Angry and Red: Color as Emotion | Mark Changizi | EP 502

30 Nov 2024 (18 days ago)
Angry and Red: Color as Emotion | Mark Changizi | EP 502

Coming up (0s)

  • When a thin object, such as a finger, is held up in front of someone, it can create a visual effect where two semi-transparent copies of the finger are seen, unless the person has a dominant eye (8s).
  • The reason for seeing two copies is that each eye is seeing a different view of the world, with one eye seeing the object and the other eye seeing the world beyond it (18s).
  • The brain combines the two views and creates a perception of semi-transparency, allowing the person to understand what is happening and not be confused by the double image (27s).
  • This visual effect is a result of the brain's evolution to handle conflicting visual information from the two eyes (19s).

Intro (30s)

  • A book titled "We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine" has been published and is currently number one on Amazon, with a corresponding tour starting in November and continuing through April, with more information available at jordanbpeterson.com (50s).
  • The book and tour focus on biblical stories, aiming to explain their meaning and how understanding them can make a practical difference in one's life, bridging the gap between abstraction and reality (1m23s).
  • Mark Changizi, an author of the book "Expressly Human" and other works, was interviewed due to shared interests in evolutionary biology and psychology, particularly regarding perception, emotion, language, and mass group behavior (1m55s).
  • Mark Changizi's work as an evolutionary biologist and psychologist focuses on the function of evolved traits like perception, including a unique explanation for the evolution of color vision (2m23s).
  • According to Mark Changizi, color vision may have evolved not primarily to detect ripe fruit, but to better attend to emotional signals displayed by people, such as changes in facial circulation and skin tone, allowing for detection of signs of health or ill health and emotional displays (2m40s).
  • The discussion with Mark Changizi covers topics including evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, emotion, language, communication, and the behavior of mass groups (3m16s).

Hypotheses of evolution, design and the woke rejection of teleology (3m25s)

  • The discussion begins with the topic of perception, specifically visual perception, which has been studied extensively in the fields of mathematics, cognitive science, and evolutionary biology (3m27s).
  • Research has led to discoveries about various aspects of human biology, such as why humans have a specific number of fingers and why animals have a certain number of limbs (4m0s).
  • The study of evolutionary biology has also revealed that certain physical characteristics, such as pruny fingers, have evolved to serve specific purposes, like providing optimal traction in wet conditions (4m5s).
  • The concept of design in evolutionary biology is often misunderstood, with some scientists rejecting the idea of design altogether, rather than acknowledging that design can be explained through natural selection without the need for a master designer (5m23s).
  • This rejection of design is not limited to human behavior and psychology but is also seen in the study of other biological phenomena, such as the morphology of rain treads on fingers (5m58s).
  • To study design in evolutionary biology, researchers must use different approaches, such as deriving predictions about optimal morphology or examining the conditions under which certain characteristics occur (6m15s).
  • For example, if pruny fingers are designed to be rain treads, researchers can predict what the optimal morphology should look like and test whether this characteristic occurs only in animals that live in wet conditions (6m20s).
  • There are different kinds of predictions that can be made in the study of evolution, including phylogenetic, morphological, and behavioral predictions, but mechanism-based experiments are often not feasible, and researchers have to rely on other approaches (6m41s).
  • In some far-left communities, the concept of natural selection is rejected, which is a bizarre phenomenon, and there may be various reasons for this rejection (7m6s).
  • One possible reason for the rejection of natural selection is the far-left's radical social constructionism, which posits that everything is infinitely malleable and that there is no essential human nature (7m46s).
  • This social constructionism may be driven by an intellectual arrogance that assumes everything can be modified to fit a particular philosophical ideology (8m15s).
  • Another possible reason for the rejection of natural selection is the idea that acknowledging human nature or instinct would undermine the notion that humans are infinitely malleable and subject to social and political manipulation (9m1s).
  • The rejection of natural selection and the concept of purpose may also be related to a desire to reject the idea of an ultimate designer or a higher power, as well as to avoid any implicit responsibility that comes with acknowledging purpose or meaning (9m51s).
  • The idea that everything is meaningless and purposeless can be used as a rationalization for short-term hedonistic and power-mad behavior, as it allows individuals to do whatever they want without feeling responsible for their actions (10m15s).
  • Evolutionary biologists often focus on mechanistic experiments and neglect the importance of understanding design and purpose, which is crucial for comprehending any machine, including living organisms (10m25s).
  • The lack of consideration for design and purpose may stem from a knee-jerk reaction against understanding machines in terms of their intended function, despite the fact that mechanisms cannot be fully understood without understanding their purpose (11m5s).
  • The example of finding a stapler and trying to understand its mechanisms without knowing its purpose illustrates the limitations of solely focusing on mechanisms, as there are many possible interpretations of its function (11m12s).
  • To truly understand a machine or living organism, it is necessary to consider its mechanisms in the context of its function, which involves understanding the computational, algorithmic, and mechanistic implementation levels (11m58s).
  • The biblical text, particularly the teachings of Christ, can be seen as a source of wisdom and transformation, offering insights into human nature and the importance of seeking virtue and righteousness (12m30s).
  • The parable of the virtuous person who is often overlooked can be seen as an example of the importance of seeking first the kingdom and righteousness, and trusting that all other things will be added (12m55s).
  • The ideology that has supplanted Christianity has done good for humanity, but it is also important to acknowledge the value of Christianity as a model for human behavior and a source of wisdom (13m16s).
  • Christ can be seen as the embodiment of the temple, the Torah, and the example of what humans ought to become, offering a safe and guiding presence for those who are seeking wisdom and transformation (13m36s).
  • The concept of love and wisdom is discussed, highlighting the importance of balancing both, as attempting wisdom without love or love without wisdom can lead to going radically wrong (13m46s).
  • The phrase "power of love" is mentioned, acknowledging its potential to sound cliché, reminiscent of the 1960s (13m47s).
  • The current time and text being discussed are described as peculiar, with the hope that the task at hand can be successfully accomplished (13m59s).

