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What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

mrdbourke.com

21–30 of 148 posts

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#21
post #9
post #7

There is also some fraction of the sea turtle population that goes in the "wrong direction" when navigating by the Earth's magnetic fields. I believe these individuals generally do not do very well. But... this natural variation might be what allows the species to persist even as the magnetic fields shift over millions of years. Being the rogue bee might be fine. Being the rogue turtle, well... it might be good for t…

There's also a famous clip from Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World where a penguin does something similar,[0] and I've seen it theorised (possibly in the book Empire Antarctica , but I'm not certain) that this may be a mechanism to find new breeding grounds (though, as you say, in a way that may be good for the species but is bad for most of the individuals so called). [0] https://yewtu.be/watch?v=zWH…

We can see this in some form in mankind too, and I would expect this in most if not all species, the trick is how to notice it with our current tech options. In humans it may be a rogue psychopath or hermit that sails out in the unknown sea in ancient boat despite everbody telling him not to, often dying in the middle of nowhere, but from time to time actually making it someplace (to probably die there too until some other won't).

Its as if species were a sentient organism playing some complex survival strategy game, sacrificing few individuals for that rare occasion that they could make a big difference.

Its a fantastic evolutionary advantage when you think about species and eras, not individuals and their tragedies as we are wired to do. Any complex species not possessing it would be outcompeted eventually, or destroyed by some cataclysmic event that destroys balance built over time by more conforming populations. I am sure in some form this could be applied to economics too.

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#23
post #5
post #3

It's obvious that this is beneficial for the population, but is it (typically) beneficial for an individual? Probably, selfish individuals would only want to try this if they're already well-fed, or if they're confident that there will be some food left over if they don't find any of their own. So, for the benefit of the population, we should probably make sure that everyone is well-fed, so that everyone feels confid…

Honeybees are a eusocial organism, so there's not really "selfish" in here. They're all eating from the same stores of food.

Yeah, I wasn't referring to bees, but to humans, as the author seems to want humans to follow the example of bees :)

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#24

If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.

Think of picking a point on a circle.

If you pick a wrong point, all you can infer is that "not that point" is correct, not "opposite point" is correct.

There are many, many ways to be wrong.

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#25

Well, here's your chance to try the opposite. Instead of tuna salad and being intimidated by women, chicken salad and going right up to them. If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.

Chicken is not the opposite of tuna, salmon is. Because salmon swim against the current but the tuna swim with it.

Good for the tuna.

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#26
post #13

I remember reading similar tactics for mice when learning a maze with food (cheese). A steady portion of the mice did it differently then the majority of the mice. Breeding only the ‘deviant’ mice, resulted in exactly the same percentage in the next generation ==>> hypothesis: this is an evolutionary advantageous trait.

The indicated hypothesis would be "random conversion to consistent deviant" is the heritabile trait, not "deviance" itself.

Re: What if you did the exact opposite, like rogue bees do (2020)

#27

Well, here's your chance to try the opposite. Instead of tuna salad and being intimidated by women, chicken salad and going right up to them. If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.

Chicken is not the opposite of tuna, salmon is. Because salmon swim against the current but the tuna swim with it.

Tuna is chicken of the sea. Chicken is tuna of the land.
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