JoshuaZ comments on Consequentialism Need Not Be Nearsighted - Less Wrong

53 Post author: orthonormal 02 September 2011 07:37AM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 27 September 2011 02:58:19AM *  3 points [-]

I'm not completely sure what you are trying to say. I agree they could potentially evolve such an attitude if the selection pressure was high enough.

But evolution doesn't work like a chess player. Evolution does what works in the short term, blindly having the most successful alleles push forward to the next generation. If there were a chess analogy, evolution would be like a massive chess board with millions of players and each player making whatever move looks best at a quick glance, and then there are a few hundred thousand players who just move randomly.

Comment author: markrkrebs 27 September 2011 10:17:16AM 1 point [-]

Good point.. Easy to imagine a lot of biologically good designs getting left unexpressed because the first move is less optimal.