Anyone want to take a crack at evolutionary pressures for nations, and in particular, the pressure to convince people that being soldiers is the one sure way for people without extraordinary talents to do something important with their lives?
Eh, I was asking the same thing last week. Check out the responses I got. That’s why I’m just throwing the warning flag, not saying you’ve committed the error.
I recently read Howard Bloom’s The Lucifer Principle, which heavily relies on the phenomenon you’re referring to but which was criticized for being group selectionist. (He views societies as being superorganisms that can collectively act in ways that further themselves, which results in individuals behaving very much like cells, and having the same tendencies, like gradually dying when they’re not put to use for the rest of the organism, which is how he explains suicidal tendencies.)
Anyone want to take a crack at evolutionary pressures for nations, and in particular, the pressure to convince people that being soldiers is the one sure way for people without extraordinary talents to do something important with their lives?
*throws group selection warning flag*
Is group selection problematic when it’s for memes?
Eh, I was asking the same thing last week. Check out the responses I got. That’s why I’m just throwing the warning flag, not saying you’ve committed the error.
I recently read Howard Bloom’s The Lucifer Principle, which heavily relies on the phenomenon you’re referring to but which was criticized for being group selectionist. (He views societies as being superorganisms that can collectively act in ways that further themselves, which results in individuals behaving very much like cells, and having the same tendencies, like gradually dying when they’re not put to use for the rest of the organism, which is how he explains suicidal tendencies.)