Richard Robertson

A woman giving birth?  What kind of analogy is this?  Does she know who the father is?  Does she have a support structure?  Who is she giving birth to?  Are you just looking for an analogy for a painful process which has to happen?
Sounds to me like you’ve no idea about the variables of the birth process. Seriously, Michael, stick to what you kn…[Read more]

Davis wrote:
Basically it’s a two week vacation.

I’m jealous.

But I’m wondering if this will happen a few more times just for covid-19, while the whole world would have to clamp down in synchrony to slow it down. It’ll require a lot of infections before there’s significant herd immunity, unless it starts out and spreads throughout a country t…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Here is something that may lead to cure or treatment.

Interesting! The drug is called Camostat (something).

Just found a recent addition to a wikipedia article about it:

An in vitro study shows that Camostat reduces significantly the infection of Calu-3 lung cells by SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

Who’s Rosie Palm? Or whose?

From Dr. Seuss?

Who’s Dr. Seuss? Or whose?

I can only think of “pressure” and “inclusive fitness” as purely accidental, possibly emergent outcomes that just happen to increase fitness. The evolutionary sequence of exactly how that happens and is then reinforced by evolving genes is what we’re trying to understand here, right? All other inherited behavior must be cultural in nature, and is…[Read more]

I’m wondering if kids will eventually pose the largest risk of spread, and if grandparents should avoid them. At least religiously avoid each other in elder care facilities.

OK, dark science fiction here, but also wondering: In the long run, could the human race benefit from highly controlled infection parties? BYO chicken pox, too? And county…[Read more]

Take, for example, c. diff vs beneficial bacteria in the human gut. It’s well known now that the use of antibiotics can kill many of our beneficial gut bacteria. As a consequence, damaging bacteria such as c. diff can reproduce and take over, even causing death in the human host, unless and until beneficial bacteria can return and reproduce enough…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
Is sex the best thing ever?

I think I know what bonobos would say. But it doesn’t necessarily lead to offspring. Instinctive pleasure of sex here has been hijacked by evolution to promote social bonds, because enhanced social bonds (in this species and ours, at least) increases fitness. (And there I go, implying that Mother…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Find out about it here.

Thank you!

I hope this doesn’t come in too handy. So to speak.

Unseen wrote:
DJI closed -2117.45 today.

jakelafort wrote:
The corona and the market spell doom for Trump. That is a shame.

One can hope!!

My Corona:

Simon Paynton wrote:
Any time there’s competition, there’s a pressure to win, as a corollory.

Perhaps. Meanwhile…

How does the pressure to acquire resources translate into a pressure to reproduce?

Isn’t “pressure” to reproduce always there, regardless of resources? And wouldn’t faster reproduction eventually reduce the resources, regardless of…[Read more]

It sounds like a good question, but without researching this (and not having read enough of the right books, I’m embarrassed to admit): I don’t think “pressure” is an enlightening concept, or at least not until sophistication of nerve systems or brains that exhibit “agency” has been reached. Ditto for the word “selfish” for genes. I think I…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
dangerous nonsense like if you’re infected and feel up to it, you should go back to work

No way!? I hope he was speaking for himself, at least. 🙂

I’ll back off on my statement that people have been over-reacting with the hand sanitizer buyout. It’s much better than ignoring the warnings. But non-symptomatic people buying out the f…[Read more]