of America

Ch. 5 - The Pros and Cons of Our Evolutionary Heritage

Unread post

Ch. 5 - The Pros and Cons of Our Evolutionary Heritage
User avatar
geo

2C - MOD & GOLD
pets endangered by possible book avalanche
Posts: 4779
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:24 am
15
Location: NC
Has thanked: 2198 times
Been thanked: 2200 times
United States of America

Unread post

That checkered shadow illusion . . .

http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelso ... demos.html

There's some animated sequences that demonstrate the same thing.
-Geo
Question everything
User avatar
Interbane

1G - SILVER CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 7203
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:59 am
19
Location: Da U.P.
Has thanked: 1105 times
Been thanked: 2166 times
United States of America

Unread post

Hey, thanks. I was thinking of looking for that also.

I learned something new in this chapter. How our evolutionary heritage has influenced us to maintain beliefs in spite of the anomalies we might encounter. It makes sense!
User avatar
DWill

1H - GOLD CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 6966
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:05 am
16
Location: Luray, Virginia
Has thanked: 2262 times
Been thanked: 2470 times

Unread post

This will seem like either a naive viewpoint or a quibble about semantics, but I don't necessarily see any cons to our evolutionary heritage. I mean the fact that we have such and such abilities and not others is just the way it had to be for us to adapt for survival. That our 'design' is not in every way so intelligent doesn't mean that, for example, our spinal structure is a 'con.' It obviously served a purpose in creatures like us succeeding. It's much the same for visual perception inconsistencies and cognitive biases. They exist, but unless we can realistically expect that a 'perfect' creature could come about, the only criterion we should use to evaluate our evolutionary heritage is whether our kind survived, which we did in spades. We have what we could call weaknesses (such as our cognitive biases), but since we wouldn't have (would we?) the cognitive strengths without them, it doesn't seem that pro/con is the way to look at what we are.

Well, maybe at some far future point if our numbers decrease drastically due to our own actions (or inactions), we'll then be able to accuse some trait of being a culprit.
User avatar
Interbane

1G - SILVER CONTRIBUTOR
BookTalk.org Hall of Fame
Posts: 7203
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:59 am
19
Location: Da U.P.
Has thanked: 1105 times
Been thanked: 2166 times
United States of America

Unread post

Much like some aspects of physics that require a frame of reference, I think weighing our evolutionary heritage also requires one. If you weigh it against the "ideal" sentient creature, we have weaknesses. If you weigh each individual against the average, a bell curve will fill the spectrum. If you weigh us against an ape, our mental portfolio is all very strong. There is also the purpose for which our minds are weighed. For example, if we are contrasted for our ability to procreate, we are successful. If it is our speed at simple math, a computer performs better than us. At pattern recognition, we are without equal. At discovering the truth of our reality, we have a few weaknesses.
Post Reply

Return to “When Good Thinking Goes Bad - by Todd C. Riniolo”