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Page added on December 23, 2019
Our Genetic Timebomb
Every few days or weeks, Rob Mielcarski posts to his Un-Denial blog some or another nuance to the Mind Over Reality Transition (MORT) theory of Varki and Brower (2013). If you are not aware of MORT, the idea in a nutshell is that somewhere in the evolution of human neurobiology there came a moment when we were so freaked out by recognition of our own mortality (after ritualistically consuming a paranoia-inducing mushroom like Amanita muscaria perhaps), that we hard-wired a capacity to deny our own mortality and take on blind faith that every-day-reality is too unreliable to put complete trust in.In the original, unfinished paper, the late Danny Brower explained MORT this way:
“We are polluting the earth and changing the climate in ways that we can’t predict, and likely at some point, can’t easily reverse. If we’re so smart, why do we continue to sow the seeds for our eventual destruction? Because we are saddled with a brain that is designed by selection to cope with the ultimate disaster (death) by denying that it will occur, and so we treat other impending disasters by denying that they will ever happen ……Indeed, it is arguable that we are destined ultimately to destroy ourselves as a species.”
In a recent chapter for Shackelford and Zeigler-Hill (eds.), Evolutionary Perspectives on Death, Evolutionary Psychology (Springer 2019), Ajit Varki riffs on Brower’s idea:
Some aspects of human cognition and behavior appear unusual or exaggerated relative to those of other intelligent, warm-blooded, long-lived social species — including certain mammals (cetaceans, elephants, and great apes) and birds (corvids and passerines). One collection of such related features is our remarkable ability for ignoring or denying reality in the face of clear facts, a high capacity for self-deception and false beliefs, overarching optimism bias, and irrational risk-taking behavior (herein collectively called “reality denial”). Such traits should be maladaptive for reproductive success when they first appear as consistent features in individuals of any species. Meanwhile, available data suggest that self-awareness (knowledge of one’s own personhood) and basic theory of mind (ToM, also termed mind-reading, intentionality, etc.) have evolved independently several times, particularly in the same kinds of species mentioned above. Despite a long-standing opportunity spanning tens of millions of years, only humans appear to have gone on to evolve an extended ToM (multilevel intentionality), a trait required for optimal expression of many other unusual cognitive attributes of our species, such as advanced linguistic communication and cumulative cooperative culture.
***
Most human behaviors exist in other species on a continuum of development, as one would expect from evolution. But religion appears to be a well-established near universal only in human cultures and there are many obvious fitness advantages that have been discussed by others. But most of these advantages should not require a belief in life after death. Nevertheless, almost all religions have at their core some form of such afterlife beliefs, which would serve as another mechanism to blunt the impact of mortality salience. Of course, atheists do not live in constant fear of their mortality, so the underlying reality denial appears to be the primary mechanism.
***
Could the well-known human craving for mind-altering substances also be partly due to the need to escape reality? Could the same be true of the positive value of meditation methods that focus on mindfulness of the present, or the shutting out of irksome reality? Conversely, could episodic panic attacks represent a sudden failure of the neural mechanisms of reality denial?
Mielcarski, following in the footsteps of Brower and Varki, says that it is impossible for high intelligence to exist without reality denial. At the same time, reality denial is a ticking time bomb embedded into the entire human experiment. Reality denial is what stands between our existential climate emergency and the simple, relatively cost-free, natural climate solutions I have been describing here for the past 532 posts or in the prior two decades of publishing the quarterly Natural Rights in hard copy. Reality denial is what crashed the recent COP25 climate conference in Madrid, pushing off a hard deadline imposed by physical reality. Reality denial is what allowed the UK to re-empower Boris Johnson, US to elect Trump, Brazil to elect Bolsonaro, India to elevate Modi, and so forth. All of those nasty tendencies to act counter to our own best interest are programmed into the central processing unit in our genetic mainframe. It is not like we can go in and do a bug-patch. This is not software. The MORT trait passes whole and entire in our mitochondria every time one of our cells divides.If that is not depressing enough, Homo sapiens have a second evolutionary trait that could guarantee our extinction should MORT prove inadequate to the task.
That trait is tribalism.
