The stranger-than-fiction miracles of coevolution in nature and human society. (Or: what connects avocados, ants who farm fungus, karma, and our relationship with dogs?)
thank you Brian for a gripping read. To my mind it prompted the thought that one could apply this coevolutionary framework to the emerging relationship between humans and AI. Which suggests exploring the idea of AI as a species. Perhaps that’s happening already under our noses as it were.
Understanding the big problems of our turbulent times through coevolution – what an absolutely riveting article. On dogs, our Golden Retriever eats anything, and I mean anything but I’ll spare you the detail. There is only one thing he won’t touch - mushrooms – hard wired evolutionary alarm bell goes off inside his brain.
I think 'Obligate Mutualists' will be the title for the art piece l am currently working on, it fits perfectly in a sort of metaphorical way. :0)
As always, l was fascinated by your explanations of complex natural phenomena, and how those ideas can be applied to how we interact as humans. Thanks!!
I love your writing (first exposure might have been in The Atlantic?)- I’ve been a subscriber for a while. The best part is that your curiosity has a close enough relationship to mine, and that, among those topics that I don’t necessarily want an academic paper to wade through (clinical psychologist here), you don’t go too deep into the weeds. I love learning new stuff. Your writing is often a joy.
Another fascinating and thought provoking piece! That oxytocin inducing “look” in a dog’s eyes is immediately familiar to any dog-lover! An interesting question is: how to think about selective breeding? Is it a particular form of co-evolution or is it something else, ultimately subject to different factors? Those “friendly wolves” whose survival was enhanced by their ability to “hang out” with humans eventually became an astonishing variety of different breeds. The Arctic sled dog’s survival was enhanced by manifesting the genes that made it survive better in the snow, work with other dog’s as a team with the musculature to pull a sled. But this selective advantage ultimately rested on the needs of the Inuit that selectively bred them. The same with herding species in cultures dependent on livestock, hunting dogs, terriers for rodent control, lap dogs for companionship, etc. Darwin found inspiration for his Origin of Species in studying selective breeding/artificial selection and considering how variation and novelty might happen spontaneously in nature. When the co-evolution is mostly one-sided is it still co- evolution? The Canis lupus that has co-evolved with humanity into chihuahuas and Great Danes hardly seems related to the wild type Canis lupus at all. It is co-evolving primarily in response to the needs of Homo sapiens. Disturbing questions emerge as we look at ourselves. There is a troubling re-emergence in some quarters on the right of old noxious ideas of eugenics. And we are developing extraordinary powers to alter our own genome. How will this affect our own evolution both culturally and biologically? Who will control it?
I love this. It’s a great reminder that we’re not separate from our systems; we evolve with them. The harder question now is whether we can stay aware enough to shape those feedback loops instead of being shaped entirely by them.
absolutely fascinating as usual. Much to think about.
But one immediate reaction was OMG! Human Parasites helping prevent mental health issues. And I wondered: What if someone was able to show that Ivermectin caused autism? Would MAHA's heads simply explode and we could be rid of them? (apologies to those on the spectrum who are wrongly called mentally ill, btw).
But I hope to go beyond the immediate and think more about all this as my dog and I exchange our usual gazes.
This description seems to be a just so story. Life lived forward, make up a nice explanation after the fact. Evolution is not a "race", nor a survival of the fittest (nor, for that matter, is a gene selfish but people can be). Evolution is a random mutation that may or may not confer some benefit, neither beneficial nor detrimental, or down right detrimental. Humans have trichromacy because of a random duplication of a the gene for cones that allow humans to experience color. That sounds like something useful for avoiding predators and seeing food. As another example, a carrier of the Sickle Cell gene are safe from the worst forms of malaria. However, the offspring of two Sickle Cell carriers will have Sickle Cell disease and a life expectancy into their forties. That is a good on the one hand bad on the other. Again, Evolution is a random gene mutation whose outcomes may be beneficial, not beneficial, or beneficial on some occasions. This explains why those that confer benefit are passed, until they no longer confer benefit, the sometimes beneficial still persist, and the deadly mutations just don't last. Homo sapiens have spent far more time as hunter gatherers than farmers. Maybe someone has found the farming gene.
thank you Brian for a gripping read. To my mind it prompted the thought that one could apply this coevolutionary framework to the emerging relationship between humans and AI. Which suggests exploring the idea of AI as a species. Perhaps that’s happening already under our noses as it were.
