Altruism
I keep thinking about lately, especially in my Primate Conservation class, how the process of Altruism is actually detrimental to the genetics of a population. We like to concern our big fat brains with the concept that altruism is what makes us human, and want to know the difference in where we became this way verses the animals that aren't necessarily that way. There is this polarity between altruism as being a value and altruism being dangerous, genetically speaking. We talk about the need for heterozygosity in my primate conservation class, meaning basically that you have a lot of genetic diversity, which will make you more flexible to environmental changes and things like that--basically makes you more apt to survive. So, the better your heterozygosity, the better you survive, especially in small populations. So, you would think the more people/individuals, the more genetic diversity, and yes...that is true. But in some populations, where altruistic tendencies apply, does protecting an individual that carries disease, or has bad genetics eventually hurt your society? For us...obviously it didn't. But in some primate populations it plays in increasing their extinction rate. If the primates have more altruistic tendencies to selflessly care for other sick or injured individuals, then they get bad genes pooling around. Whatever the difference between "us" and "them" is has to come into effect somewhere in there. We invented ways to care for the sick so that we do not have to suffer the gene pool. But...there sure are a hell of a lot of diseases out there...
So complicated!
SO, I had a calculus test yesterday! Went awesomely
I have a bio test today....neeeeed to study for it soon. It's at 6:45 though, so i have like 3 and a half hours after class to study
I don't know if I could enter the world of academia...there are too many people who consider everyone else to be morons out there. That is just plain rudde. I would feel entitled a little bit though too if i had just completed 12 years of getting a Phd. But also....PHD means nothing when you are an asshole, and you don't really even have to know anything about anything at all to get it done. Academia is highschool with big words.
So complicated!
SO, I had a calculus test yesterday! Went awesomely
I have a bio test today....neeeeed to study for it soon. It's at 6:45 though, so i have like 3 and a half hours after class to study
I don't know if I could enter the world of academia...there are too many people who consider everyone else to be morons out there. That is just plain rudde. I would feel entitled a little bit though too if i had just completed 12 years of getting a Phd. But also....PHD means nothing when you are an asshole, and you don't really even have to know anything about anything at all to get it done. Academia is highschool with big words.