In most of its manifestations it seems harmless enough. The family gathered around the dinner table. Football rivalries. A neighborhood barbecue. A celebration of ethnic heritage. Kneeling in prayer under stained-glass windows.
ut tribalism is also the street protests over Modi’s Muslim quotas. Babies crying and children dying in cages in Texas. Blue Collar against White Collar. Communist and Capitalist. Catholic against Protestant. Right and Left. Red or Blue. Harvard vs. Yale. Tutsi against Hutu. Crips and Bloods. Crise anglophone in Cameroon. Small differences in skin pigmentation. Different dialects of the same language. Differences in social theory. Us. Them.
In evolutionary biology it is a common strategy: safety in numbers; pack hunting; clustered quarters for protection from night predators. Two-leggeds are no different in this respect from zebras crossing a river of crocodiles, a troop of monkeys filling a tree, a herd of buffalo enclosing their young, or a lion pride circling a lone gazelle.
We tribe.
When we sacrifice for our tribe we are rewarded. When we offend our tribe we are punished. The tribe is order. The tribe is security. The tribe is identity.
The tribe is also an extinction time-bomb. Its benefits are overshadowed by its destructive potential. “USA first” is President Cobblepot’s justification for pulling out of the Paris Agreement. When he appeared at the United Nations and told every nation they should be seeking only their own interests there, he rowed against the current of 70 years of a fragile but expanding multilateralism. Now there are many who feel empowered to pick up oars and row with him. Witness the coming Scottish vote to withdraw from the UK.
In his Christmas blog, Mielcarski draws upon a year-end essay in the Megacancer blog that propounds a notion that humans are just one of many living organisms driven by the need to gather energy, expand population, and gather more energy,
Humans should never think of themselves as smart or intelligent, they’re simply a thermodynamic event maintaining homeostasis through gradient reduction. Their entire mentality serves energy/wealth acquisition, consumption and reproduction. Being a social mammal (obtaining energy as a group) they are hierarchically organized and are constantly striving to improve their social standing by whatever means possible (if they haven’t yet seen the futility in such efforts). Those able to control the most money/energy are admired and envied by their sycophants while those with less success are regularly scorned and often deemed unworthy of reproduction or even living. Just as the human civilization will enslave, consume and/or deprive other species of their ability to live and reproduce, so too wealthy humans will enslave less avaricious humans and use them for self-enrichment.
I confess a jaundiced view towards this analysis because it seems boxed into a particular worldview derived from ancient desert religions engaged in ritual conquest and despoliation. We don’t need to adopt that model any more than we need to keep ready-standby militaries in times of peace. That is just inertia, Mr. Obama.
You can point to acquisitive, expansionist, competitive, wasteful patterns of the white Euroamerican tribe, or you can point to sharing, self-limiting, self-effacing patterns of some indigenous societies that enjoyed thousands of years without hunger or war. The distinction lies between a juvenile r-sere ecosystem and a mature k-sere ecosystem. By fixing on the juvenile stage, you assume there is no later stage of cultural evolution awaiting greater maturity.
If we have any hope to survive, or to save the myriad other species we are now in the process of destroying, we need to somehow overcome these two traits — reality-denial and tribal loyalty — with a stronger counter-program of k-sere culture, elegantly interconnected, complex, and diverse. Before we pack our sons off to Afghanistan or Syria we might first ask whom they are being sent to kill, and why? When we kneel in prayer, we should appeal to the Almighty for guidance in better loving our fellow creatures, of all colors, beliefs, and languages, as well as those with fins, and wings, and roots in the ground.
For our guiding credo, we could do worse than to adopt something approaching the eloquence of Sibelius’ national anthem of Finland:
Finlandia
This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace, for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mineMy country’s skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my song, thou God of all the nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine
— Jean Sibelius, 1899
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151 Comments on "Our Genetic Timebomb"
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 1:16 pm
This high English couched in love for muzzies and dotheads failed to explore the muzzies angle. Kill them all then kill ourselves.
If we reverse the order muzzies will take over.