The Metaphysical Club, pragmatism and perception (14m11s)

  • The concept of perception is closely tied to pragmatic philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of function and purpose in determining truth, with the pragmatist definition of truth being essentially functional (14m13s).
  • The Metaphysical Club in Cambridge at the turn of the 19th century, which included William James and others, was influenced by Darwin and developed the pragmatic philosophy that focused on function and effectiveness (14m20s).
  • Pragmatic models of perception, such as those inspired by James Gibson's ecological perception, suggest that what we perceive is not just facts, but rather functions and pathways to desired destinations, tools, and obstacles (15m36s).
  • Gibson's work views vision as a navigation aid, and this perspective is particularly evident in the case of vision, which is seen as a means of facilitating movement forward and avoiding obstacles (16m47s).
  • The concept of ecological perception, as described by Gibson, emphasizes the importance of understanding the natural environment and the functions that vision and other mechanisms serve in that environment (17m8s).
  • The development of color vision in primates, including humans, is an example of ecological perception, with the third dimension of color vision (red-green) being unique to some primates and serving a specific function (17m38s).
  • The traditional explanation for the evolution of color vision, which suggests that it is related to finding fruits in the forest, is not supported by evidence, and the actual function of color vision remains unclear (17m55s).
  • The distribution of cone sensitivities in the human eye, with two cones sensitive to low wavelengths and a third cone sensitive to a slightly different wavelength, is unusual and may be related to the specific function of color vision (18m41s).
  • The peculiar distribution of cone sensitivities in the human eye, with the third cone sensitivity being very close to the second one, suggests that color vision may serve a specific function that is not yet fully understood (19m0s).

Our eyes read emotional signals via blood oxygenation under the skin (19m18s)

