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Author: Sir FrederickSir Frederick Date: Sep 12, 2008 23:50
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14694-superstitions-evolved-to-help-us-survive...
Superstitions evolved to help us survive
00:01 10 September 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Ewen Callaway
Darwin never warned against crossing black cats, walking under ladders or
stepping on cracks in the pavement, but his theory of natural selection explains
why people believe in such nonsense.
The tendency to falsely link cause to effect – a superstition – is occasionally
beneficial, says Kevin Foster, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University.
For instance, a prehistoric human might associate rustling grass with the
approach of a predator and hide. Most of the time, the wind will have caused the
sound, but "if a group of lions is coming thereÂ’s a huge benefit to not being
around," Foster says.
Foster and colleague Hanna Kokko, of the University of Helsinki, Finland, sought
to determine exactly when such potentially false connections pay off.
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Date: Sep 13, 2008 01:45
> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14694-superstitions-evolved-to-help-us-survive...
> Superstitions evolved to help us survive
> 00:01 10 September 2008
> NewScientist.com news service
> Ewen Callaway
>
> Darwin never warned against crossing black cats, walking under ladders or
> stepping on cracks in the pavement, but his theory of natural selection explains
> why people believe in such nonsense.
>
> The tendency to falsely link cause to effect ? a superstition ? is occasionally
> beneficial, says Kevin Foster, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University.
>
> For instance, a prehistoric human might associate rustling grass with the
> approach of a predator and hide. Most of the time, the wind will have caused the
> sound, but "if a group of lions is coming there?s a huge benefit to not being
> around," Foster says.
> ...
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Author: Leon HoeneveldLeon Hoeneveld Date: Sep 13, 2008 03:47
Sir Frederick schreef:
> "Our brains are pattern-recognition machines, connecting the dots and creating
> meaning out of the patterns that we think we see in nature. Sometimes A really
> is connected to B, and sometimes it is not," he says. "When it isn't, we err in
> thinking that it is, but for the most part this process isn't likely to remove
> us from the gene pool, and thus magical thinking will always be a part of the
> human condition."
And once you have patterns recognized it is probable that you will see
mostly those patterns again.
Starting off with certain patterns will set you for life.
Superstition feeds on superstition. And it should be probable that in a
certain time you will make mistakes that prove to be fatal.
But then agian you could have already reproduced by then.
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Author: ZerkonXZerkonX Date: Sep 13, 2008 04:18
On Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:50:14 -0700, Sir Frederick wrote:
> Superstitions evolved to help us survive
Are love, hate, justice and mercy superstitions?
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Author: A SituationA Situation Date: Sep 13, 2008 07:29
On Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:18:41 +0000, ZerkonX X.net> wrote:
>On Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:50:14 -0700, Sir Frederick wrote:
>
>> Superstitions evolved to help us survive
>
>Are love, hate, justice and mercy superstitions?
Please define your terms, including contextual behavioral examples.
--
Frederick Martin McNeill
Poway, California, United States of America
mmcneill@ fuzzysys.com
******************************************
"The institution of the family is decisive in determining not only if a person has the capacity to love another individual but in the larger social sense whether he is capable of loving his fellow men collectively. The whole of society rests on this foundation for stability, understanding and social peace."
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
******************************************
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