It also denied the nurture component of 1400 years of muzzies ideology that changed their genetic. Gene change though all manners including sexual reproduction horizontally transfer environment and thoughts. All manner of genetic changes are well researched
Muzzies ate the most animal protein which explains muzzism mandated aggression
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 1:18 pm
How long does it take to breed modern dogs
Muzzies have 14000 years to breed modern muzzies
Mind over matter
Nature and nurture
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 1:43 pm
But religion appears to be a well-established near universal only in human cultures and there are many obvious fitness advantages that have been discussed by others. But most of these advantages should not require a belief in life after death. Nevertheless, almost all religions have at their core some form of such afterlife beliefs, which would serve as another mechanism to blunt the impact of mortality salience. Of course, at
This is such blatant denial of (((supremetard))). Saying it confers survival advantage then immediately deny its importance without elaboration
Happy (((supremetard))) birthday
This is just one dimensional love for muzzies using high English and promotional of autistic nature angle
Supertard set out to discuss nature reality by ignoring contributing component to reality by (((supremetard))
I wouldn’t have any criticism if it sticks to nature alone but I dont start nothing if supertard didn’t start nothing the way darkly supertard pastor manning put it
Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 2:04 pm
“Just put your lips together and blow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9P3C1OXqE
“I’ve know more about windmills than anyone”
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 2:06 pm
man up stupid. Can’t you be a man??
This is from stupid:
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk said But religion appears to be a well-established near…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk said How long does it take to breed modern dogs Muzzies…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk said This high English couched in love for muzzies and…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English my neighbor got big testicles because we see this dude every day we ate ribs with this dude said Whitey cop shot dead muzzie tempe az saying cop go…
The Board said Please. Do not feed the Davy troll.
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 2:59 pm
Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 2:04 pm
supertard, if using low english indicates low intelligence then i’m guilty as charged.
i picked whitey supertard trump out when i heard him speaking low english – while others don’t bother or just plain don’t know low english. for speaking low english i appointed him whitey supertard trump
you remember i used to refer to him as “big grab” the P
anyways, ain’t nothing against high English. it’s an amazing language for describing and documenting progress in science, literature, philosophy, economics, love. it’s just it’s a predominant language for lovin’ muzzies.
i’ll stick to low english – muzzies died like a dog but muzzie is not a dog, and not a muzzie. but muzzie was burried at sea according to custom of a muzzie. muzzie died like a dog.
low english said muzzie died like a dog and let the readers judge the outcome.
There are too many supremacist muzzies jerk and muzzie lovers here. I tend to my goats
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:09 pm
Boeing fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg over 737 MAX crisis and just days after Starliner spacecraft mission was aborted – as shares in company rise 3% in early trading
Why whitey supertard permit plane to violate fairing principle this introduce dynamic instability then compensate with dotheads buggy software? One can not undo physical law using software to achieve fuel efficiency. Not to mention buggy software
It’s like how paper whitey supertards in favor of muzzies busting A-10 and propose f35 for close combat support
Stupid
Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:09 pm
http://www.newnownext.com/randy-rainbow-holiday-album-hey-gurl-its-christmas-2/12/2019/
urrmigurd insane bazzare JuanP on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:23 pm
Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:09 pm
http://www.newnownext.com/randy-rainbow-holiday-album-hey-gurl-its-christm
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:31 pm
Stupid, please man up, pussy!
This is from stupid:
urrmigurd insane bazzare JuanP said Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:09 pm http:/…
Robert Inget said http://www.newnownext.com/randy-rainbow-holiday-al…
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:33 pm
This is stupid being stupid:
This is from stupid
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said Boeing fires CEO Dennis Muilenburg over 737 MAX cr…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said Robert Inget on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 2:04 pm supert…
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:35 pm
more stupidity of the board stupid
This is from stupid:
urrmigurd insanity bazarre incel JuanP said Davy on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:29 pm “Interestingly…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:39 pm
Breaking news
France just roasted 40 muzzies
First ever for them using drone
French engineers can’t build muzzies anti rape machine but can build drones. Maybe they bought them. I’m sure they bought them.
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 3:56 pm
Stupid show us your smart side
This is from stupid:
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said Breaking news France just roasted 40 muzzies First…
makati1 on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 4:18 pm
“…we need to somehow overcome these two traits — reality-denial and tribal loyalty. ‘
Not going to happen until the really big SHTF and it a a choice of life or death every minute. THEN some will wake up from their denial or die.
There are some tribal flag wavers on this site who are in denial of everything that will lower their lifestyle. Who noisily support the very government that is enslaving them. I see little chance of a better future for the West and, especially, the US. Too many still believe the “exceptional country” bullshit. So sad.
Interesting times ahead. Buckle up and pass the popcorn.
makati1 on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 4:21 pm
BTW: The deniers are mostly Westerners, not the other six billion who already live in a live or die world everyday. Mostly thanks to those same Westerners who are plundering and killing them for resources and to retain some power.