  • Human emotions, such as blushing and blanching, are signaled through changes in blood oxygenation under the skin, which is visible due to the oxygenation and deoxygenation of hemoglobin (19m20s).
  • The spectrum of hemoglobin has a unique shape, with a "W" peak when oxygenated and a "U" peak when deoxygenated, requiring two cones to sense the difference in oxygenation (19m45s).
  • The positioning of human cones in the retina coincides with the exact spots needed to detect the oxygenation and deoxygenation of hemoglobin, allowing for the perception of emotions through skin color (20m21s).
  • The standard theories of trichromatic perception suggest that the close proximity of the color spectra in the electromagnetic spectrum makes distinguishing between them unnecessary, but this is challenged by the ability to detect differences in oxygenation (20m29s).
  • The ability to detect differences in oxygenation is associated with the enhanced ability to detect emotional displays, such as blushing and blanching, making primate color vision an empathic sense (21m0s).
  • Color vision allows for the visibility of veins and the distinction between oxygenated and deoxygenated parts of the skin, which is invisible to those who are colorblind (21m10s).
  • Colorblind individuals, including doctors, have reported difficulties in detecting blood-related symptoms and distinguishing between blood and stool, highlighting the importance of color vision in medical diagnosis (21m19s).
  • Research on the relationship between color vision and facial emotional processing in colorblind individuals is limited, but it is hypothesized that colorblind individuals may have difficulties detecting emotional signals, such as facial flushing (21m40s).
  • A potential experiment to test this hypothesis involves rapid presentation of angry faces to colorblind individuals to assess their ability to detect the difference between angry and non-angry faces (22m11s).
  • Cameras and TVs do not show color vision as they lack the third receptivity needed to sense oxygenation modulation, making it an experimental problem to capture the full range of human color vision (22m45s).
  • The "glow of Youth" refers to the glowing of oxygenated blood in the skin, which is not fully captured by cameras and is a marker of health and fertility (23m16s).
  • One theory is that color vision evolved to detect signs of fecundity and health, which are associated with enhanced fertility, and are perceived as feminine beauty (23m38s).
  • The flush of Youth is not just a simple on or off signal, but rather a gradient of colors on the face and body that can indicate different emotions and health states (24m5s).
  • The colors associated with health and fertility are not just red, but also include yellow, blue, and purple, which can be created by variations in blood concentration and oxygenation (24m33s).
  • The combination of concentration variations and oxygenation can produce a wide range of hues, which is why painters often use a variety of colors to depict human faces (24m56s).
  • Human skin is not a uniform color, but rather a dynamic and transparent surface that reflects the state and function of the individual's health, which is often read subconsciously (25m31s).
  • The theory of color vision as health detection is not mutually exclusive with the theory of color vision as emotion detection, and it is possible that color vision serves both purposes (25m50s).
  • A conversation is taking place, and the topic of making a separate case for emotion is being discussed (26m0s).
  • The conversation is ongoing, and the speaker is asking for clarification or expansion on the topic of emotion (26m2s).

Honest signals: Why we blush (26m5s)

  • The evolution of human eyes is shaped to be maximally visually evident to perceivers, allowing people to easily determine where someone's eyes are pointed, even from a distance, which is crucial for understanding intent and avoiding misunderstandings (26m5s).
  • The white background and colored iris in the black pupil of the human eye maximize the degree to which eyes are salient, making it easier for others to infer attention and understand intentions (26m50s).
  • The relationship between perception, color vision, and emotion perception is strong, with cues of health and fecundity associated with skin coloration, and emotional cues associated with differences in color, such as blushing and flushing (27m32s).
  • Blushing and flushing are not just automatic side effects, but rather signals that serve a purpose, such as indicating embarrassment or anger, and can be specific responses, like blushing more on the side of the face facing an audience (28m21s).
  • The color red is associated with anger, but can also be a signal of embarrassment, and people can differentiate between the two, highlighting the complexity of emotional cues associated with color (28m6s).
  • The organization Pre-born Ministry is making a difference by providing free ultrasounds to mothers, allowing them to see and hear their developing child, and make informed decisions about their future (28m44s).
  • Blushing is a complex phenomenon that signifies self-conscious shame, and it is an honest signal because it is out of one's control, indicating that a person is the sort who can't get away with violating social norms (30m4s).
  • Honest signals, a technical term, refer to signals that one has no control over and wear their meaning on their sleeve, such as blushing, genuine laughter, and genuine smiles (30m31s).
  • Genuine smiles are distinct from false smiles, as the eyes don't smile in the latter, although it is possible to train oneself to smile falsely (30m52s).
  • Rapid onset implicit emotional displays, such as blushing and genuine smiles, signal one's genuine motivations, making it easier for others to read and engage in trusting negotiations (31m12s).
  • The theory predicts that primates with color vision should have more naked spots, such as bare faces, and this is indeed the case, as primates with color vision often have naked faces, rumps, and genitalia, which serve as signals (31m47s).
  • In contrast, primates without color vision tend to have furry faces, and nakedness and color vision are opposite sides of the same coin (32m6s).

