gdp's Comments

Evolvify : Foundations for a Hunter-Gatherer Philosophy: If You Don't Like it, Leave.

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:59:13 +0000

Never fear. Posts about Jefferson are timeless.

Evolvify : Male Physical Attractiveness Part I or: You Shallow, Shallow Ladies

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 22:31:46 +0000

"beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder." Indeed, and since all the beholders are humans with human brains, we can make some predictions about similar eyes and ways of beholding. The validation and mirroring stuff is a little too Freudian.

Evolvify : Male Physical Attractiveness Part I or: You Shallow, Shallow Ladies

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 22:19:40 +0000

I'm not sure that your understanding of evolutionary psychology matches up with the state of the field. For a nice overview, you might check out "Evolutionary Psychology: Controversies, Questions, Prospects, and Limitations". "there seems to be no direct relationship between the finger ratio and genetics. This would imply that the degree of masculinity(and probably attractiveness) is to a certain extent based on pure chance." Saying that this has nothing to do with genetics and implies pure chance are both incorrect. Most of the genetic code can be thought of as a set of "if-then" clauses. For instance, if testosterone level x, then grow y. This roughly how the genotype interacts with signals from the environment and expresses a particular phenotype. "It used to be that the most physically fit male used to get the most number of mates." It did? When? None of the questions you seem to have about evolution are new. They were all explained by Darwin in his second major work, The Descent of Man, and have since been explained rather robustly. I would recommend a review of The Mating Mind. It nicely explains most of the concepts influencing your misunderstandings.

Evolvify : Training for the Unknown and the Unknowable: Or, What to Do If Life Accidentally Happens to You

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 18:55:25 +0000

yeah, the philosophy of gym/crossfit training kind of feels like a band-aid solution to me. applied to the paleo diet framework, it might be something like continuing to eat garbage, then trying to supplement yourself to health.

Evolvify : Book and Documentary: Agriculture Is Far from Benign

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:56:24 +0000

agreed. you do have to wade through a bunch of misandry to get to the point, but it's worth it.

Evolvify : Book and Documentary: Agriculture Is Far from Benign

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:55:46 +0000

yeah, i like allan savory's work. it's a strange notion to think ecosystems can exist without animals, and savory gets the answer to that question right.

Evolvify : Hunter-Gatherer Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:51:46 +0000

thanks, Neal. that sounds familiar. i'll move it up the to-read list.

Evolvify : Hunter-Gatherer Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:51:03 +0000

someone was just asking me whether the biblical Abraham was a hunter-gatherer. i'm inclined to think not, but if you go back far enough, we all were. i saw a statistic recently that said 2/3 of the world's population still lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle during when jesus was being written about.

Evolvify : Hunter-Gatherer Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:21:51 +0000

"Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?" Oh, but by the way, "it doesn't matter. People have beat you down this path". "Everything has been said yet few have taken advantage of it. Since all our knowledge is essentially banal, it can only be of value to minds that are not." - Raoul Vaneigem i don't yet believe that all paths have been previously trodden. but even if they had, who cares? everyone hasn't heard them, and few have yet understood them to the point of being able to take advantage of them. perhaps if jefferson and paine had come after darwin (and after evolutionary psychology) we'd be closer to having a classical liberalism not mired in ethnocentric agrarian myopia. the insight available to us from applied evolutionary theory is faaaaaarrr from complete. thinking otherwise is a guarantee of a banal mind. drop the utopia shtick; rhetorical attempts at debunking by epithet bore me. it also doesn't interest me to provide a custom argument (on a random thanksgiving post) to a cynic who already has all the answers (including other people's arguments before they've made them). i'll get to a full post when i think my research is sufficiently complete. in the interim, i'd suggest brushing up on evolutionary psychology from somewhere besides VH-1.

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:56:22 +0000

Then they must be doing something right!

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:39:41 +0000

Yes, I view it as a difference between phenotypic "goals" (please forgive the imprecise use) influenced by our genetic code, and personal goals influenced by our cultural milieu. Those two things are not completely separable, but it's safe to say that in terms of fitness, I'm more concerned with the phenotypic/genetic potential that we all share. Coincidentally, I just saw this article today which draws on the work of evolutionary psychologist Dr. Geoffrey Miller. It hints at my thinking on the variation in personal goals: Faked Fitness. While the word 'faked' carries pejorative overtones, that's not a value judgment. But I do think our evolutionary drives to show off can lead us astray.

Evolvify : Vegan Diet with Soy Lowers Testosterone and Causes Erectile Dysfunction

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:10:33 +0000

Thanks. Interesting! "We hypothesize that regular dietary exposure to soy isoflavones over many years during middle life may be associated with the appearance of accelerated brain aging in later life attributable to chronically sub-optimal neural plasticity." This definitely adds to the picture that long-term soy exposure is a beast that may not show up in 30 or 60 day studies. And... this type of hard to suss out long-term effect is exactly why I think the paleo framework is the most powerful game in town when it comes to making decisions based on limited information.

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:05:56 +0000

Ha! See what I mean, Chuck? :) Armi, I've read Atlas Shrugged and some of her theory outside of the fictional works. I do have a few thoughts on objectivism, and said I was going to write a post about it forever ago. Two quick thoughts that I think warrant consideration and elaboration: Strangely, for all of her talk about science, Ayn Rand didn't really believe in evolution. Also, she focuses the human drive for survival as one of the starting points for her philosophy. I think her lack of understanding of evolution is the root of some flaws in her approach -- particularly the focus on survival (natural selection) rather than sexual selection. When looking at egalitarian societies, objectivism seems completely superfluous. However, I can see the attraction considering the evolutionarily novel predicament of a world with 7 billion people. I'll try to refocus on finishing that piece, and then hunker down for the inevitable backlash. :)

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:53:22 +0000

Thanks, Armi.

