@b5cdaf1a @52038023 … and it seems sometimes it merges back into other branches. 

 @b5cdaf1a How come the ones that look like they're having fun are all dead? 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 

That article going around about the population bottleneck of a thousand individuals doesn't necessarily indicate that at the time they were only a thousand people it's just that those thousand people went on to reproduce But there were several communities that did not contribute to the current homo sapiens genetic code, or am I demonstrating a terrible understanding of statistics or the material in particular? 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 @88dcfa17 it’s more like “The Distraction of Shiny Stuff”, watch as those who came before us chased mindlessly in what ever direction they felt like. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 @beed9e06 It's adaptation. Non-linear. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 But I mean if you follow our specific lineage back in time... 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 “Progress” itself is troublesome because it suggests some advances to some goal. Evolution is undirected. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 

Really upset we didn't continue the path of the dancing monkey 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 

I learned a lot from listening to this podcast recently, particularly about how early primates had a presence in places like Wyoming breaking the frame a bit of the 'humans came from Africa story'

https://spore.social/@presandberg/110829092392696676 

 @b5cdaf1a I saw SJ Gould make this point in a talk once, and he had a great parody image -- wish I could find it -- in which after achieving upright posture the creatures, inevitably, begin to lean backwards, ultimately crawling belly-up. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 Lots of times, "evolutionary psychology" is not about biological selection, but a highly skewed version of social evolution with ideological intent. Here is a recent example https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/evolutionary-human-sciences/article/use-and-misuse-of-evolutionary-psychology-in-online-manosphere-communities-the-case-of-female-mating-strategies/19522B41CF67DFF9F66D919E1F843CCC
Another question I have is "Why are evolutionary psychologists so concerned about mating behavior? I get that you have to mate to pass on genes, but is there a lack of other trendy topics?" 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 
I like that we have the one cousin that danced. But we got to be on The Joyless Branch. 😆 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023  i think this  might be more appropriate

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/030/819/007/460/460/original/c48673a8dc9db24e.jpg 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 
I hate the "March of progress" images for precisely this reason. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 

Small pet peeve of mine is how the language of "x group evolved towards y" makes it seem Lamarckian - like "they needed it, so they grew it". 

Even though we get taught genetic variability & natural selection at school, I have so many acquaintances that default or slip back into Lamarck when they should know better, and I genuinely think a big part of it is the language. 

Species don't "evolve X" in any such direct way! 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 I like to imagine that the one strolling off on a branch solo is wearing cargo shorts. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 And even this is rather simplified and severely cropped.

There also isn't really an actual "missing link." 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 the illustration is a great way to make a point.

You could also go one step further and cover the rest of the space in dead bodies..

Only half joking 😅 people seem to shy away from the fact that evolution requires a lot of death to work. 

 @b5cdaf1a @52038023 chaotic 

 @b5cdaf1a NOW you tell me! 🧜‍♂️