Multipurpose evolutions, the principle driver for forward-facing eyes (32m13s)

  • The evolution of trichromatic vision may have been driven by the need to detect emotions, rather than just to find food sources, as suggested by the frugivore theory (32m15s).
  • The middle and long wavelength sensitive cones in the human eye are too close together to have been driven solely by the need to detect fruit, suggesting that there may be another explanation for their evolution (32m46s).
  • Color vision is used for a variety of purposes beyond just detecting emotions or finding food, including in culture and for empathic and health-related senses (32m54s).
  • Evolutionary explanations for human attributes often assume a single function, but it's possible that many attributes serve multiple purposes (33m12s).
  • The hand is an example of a multi-purpose attribute, and it's difficult to identify a single cardinal purpose for it (33m31s).
  • While many biological phenomena may be multi-purpose, it's often the case that one function is the primary driver of its evolution, with other functions being secondary or tertiary (33m52s).
  • The example of forward-facing eyes is given, where the standard explanation is that they evolved for predators, but many predators, such as fish and birds, have sideways-facing eyes (34m27s).
  • The variability in eye orientation across mammals suggests that there may be multiple explanations for the evolution of forward-facing eyes, including stereoscopic vision and panoramic vision (35m10s).
  • The trade-off between stereoscopic vision and panoramic vision is highlighted, with humans having chosen to sacrifice some of their visual field for better stereoscopy (35m34s).
  • The concept of balancing competing senses, such as stereoscopy and other 3D senses, is discussed, with the argument that stereoscopy is the least important 3D sense and often loses to other cues in perception psychology experiments (35m46s).
  • There are multiple 3D senses, including stereoscopy, object recognition, distance perception, and occlusions, which can provide information about the environment (36m14s).
  • Perception psychologists create stimuli with competing cues to test which one is more important, and stereoscopy often loses to other cues (36m34s).
  • The idea that stereoscopy is not essential for 3D perception is supported by the fact that people can play immersive first-person shooter video games with one eye or with both eyes open but seeing only one image on screen (36m50s).
  • The reason for forward-facing eyes is to see better in cluttered environments, such as forests with leaves, and to be able to see beyond objects that are blocking the view (37m32s).
  • When eyes are more widely separated than the distance between objects in the environment, such as leaves, it can create a kind of "x-ray" vision, allowing the animal to see beyond the objects (38m44s).
  • The brain has evolved to combine the images from both eyes and create semi-transparency, allowing the animal to see beyond objects that are blocking the view (38m11s).
  • The inter-pupillary distance, or the separation between the eyes, plays a role in determining how well an animal can see beyond objects in its environment (38m36s).
  • The human visual system is designed to see the environment beyond clutter, such as bushes, without having to move, unlike in video games where the character's view is limited when hiding in a bush (38m48s).
  • In real life, being in a bush allows a person to see the entire world outside of it, and this ability is due to the design of the human visual system (39m10s).
  • The human visual system is capable of seeing perfectly well beyond clutter without having to move, but this comes at the cost of losing sight of what's behind (39m22s).
  • The extent to which an animal can see its environment depends on its eye placement and the environment it inhabits, with forward-facing eyes being more common in animals that live in cluttered environments (39m27s).
  • A calculation of the environment that can be seen by a forward-facing animal with large eyes, such as a human, versus an animal with a panoramic view, such as a rabbit, shows that the human can see up to 3.5 times more of the world in a two-dimensional grid (39m42s).
  • However, when considering a three-dimensional grid and the sphere packing problem, the human can see only the front half of its sphere, but can see six spheres in front of it fully, resulting in being able to see 6.5 times more of the environment (40m0s).
  • Simple models of forested environments show that humans can see almost an order of magnitude more of their environment than animals with less forward-facing eyes (40m21s).
  • The extent to which an animal's eyes are forward-facing depends on its environment, with animals in cluttered environments having more forward-facing eyes (40m35s).
  • This principle can explain the variability in eye placement across mammals, with the degree of forward-facing eyes being correlated with the extent to which they inhabit cluttered environments (40m46s).