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:53:03 +0000

I hear you. At the same time, some of the most popular posts on the site are those relating to HG anthropology applied to political theory. Tricky balance.

Evolvify : Vegan Diet with Soy Lowers Testosterone and Causes Erectile Dysfunction

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:32:08 +0000

Yes. Agreed. See my comment to Don above. The referenced studies have direct bearing on your comment.

Evolvify : Vegan Diet with Soy Lowers Testosterone and Causes Erectile Dysfunction

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 22:12:06 +0000

Re: the ~~pro-soy~~ supposedly not-anti-soy studies linked. Study 1 Criticism 1 Mean isoflavone intake per day in this study was broken down into 3 groups: 5.55 mg/d, 26.7, and 50.9 mg/d. At these levels, it is likely that the dose-response relationship demonstrated in the study from the OP would be completely missed. Siepmann, et al discussed this. Criticism 2 More recent studies directly refute the findings of the study you cite -- particularly the part you quoted. "CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that higher intake of soy foods and soy isoﬂavones is associated with lower sperm concentration" - "Soy food and isoﬂavone intake in relation to semen quality parameters among men from an infertility clinic" (2008) Criticism 3 Epidemiological studies are always subject to data mining, and tend to be suspect. They don't hold a candle to dietary interventions. My Conclusion: The methodology is weak, and newer studies refute the findings. Translation: does not support any claims that soy consumption is a good idea for humans. Study 2 Criticism 1 The studies referenced in this review were for 1, 2, and 2 months. Considering the study in the OP showed significant increases in T levels well beyond this timeframe, it is easy to see the weaknesses of reviews of such short duration studies. Criticism 2 Same as Criticism 2 above. My Conclusion: Study 2 seems sufficiently debunked. Study 3 Sorry, I'm bored with these junk soy propaganda studies. Their very existence in such weak form (while making such strong claims) is just more support for my political argument that agriculture is imperialism. It's like a redux of The China Study pap. Additional Studies Showing Lameness of Soy Multiple studies show soy contributing to reproductive problems (among other negative effects) in mice, and are theorized to be applicable to humans. However, human studies have proven difficult (ethical reasons, etc.). See: "Early Life Exposure to Isoflavones Adversely Affects Reproductive Health in First but Not Second Generation Female CD-1 Mice" The Journal of Nutrition (2011) "Early Exposure to Soy Isoflavones and Effects on Reproductive Health: A Review of Human and Animal Studies" Nutrients (2010) And in other news... "Prospective epidemiological studies for the evaluation of the effect of phytoestrogens alone, and in combination with other estrogenic chemicals, are lacking, yet possible adverse effects should not be taken lightly. - "Soy as an endocrine disruptor: cause for caution?" Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology & Metabolism (2010)

Evolvify : Weekly Recap - November 19, 2011

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:44:04 +0000

Tim, yes... this is probably a weird post without the context. Okay, it's maybe weird with the context. The pieces for my thinking are all out there -- scattered across the range of posts, but there isn't one that directly explains the things you ask about. That is a failing on my part, and is part of what I was alluding to in the "Suggestion Box" paragraph -- the part about diverging from my original vision. In addition to the 77Zero post I linked above, here are two frameworks that heavily influence my thoughts above... "The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book entitled Biophilia." and... Evolutionary Aesthetics which draws from Appleton's Prospect-Refuge Theory (sorry, I couldn't find a great free online reference), the work of Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, and Orians & Heerwagen. Biophilia and Evolutionary Aesthetics exist in relative isolation, outside the context of fitness/training. My thinking synthesizes them with the general principles of evolutionary psychology, human ethology, and more recent studies on human-environment interaction (relating to both human psychology and the efficacy in training in various environments. Erwan at MovNat and Frank Forencich of Exuberant Animal are probably the practitioners most closely aligned with my thinking -- though I diverge somewhat from both.

Evolvify : Vegan Diet with Soy Lowers Testosterone and Causes Erectile Dysfunction

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:00:45 +0000

This study mentions the relative amounts of isoflavones in the diet, but didn't specify total soy consumption via oils, etc. Average Western diet 2 mg/d Other soy studies ~150 mg/d This study ~360 mg/d That's [apparently] why they repeatedly emphasized the vegan thing. This guy was replacing basically all of his protein needs with soy. They don't mention it, but it's probably somewhat similar to the way I used to eat... using Morningstar farms soy-based fake sausage bullshit in place of real food, but... all the time. There's probably some insight here along the lines of dose-response. I'd speculate that the folks in the ~150 mg/d are experiencing some problems, but just not as acutely as this guy at the mega-dose range.

Evolvify : Vegan Diet with Soy Lowers Testosterone and Causes Erectile Dysfunction

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:32:29 +0000

"it appears that low free testosterone is a characteristic of type 1 diabetic men using insulin, regardless" Ahhh... I am totally late for other stuff... so again... quickly... this study mentions that specifically: "The medication of the present patient included insulin, ramipril, and atorvastatin. These substances are not known to affect the synthesis or activity of testosterone. It is therefore unlikely that his medication could have accounted for the alterations seen on the hormonal level." So... to these authors at least, it does not appear that insulin explains this effect.