Comments on: Monday Morning Comment on “Evolution of the Obvious” http://www.zephyr98.com/2009/12/monday-morning-comment-on-evolution-of-the-obvious/ Translated from the English Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:45:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Anil Menon http://www.zephyr98.com/2009/12/monday-morning-comment-on-evolution-of-the-obvious/comment-page-1/#comment-76 Anil Menon Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:59:01 +0000 http://www.zephyr98.com/?p=569#comment-76 Thanks for the linkback, Kurt. Interesting point u raise here, namely, that there's adaptive value in being alert to coincidences. If so, then the world needs to be pretty predictable and ho-hum on the whole. It'd be interesting to think of how cognition would evolve on a much more random world-- say a world where events that could happen very often do happen. On such a world, would rationality be treated as something despicable, something to be cured through a proper scientific education? Anil Thanks for the linkback, Kurt.

Interesting point u raise here, namely, that there’s adaptive value in being alert to coincidences. If so, then the world needs to be pretty predictable and ho-hum on the whole. It’d be interesting to think of how cognition would evolve on a much more random world– say a world where events that could happen very often do happen. On such a world, would rationality be treated as something despicable, something to be cured through a proper scientific education?

Anil

]]> By: Eadwacer http://www.zephyr98.com/2009/12/monday-morning-comment-on-evolution-of-the-obvious/comment-page-1/#comment-75 Eadwacer Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:58:57 +0000 http://www.zephyr98.com/?p=569#comment-75 This is like the observation effect. I think that ER admits go up during a full moon. It’s a hectic night in the ER and I look outside — the moon is full. I remember that. I don’t remember all the hectic nights when the moon wasn’t full. Then there’s the XKCD approach. “When my brother died, I felt a pang in my heart” “Was the pang instantaneous, or was there a speed of light delay?” This is like the observation effect. I think that ER admits go up during a full moon. It’s a hectic night in the ER and I look outside — the moon is full. I remember that. I don’t remember all the hectic nights when the moon wasn’t full.

Then there’s the XKCD approach. “When my brother died, I felt a pang in my heart” “Was the pang instantaneous, or was there a speed of light delay?”

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