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 4:57 pm
Muzzie regrouped in Iraq after leader muzzies died like a dog died like a dog
REAL Green on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:07 pm
Our JuanP pre-occupashun used to be real funny Davy. Now it’s gotten real disturbed like.
Can we go see the docter. Purdy please?
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:26 pm
Real Greens write Davy.
The three of us should go see the docter.
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:32 pm
more stupid
This is from stupid:
JuanP is stupid said Real Greens write Davy. The three of us should go…
REAL Green said Our JuanP pre-occupashun used to be real funny Dav…
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:42 pm
Were not gettin any better Davy.
JuanP is stupid. on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:56 pm
man up stupid. do you have a smart half?
this is from stupid:
JuanP is stupid said Were not gettin any better Davy.
The Board on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 5:57 pm
We hate you JuanP. Please leave
The REAL Board. on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 6:22 pm
We hate you Davyskum. Please leave.
REAL Green on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:17 pm
JuanP is stupids write davy.
Were not getting any better. We need to see the docter.
REAL Bad like.
REAL Green on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:27 pm
Please. Do not feed the davy troll.
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:28 pm
Yeap.
Please. do not feed the davy troll.
Davy on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:30 pm
STFU y’all. Us trolls need to be fed. We got nothing better to do with are lifes then hang out trolling lame unmoderated internets forums.
REAL Green on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:33 pm
We need to see the docter davy. Were wasting are time on this stupid lame unmoderated forum. And nobody here gives a crap that what we think about amounts to nothin.
dumbass
Davy on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:47 pm
REAL Greens write JuanP is stupid. We need to see the docter.
Were wasting are time on this stupid lame unmoderated forum. And nobody here gives a crap that what we think about amounts to nothin.
stupid
JuanP is stupid on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 7:58 pm
Yah no davy. All our JuanP is stupid bullshit is stupid.
stupid
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 9:02 pm
If high English implies high IQ then why nobody flagged whitey supertard trump muzzies died like a dog for promotion and I had to get up and do it
Whitey supertard trump is a political genius. Explain to me why supertard bob inget and others went maximum low English
Explain. Why muzzies akbar sayeed a professor used low English
Explain why all lib urns are gone for months
They have a very hard time to play the game. I didn’t appoint whitey supertard trump for notin
dave thompson on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 10:50 pm
This whole “muzzies” thing is getting old.
full woke supremacist jerk low English on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 11:19 pm
dave thompson on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 10:50 pm
supertard, it’s never old. france just roasted 40 muzzies today using drones.
first time ever france used drones to roast muzzies in mali
this is fresh meat
so NAS is already old? figures
full woke supremacist jerk low English muzzies destroying (((supremetard))) bday special report on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 11:27 pm
for supertard dave thompson
“old” news
ASIA/PHILIPPINES – Terrorist violence on Christmas eve: attack in front of the Cathedral
Monday, 23 December 2019
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English special report on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 11:28 pm
ht supertard glenn roberts
thereligionofpeace
full woke supremacist muzzie jerk low English special report on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 11:31 pm
ht supertard glenn roberts thereligionofpeace and memri tv
Imam Mohamad Joban of Redmond, WA: Allah Transformed (((tards, supertards))) into Despicable Apes and Pigs for Disobeying Him; Babies Born with Long Arms, Tail Are Their Descendants
December 17, 2019
“old” news
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 12:02 am
supremacist muzzie akbar sayeed used low english according to muzzie mandate to humiliate infidels and whitey supertard john brady committed suicide.
this is old news?
800 people came out against muzzie akbar sayeed and wanted to throw supremacist muzzie off building to test newton third law? approximately 400 of these people are armed to the teeth. this is old news? love the 2nd in america. can’t wait for the people trial of global muzzies to start and convict
muzzie purge will be fun
T. Tobias on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 12:24 am
Greetings Dave Thompson:
Friend, trying to rationalize with a full blown nutter is like casting pearls before swine.
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 1:14 am
tobias, i appoint you supertard. your title is “the lover” of muzzies.
T. Tobias on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 2:30 am
BTW Dave Thompson. What country are you from? friend.