Yes, there’s a lot of speculation on how that relationship will play out but I agree: convolution is the right mental framework to analyze it.
Thank you for another fascinating article. As I have said before, you always make me think, & learn new facts. 🤩
Understanding the big problems of our turbulent times through coevolution – what an absolutely riveting article. On dogs, our Golden Retriever eats anything, and I mean anything but I’ll spare you the detail. There is only one thing he won’t touch - mushrooms – hard wired evolutionary alarm bell goes off inside his brain.
I think 'Obligate Mutualists' will be the title for the art piece l am currently working on, it fits perfectly in a sort of metaphorical way. :0)
As always, l was fascinated by your explanations of complex natural phenomena, and how those ideas can be applied to how we interact as humans. Thanks!!
I love your writing (first exposure might have been in The Atlantic?)- I’ve been a subscriber for a while. The best part is that your curiosity has a close enough relationship to mine, and that, among those topics that I don’t necessarily want an academic paper to wade through (clinical psychologist here), you don’t go too deep into the weeds. I love learning new stuff. Your writing is often a joy.
Another fascinating and thought provoking piece! That oxytocin inducing “look” in a dog’s eyes is immediately familiar to any dog-lover! An interesting question is: how to think about selective breeding? Is it a particular form of co-evolution or is it something else, ultimately subject to different factors? Those “friendly wolves” whose survival was enhanced by their ability to “hang out” with humans eventually became an astonishing variety of different breeds. The Arctic sled dog’s survival was enhanced by manifesting the genes that made it survive better in the snow, work with other dog’s as a team with the musculature to pull a sled. But this selective advantage ultimately rested on the needs of the Inuit that selectively bred them. The same with herding species in cultures dependent on livestock, hunting dogs, terriers for rodent control, lap dogs for companionship, etc. Darwin found inspiration for his Origin of Species in studying selective breeding/artificial selection and considering how variation and novelty might happen spontaneously in nature. When the co-evolution is mostly one-sided is it still co- evolution? The Canis lupus that has co-evolved with humanity into chihuahuas and Great Danes hardly seems related to the wild type Canis lupus at all. It is co-evolving primarily in response to the needs of Homo sapiens. Disturbing questions emerge as we look at ourselves. There is a troubling re-emergence in some quarters on the right of old noxious ideas of eugenics. And we are developing extraordinary powers to alter our own genome. How will this affect our own evolution both culturally and biologically? Who will control it?
This is remarkably broad-ranging, even for you!
I love this. It’s a great reminder that we’re not separate from our systems; we evolve with them. The harder question now is whether we can stay aware enough to shape those feedback loops instead of being shaped entirely by them.
absolutely fascinating as usual. Much to think about.
But one immediate reaction was OMG! Human Parasites helping prevent mental health issues. And I wondered: What if someone was able to show that Ivermectin caused autism? Would MAHA's heads simply explode and we could be rid of them? (apologies to those on the spectrum who are wrongly called mentally ill, btw).
But I hope to go beyond the immediate and think more about all this as my dog and I exchange our usual gazes.
This description seems to be a just so story. Life lived forward, make up a nice explanation after the fact. Evolution is not a "race", nor a survival of the fittest (nor, for that matter, is a gene selfish but people can be). Evolution is a random mutation that may or may not confer some benefit, neither beneficial nor detrimental, or down right detrimental. Humans have trichromacy because of a random duplication of a the gene for cones that allow humans to experience color. That sounds like something useful for avoiding predators and seeing food. As another example, a carrier of the Sickle Cell gene are safe from the worst forms of malaria. However, the offspring of two Sickle Cell carriers will have Sickle Cell disease and a life expectancy into their forties. That is a good on the one hand bad on the other. Again, Evolution is a random gene mutation whose outcomes may be beneficial, not beneficial, or beneficial on some occasions. This explains why those that confer benefit are passed, until they no longer confer benefit, the sometimes beneficial still persist, and the deadly mutations just don't last. Homo sapiens have spent far more time as hunter gatherers than farmers. Maybe someone has found the farming gene.