Kaj: By jingo you may be right. But the question is, if the population of trolls is falling between The Hobbit and LoTR, is this an example of species-level selection? Because I can see that coming in handy. Imagine:
Johnny Creationist: “The Bible says God created the Earth in six days!”
Me: “Well the Lord of The Rings says we evolved by punctuated equilibrium!”
Johnny Creationist: “Damn! Your logic is unassailable! Well, I’m an atheist now.”
shake hands
At Mt. Obaku temple in the Ko district, Yudkowksy-Sensei was approached by an Individualist during morning meditation.
“All of us are ultimately selfish; we care only about our own states of mind. The mother who claims to care about her son’s welfare, really wants to believe that her son is doing well—this belief is what makes the mother happy. She helps him for the sake of her own happiness, not his.” said the Individualist.
Yudkowsky-Sensei remained sitting on his zafu, and said nothing.
The Individualist continued: “She did it because she valued that choice above others—because of the feeling of importance she attached to that decision.”
Yudkowksy-Sensei stood up and walked out of the temple to his car, where he proceeded to open and close the driver-side door several times before saying:
“There is no chocolate at the supermarket.”