Apes and micro-niches (40m51s)

  • The evolution of forward-facing eyes occurred while humans were still in primarily arboreal environments, similar to those of chimpanzees, who are also primarily in arboreal environments (40m51s).
  • Even when animals share the same habitat, they can find micro-niches, such as cats that prefer cluttered areas to wait for prey, and gazelles that avoid cluttered areas due to poor visibility (41m19s).
  • Animals that are good at navigating clutter will find and leverage cluttered spots within their habitats, even if the habitat does not initially appear cluttered (41m38s).
  • The discussion is interrupted by an advertisement for Birch Gold Group, which offers a service to convert IRAs or 401Ks into physical gold IRAs, emphasizing the importance of having a safe haven for savings in uncertain times (41m44s).
  • Birch Gold Group is promoted as a trustworthy service, having been the exclusive gold partner of the Daily Wire for eight years, and offering a free 1oz Silver Eagle for every $55,000 purchased during a promotional period (42m15s).

The optimal language for negotiation does not require speech, confidence vs. competence (42m47s)

  • The evolution of language is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back several hundred thousand years, and is scaffolded on an underlying structure of emotional display and emotional language (42m59s).
  • Human faces are primarily emotional display mechanisms, allowing people to read a tremendous amount about the intent and desire of others by reading off emotions (43m30s).
  • Language evolved with emotional display as its underlying set of axiomatic presumptions, allowing people to share a psychophysiological platform and experiences, and use words to refer to those experiences (44m17s).
  • Emotions are the axioms of linguistic capacity, similar to object perceptions, and are a fundamental aspect of human communication (44m39s).
  • Emotions are states that feel like something and motivate certain behaviors, and are present in all animals, not just social ones (45m0s).
  • Social animals signal emotions to one another to carry out negotiations and compromises, and to come to agreements (45m27s).
  • The optimal language or stimulus signaling system for social animals would allow them to negotiate and come to decisions without necessarily using words (45m42s).
  • An example of coming to a decision without words is playing poker, where people can negotiate and agree on something without discussing it (46m1s).
  • Emotions and emotional language are essential for human communication and are the foundation upon which language has evolved (44m42s).
  • In situations where there's a potential conflict, such as in poker, individuals can solve the issue without directly communicating by using signals like betting chips to convey confidence or humility (46m22s).
  • By staking something, individuals can signal their confidence level, and the other person can respond accordingly, allowing them to come to an agreement without explicit communication (46m36s).
  • This process of signaling confidence or humility is essential in negotiation, as it helps individuals avoid conflicts and make their lives smoother in terms of utility (47m18s).
  • Signaling pride or confidence involves staking social capital or reputation, while signaling humility involves pulling back or showing respect (47m34s).
  • The ability to make both strong and weak claims, or show pride and humility, is crucial in negotiation, as it allows individuals to work out their differences and come to an agreement (48m3s).
  • Acknowledging the other person's claims is also essential, as it allows individuals to respond accordingly and negotiate effectively (48m14s).
  • Confidence can be seen as a signal of competence, but it's essential to consider why someone should accept another person's confidence as a signal of their ability (48m36s).
  • One reason to accept someone's confidence is if their evaluation of the situation is sufficient, and their emotional state is not being challenged by anxiety or other emotions (48m54s).
  • The emotion of confidence can be read on a person's face, allowing others to infer that they have undertaken the necessary internal computations to convince themselves they are correct (49m11s).
  • These signals and negotiations can occur without conscious thought, as humans have evolved to use these signals instinctively, similar to how color vision works (49m30s).
  • Implicit signals are often effective when people are not consciously thinking them through, and this is evident in social communities where individuals care about their reputation and the potential for humiliation if they are wrong (49m34s).
  • In social communities, reputational exchanges are cumulative across time, and individuals are instinctively designed to think they are part of a single community, which is why cooperation and niceness can sometimes work even in one-off interactions (50m20s).
  • This instinctive behavior can lead to people being nice to others, such as baristas, even when they could be jerks, because they are part of a larger social community (50m43s).
  • However, this behavior can be more problematic in bigger cities where there are fewer interactions with the same people, leading to potential troubles (50m52s).