JuanP is stupid on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 2:43 am
Stupid, you have about run everyone off. Good thing I am around to keep you moderated, fuckface
This is from stupid:
T. Tobias said BTW Dave Thompson. What country are you from? frie…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said tobias, i appoint you supertard. your title is &#…
T. Tobias said Greetings Dave Thompson: Friend, trying to rationa…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said supremacist muzzie akbar sayeed used low english a…
full woke supremacist muzzie jerk low English special report said ht supertard glenn roberts thereligionofpeace and…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English special report said ht supertard glenn roberts thereligionofpeace
full woke supremacist jerk low English muzzies destroying (((supremetard))) bday special report said for supertard dave thompson “old” news…
full woke supremacist jerk low English said dave thompson on Mon, 23rd Dec 2019 10:50 pm super…
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English said If high English implies high IQ then why nobody fl…
JuanP is stupid said Yah no davy. All our JuanP is stupid bullshit is s…
Davy said REAL Greens write JuanP is stupid. We need to see…
REAL Green said We need to see the docter davy. Were wasting are t…
Davy said STFU y’all. Us trolls need to be fed. We got…
Davy on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 4:35 am
Let me name names of the various good people I have run off this site due to my full blown nutter. Here are/were two excellent posters I successfully drove off. PLENTY OF OTHERS.
Apenaman
Greg T
FOR THIS REASON I IMPLORE ALL GOOD PEOPLE PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW MY DARKSIDE TO PREVAIL. I’M TRYING MY BEST TO GET THIS PLACE BACK WHERE I WANT IT EXCEPT FOR A FEW THORNS IN MY SIDE.
JuanP is stupid on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 4:46 am
LMFAO, I knew that would get a rise out of you, stupid
This is from stupid who is mad as hell:
Davy said Let me name names of the various good people I hav..
Davy on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 4:51 am
Stupid what runs people off is ID theft and unintellectual sock puppets. You are a lying piece of shit who has introduced ad-homs as the way to debate in the past instead of a debate that may be heated and raw with harsh language but still contains ideas. You are too stupid to be intellectual so you turn to name calling and the dirty behavior of cheating and deception. You represent the worst of what is human. One needs only follow your woke muzzie shit to see this. You need to be trashed and I will be here every day to see you get what you deserve.
JuanP on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 4:52 am
Davy I am still depressed
Davy talking to JuanP on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 5:03 am
“Let me name names of the various good people I have run off this site due to my full blown nutter. Here are/were two excellent posters I successfully drove off. PLENTY OF OTHERS.”
“Apenaman” – ape mn left on his own because he found better pastures to raise hell in.
“Greg T” – GregT was going lunatic like you but eventually decided to leave once you started ID theft and hostile socks 2 and a half years ago when you totally freaked out. He probably decided this is crazy.
I almost left too but then decided I would stand up for free speech and reject domination by a few over all. You had a gang of people who basically didn’t like me because I objected to extreme anti-Americanism. One can go back to that period if they like. It is all documented. You are a horrible person juanPee and have destroyed the validity of this place as an unmoderated place to speak one’s mind intelligently. If I play your game it is to show you can’t win. I have said this multiple times you ignore me I will ignore you. This is a bilateral relationship that is simple and workable. A lunatic like you likes psychopathic behavior so you don’t give a shit. In the past you wanted a double standard of Davy follow my rules but people like makat1 and anonymouse could do as they please because they were your friends. You want to own the place and control it. You want to manufacture a reality that fits your warped and dirty mind. CUNTFACE is what you are and I am here to tell you that every day until as long as I can.
full woke supremacist muzzies jerk low English on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 5:15 am
Y muzzie akbar sayeed used low english in accordance with muzzie doctrine to humiliate infidels? muzzie akbar is pioneer in introducing low english into higher ed. in western world. whitey supertard john brady was abused and killed self.
800 peple protested muzzie akbar sayeed. my guess 400 of those armed to the teeth because i just love america and 2nd amendmentment whitey supertard founders gave us.
people demand to throw muzzie akbar off building to test newton’s 3rd law. when the purge of muzzie begins with conviction by people’s trials of global muzzies for crime against humanity (1400 years jihad, 300 million killed or 150/day). the number of guns will make muzzie hunting fun
fwsmj on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 5:30 am
Davy talking to JuanP on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 5:03 am
above is triggered supertard obv.
full woke supremacist muzzie jerk low English on Tue, 24th Dec 2019 5:32 am
all. You had a gang of people who basically didn’t like me because I objected to extreme anti-Americanism. One can go back to that period if they like. It is all documented.
every1 pls respect supertard
supertard pls stop working on my project
happy (((supremetard))) bday everyone