Friday, August 10, 2007

 

EVOLUTION

Evolution and hierarchy

Hierarchy and the signs of hierarchy

Hierarchy appears anywhere in a group of organisms, like horses, dogs, vampire bats, and, of course, apes and people. The problem is how to recognize and how to demonstrate one’s own high position in this hierarchy.

Today we do it by so called status symbols, like cars etc. But there are also other signals standing for superior or inferior position compared to other people I that group. One of them was and still is skin color.

In some societies, skin color as a signal of hierarchy diminishes, whereas in other societies it is still a strong signal.

This link leads you to some information about census in some counties in the USA saying that the USA society develops in such a way that will have no minorities and no majorities. This might be a really very interesting evolutionary step made in the USA. It would mean that the people with other than white skin have succeeded in getting good education and therefore good positions and good salaries and they start to be really equal to whites.

The reason might be also only the number of children, or just only the fact of inner migration, where some places are just given up by some whites, as they move somewhere else, and non-whites overtake the place, at least to some extent.

One would have to know more to make more precise reasoning about what this census means. But one thing is for sure, color of skin was and still is a sign of hierarchy, but in some places this sign might lose its weight.

 

EVOLUTION

Evolution and speed

As I continue reading about different aspects of evolution, and also listening to lectures of many smart English speaking professors, I am constantly coming to the conclusion I have made already some time ago, and i.e. that speed of reaction is one of basic prerequisites of evolution.

For simplicity just imagine two males fighting for a female; the one who cannot react fast enough and maybe will even ponder how he should hit the rival, will die for sure, the other male won’t wait for the first guy’s logical but time consuming decision making. In this case the speed of reaction deicide not only about the right to mete with the female but also about life of the other guy or at least about the quality of his further life, as he might get so severely wounded that his next life would be a pure torment.

At present time, car driving might be also a good example of necessity to react fast, nearly all sports include the need for fast, speedy response, basketball, ice.-hockey, as well as box, or 100meters sprint, where it is necessary to react extremely fast to the start signal.

Imagine the following situations: a) you are standing in line at eh post office of a town where you have been living for years and where crime is basically non-existent. Suddenly somebody hits you severely on your shoulder. Would is your normal reaction? Well, in this town, most probably you just slowly turn around and then you see a face of your friend grinning at you. In a town where crime is on daily program, you might turn around as fast as possible and hit back without looking who might have hit you, because you know of the possibility of being robbed, killed or attacked in some other way as a normal daily activity and you would feel the necessity to protect yourself.

So speed is really important. Unfortunately, speedy decision-making can cause a lot of problems, as it does at present time in the USA, and it even affects other countries economies.

What happened in the USA again? Well, some smart Alec preparing new bank product, had found out that people react more positively to a good thing, a gift given to them immediately, and do not take it too much seriously that they will have to repay it later on, because it is a long time from now on, it is not coming fast.

As people really react this way, it means, preferring fast gift and not considering later downsides of the gift, USA banks have been offering loans, with extremely low interest rate at the beginning, for few years, mostly two, and then increasing the interest rate remarkably, sometimes it even doubles. Then, many people cannot pay the installments and it results in many foreclosures and total breakdown of the home loan sector, and severe impact on the entire bank branch.

This link will bring you to the article discussing the subject. The author calls it a flaw, a mistake that is built in our brain. I do not think it is a mistake; it is a needed system equipping us with the ability of fast reaction that is absolutely necessary as I have shown on several examples and you might, for sure, find other good examples for necessary fast reaction. Unfortunately, some people cannot differentiate between the situations, and stubbornly use the emotional way of fast reaction, instead of making some logical thinking first.

The reason might be that real logical thinking is too difficult, too demanding, and many people avoid that therefore and prefer emotional fast reaction in any situation, and that makes them losers.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

 

EPIGENETICS

Today is again a good day as far as the amount of good scientific sources is concerned. This paper explains the basic principle of epigenetics. I am not going to write more about epigenetics here as I have already written several papers on the topic. Have fun reading it.

 

LOVE HORMONES

Mother Love

Today, Google – as usual – has brought me this. Read it, it is about what we are and how we function; really, very good paper about hormones that make us “nice” people, and how we can start them. There is, Of course, much more into the matter but this might be a good start for somebody.

 

EVOLUTION

I have found this story and I believe it is really good for understanding the "small difference" between man and women. So have fun reading it, and do not forget to think about it soem time later, too and again.

The Difference Between Men and Women

Let's say a guy named Fred is attracted to a woman named Martha. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Martha, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then, there is silence in the car.

To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily towards, I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Fred is thinking: ...so that means it was...let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means...lemme check the odometer...Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Martha is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed - even before I sensed it - that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Fred is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Martha is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Fred is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty...scumballs.

And Martha is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Fred is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their...

"Fred," Martha says aloud.

"What?" says Fred, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have...oh dear, I feel so..."(She breaks down, sobbing.)

"What?" says Fred.

"I'm such a fool," Martha sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

"There's no horse?" says Fred.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Martha says.

"No!" says Fred, glad to finally know the correct answer.

"It's just that...it's that I...I need some time," Martha says. (There is a 15-second pause while Fred, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.)

"Yes," he says. (Martha, deeply moved, touches his hand.)

"Oh, Fred, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Fred.

"That way about time," says Martha.

"Oh," says Fred. "Yes." (Martha turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Fred," she says.

"Thank you," says Fred.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Fred gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a college basketball game between two South Dakota junior colleges that he has never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.

The next day Martha will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification.

They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it either.

Meanwhile, Fred, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Martha's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Martha ever own a horse?"

And that's the difference between men and women.

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