An emergent pattern of ethos: rat play, poker, and reciprocal interaction (50m57s)

  • Research on animal behavior, specifically rat play, has led to the discovery that the purpose of play is not dominance, but rather reciprocity, as rats need to let each other win a certain percentage of the time to maintain social interaction (52m36s).
  • This concept of reciprocity is also observed in chimpanzee studies by FR De Waal, where stable alpha chimps are not necessarily the strongest, but those who are good at continuous reciprocity, leading to more harmonious social troops (53m58s).
  • The idea of reciprocity is linked to the concept of social capital, where making claims of confidence requires staking something, and being wrong can damage one's reputation, making it essential to be relatively certain before making such claims (54m39s).
  • This concept is similar to the idea of natural law in philosophy, where a pattern of ethos emerges as a consequence of iterated exchange, and is associated with the idea that there is a fundamental and minimal signaling system that governs social organization (51m8s).
  • The discovery that rats need to let each other win a certain percentage of the time to maintain social interaction is attributed to Yach PP, and is considered a remarkable and brilliant discovery that shows reciprocity is the basis for social organization (52m46s).
  • The concept of reciprocity is also observed in human behavior, where making claims of confidence requires staking social capital, and being wrong can damage one's reputation, making it essential to be relatively certain before making such claims (54m24s).
  • In order for two creatures to engage in conversations that involve staking and negotiation, they need to have a four-dimensional space of signals, which is exactly what humans have with their 81 emotional expressions (55m16s).
  • The optimal way to use these emotional expressions is similar to playing poker, where there's more than one way to play, and the most complicated game that exists is poker with no limits (55m28s).
  • One way to play poker is to never be more confident than your actual levels of confidence, build up a reputation over time, and help others build up their reputations through reciprocity (55m40s).
  • Another way to rise to the top is to be a "chip bully," but this approach is probably fragile in the long run (56m9s).
  • The language needed for social animals to communicate and stake things without language is exactly the space of emotional expressions that humans have (56m20s).
  • Emotional expressions are the basis for establishing cooperative endeavors and regulating competitive endeavors to prevent catastrophe (56m35s).
  • Emotional displays are likely optimized for solving the problem of cooperation and competition, and this optimization is related to the study of ethics and the optimization of reproductive strategy (56m58s).
  • The strategy used in social interactions, like poker, depends on the number of times you'll interact with the same people, and social currency is often spendable only within a particular community (57m44s).
  • The analysis of reciprocal interactions is a powerful tool for understanding human behavior, and economists have traditionally done a poor job of analyzing these interactions by assuming people are rational maximizers with a short time frame (58m14s).
  • A famous behavioral experiment shows that people tend to make fair offers, such as a 50/50 split, even when it's not the most rational decision, demonstrating that people prioritize reputation and social relationships over self-optimization (58m40s).
  • Reputation is crucial for social animals, and it's essential to manage one's reputation to maintain social harmony and cooperation (59m19s).
  • Among hunter-gatherer groups, successful hunters follow rules to avoid provoking jealousy and maintain cooperation, such as distributing the best cuts of meat and downplaying their contribution (1h0m11s).
  • These rules help store the results of a successful hunt in the hunter's reputation, which is a valuable currency that can lead to reciprocity and support in times of need (1h0m45s).
  • This concept of storing treasure in reputation is similar to the idea of storing treasure in heaven, as mentioned in the gospel accounts, where it's safe from decay and can lead to future benefits (1h1m5s).
  • Having a good reputation in a stable social group increases the likelihood of receiving help and support when needed, making it a valuable asset (1h1m23s).

The emergence of language as a marketplace for emotional cues (1h1m35s)

  • The relationship between emotion and language is that emotions are used to signal strategies in reciprocal interaction, allowing for optimal structuring of these interactions (1h1m36s).
  • Language is often viewed as having a rigorous grammar and propositions, with emotions added as a secondary aspect, but it's actually the other way around – language is primarily composed of emotional expressions (1h2m17s).
  • Even in modern forms of communication like Twitter and texting, language is ultimately about conveying emotional expressions in complex ways, often using tools like gifs and memes (1h2m21s).
  • The use of gifs and memes is a way of expressing archetypal emotions and getting them across to others (1h2m38s).
  • Most of what people do in communication is pushing in "social capital chips" by expressing opinions, agreeing or disagreeing with others, and betting on the validity of propositions using social capital (1h2m54s).
  • This process can be viewed as a betting market on the validity of propositions, with social capital serving as the currency (1h3m10s).
  • The concept of free speech can be seen as a marketplace of ideas, where social capital is used as a decentralized currency to facilitate the exchange of ideas (1h3m16s).
  • Social capital is a decentralized currency, allowing for the free exchange of ideas in this marketplace (1h3m25s).

