tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post1480786392598413012..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: The Nair-do-wells, and their evolutionary messageAnne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-60393723085110005732013-11-26T14:01:17.962-05:002013-11-26T14:01:17.962-05:00Well, one could, so to speak, 'wax' poetic...Well, one could, so to speak, 'wax' poetic about this and other similar hairy topics. But I'm sure that all us Big Tough Guys have fur where we have it because it scares away the other guys who might want our gal, or scares away the bears (or creeps them out). It simply must have evolved for something!<br /><br />Actually, to be serious (but why do that?!), human males are striped in the facial hair department--take a look at some youngish to middle-aged males. Is this like silver-backing to gorilla guys?Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-74016440211557167232013-11-26T13:56:38.635-05:002013-11-26T13:56:38.635-05:00What about the male hair on the chest as in "...What about the male hair on the chest as in "put some hair on your chest"? Some decades it is sexy some decades it definitely is not. Robert Kopechttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05873765000196899526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-47476818913079619312013-11-26T13:40:02.982-05:002013-11-26T13:40:02.982-05:00Yes, and when one suggests things that science sho...Yes, and when one suggests things that science should not be allowed to do, unless they stick strictly to things like not torturing people (Mice is OK, apparently), then they scream Censorship! (that is, 'I might not be able to get a grant'). People so often object, as if it's wrong to stop spending public funds on things with potential disastrous effects, that history shows can if not will be used in such ways.<br /><br />It is not just now that criminality, sexual offenses (usually blamed on women being promiscuous), low intelligence, and the like are the first traits mentioned. Years ago, I think here on MT and perhaps in Ev. Anth., I've noted that nobody thinks of bank and hedge fund managers (or others one could name) as 'criminals' in this behavioral context.<br /><br />These tendencies, to think of criminals and sex (against, women, of course), run deep apparently. Also, of course, it's always those in privileged positions, who usually don't actually steal or rape (privileged people have other ways of getting what they want), who are passing the judgments.<br /><br />I hasten to add that I can't relate this specifically to the commenter who, we felt, went beyond the bounds, whether intentionally or not.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-83276801039338719572013-11-26T13:33:25.557-05:002013-11-26T13:33:25.557-05:00Thanks for removing the comment. Why must so many ...Thanks for removing the comment. Why must so many discussions of the biology of behavior, including one about pubic hair-dos, go straight to rape and criminality within a racialist framework? Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-90148579085336893222013-11-26T13:09:39.322-05:002013-11-26T13:09:39.322-05:00I find it a grievous omission that you never even ...I find it a grievous omission that you never even mention merkins in your original post.Jim Woodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-67623507820036189072013-11-26T12:43:46.030-05:002013-11-26T12:43:46.030-05:00If the things we say in our message weren't ob...If the things we say in our message weren't obvious enough, just today the BBC (Britain's juicy story network) has a story reporting that Brits aren't having as much, er, fun as they once did (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25094142). Well, if evolution can lead people NOT to indulge, when there's no penalty in child care for it, well.....Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-30490884849036828532013-11-26T11:57:46.811-05:002013-11-26T11:57:46.811-05:00OK, what’s going on here?
We deleted a comment bec...OK, what’s going on here?<br />We deleted a comment because it seemed to suggest that behavior such as rape and criminality are genetic and are passed down through the generations. People have a right to their views, but such views have already had an ample airing: countless books and papers were written on the subject….100 years and more ago. It was called the eugenics movement, and countless people were grievously harmed by holders of such views.<br /><br />Our commenter may have used careless phrasing, or we may have misinterpreted, and it is indeed a form of censorship but such comments go beyond what we consider acceptable on our blog. There are plenty of outlets for such views elsewhere.<br />Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-1921958912184913772013-11-26T09:30:00.972-05:002013-11-26T09:30:00.972-05:00I'm going to go ahead and share, publicly, tha...I'm going to go ahead and share, publicly, that I would not have allowed Andrew's comment to be published. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-83402878204890107502013-11-26T09:02:22.141-05:002013-11-26T09:02:22.141-05:00Well, since not everybody rapes somebody (I can s...Well, since not everybody rapes somebody (I can speak from personal experience of never having done it!), clearly we are not evolved by selection to be hard-wired to rape. Traits so potentially intimately related to genetic (Darwinian) fitness should not be very variable since selection should have kept the amount of variation low. So whatever traits like murder or rape are, they are at the very least context-dependent.<br /><br />Also, the fact that rape or murder or ill-temper or whatever can be found globally demonstrates that we have similar brain-related behaviors. How that evolved, how much selection and how much chance and so on, is the question.<br /><br />The inheritance of felonious tendencies is an age-old notion, portrayed in awful ways by Davenport and other eugenicists. But the argument is, at best, minimal. That's because most repeated felonious behavior would be social-class related and not inbred, and by far most felonies are not familial.<br /><br />So, I think we just disagree about where the genetic programming line is.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-25198577281753902642013-11-26T08:01:39.941-05:002013-11-26T08:01:39.941-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com