RobinHanson comments on On the Power of Intelligence and Rationality - Less Wrong

13 Post author: alyssavance 23 December 2009 10:49AM

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Comment author: alyssavance 23 December 2009 09:34:52PM 1 point [-]

"I'm 0.9 sure mammoths weren't predators. Do you have evidence for your claim?"

Nope, it appears that you are right. Saber-toothed tigers work just as well, though.

Comment author: Sebastian_Hagen 23 December 2009 10:03:38PM *  2 points [-]

And for that matter, driving mammoths to extinction is no mean feat either (though it was probably not just pressure from human hunting - apparently we got help from climate changes). Herbivores have been optimized to limit their risk from predation, and for the heavier ones (which can't hope to outrun a predator) those adaptions usually involve fighting back. Them not being naturally aggressive doesn't mean it's trivial to bring one down.