There is no ledger for social capital, condensed narratives (1h3m33s)

  • Decentralized currencies, such as Bitcoin, are not controlled by a single entity or bank, and instead, rely on a network of computers to record transactions in a public ledger called a blockchain (1h3m33s).
  • The blockchain is an unfalsifiable record of all transactions that have taken place, making it practically impossible to alter the history of transactions (1h3m56s).
  • The decentralized nature of these currencies requires a system like blockchain to prevent individuals from altering the record of transactions, such as claiming they did not send money when they actually did (1h4m26s).
  • Social narratives serve a similar purpose in human social groups, allowing individuals to keep track of social capital and remember important events, such as arguments or conflicts (1h5m12s).
  • These social narratives are often spread through gossip, which is typically done by high-ranked reputation individuals in the community who have a vested interest in maintaining the validity of the social narrative (1h6m7s).
  • Gossip can be an effective way to preserve the accuracy of social narratives, but it can be challenging to create good gossip that elegantly explains complex events (1h6m30s).
  • Individuals who are skilled at gossip can be seen as equivalent to "miners" in a blockchain system, as they help to validate and add new information to the social narrative (1h5m43s).
  • Proof of stake, a concept from blockchain, can be applied to social narratives, where individuals with high reputation or social capital have a greater influence on the narrative (1h5m47s).
  • Social narratives can be thought of as a decentralized system for tracking social capital, similar to how blockchain is a decentralized system for tracking financial transactions (1h5m8s).
  • Social narratives can be compared to proof of work, which is difficult to create but easy to verify, and have been used for hundreds of thousands of years to establish reputation currency that can be preserved over time (1h6m54s).
  • These social narratives can be likened to blockchain, as they are decentralized and have properties that make them difficult to alter once established (1h7m32s).
  • A downside of these social narratives is that they can perpetuate false information and create permanent mistakes that can last for generations (1h7m20s).
  • An example of a permanent mistake in a social narrative is the false notion that Jews are an evil group that controls and manipulates others, which originated over 2,000 years ago and still persists today (1h7m50s).
  • Despite the potential downsides, social narratives are necessary for reputation systems and social interactions to function, and are essential for the Public Square and social interactions to work (1h8m9s).

Anonymous signaling and digital identity (1h8m14s)

  • Online anonymity can lead to a more psychopathic and impulsive style of responding, as people are shielded from reputational consequences of their actions (1h8m15s).
  • In real-life interactions, people often emotionally signal to each other, even when they don't know one another, and this is facilitated by a full range of soci-emotional interactions and embodied environment (1h9m42s).
  • Online, the lack of a full range of soci-emotional interactions and embodied environment can lead to difficulties in getting along, despite the presence of emotional expressions and habits (1h10m1s).
  • On Facebook, where people often know each other in real life, they can still be mean and vicious to one another in online interactions, suggesting that anonymity is not the only factor at play (1h10m31s).
  • Having a stable notion of identity that extends over time is crucial for soci-emotional expression and interaction, whether online or offline (1h10m55s).
  • Pseudonyms can be effective online identities, as they can be stable and allow individuals to build a reputation over time, even if their real-life identity is unknown (1h11m7s).
  • There is a distinction between anonymity and low reputation, as individuals with pseudonymous identities can still have a real reputation and be considered "real people" in the online community (1h11m28s).
  • In some cases, a pseudonymous online identity can even trump a person's real-life identity, especially if they have a large following online (1h11m39s).
  • People who are jobless and living with their parents can have a large following online and care about their reputation, which can be ruined if they say something that offends their followers, making continuity over time important for their online presence (1h11m50s).
  • Pseudonyms are fine as long as they are stable and extend across time, allowing a person to build a reputation that is subject to the same regulating forces as a genuine identity (1h12m7s).
  • There is no necessary relationship between the use of a pseudonym and pathology, and some pseudonymous accounts can be of high quality (1h12m33s).
  • For most people, having their real name online is abstract and practically amounts to a pseudonym, as it's unlikely to have real-life consequences (1h12m45s).
  • The possibility of being discovered is always present, but it's not a significant concern for most people (1h13m1s).
  • The focus should be on non-reputationally significant pseudonymous accounts, rather than those that are well-known and have a lot to lose (1h13m11s).

Reading the comments, a lack of consequences polarizes the conversation (1h13m21s)

  • Evaluating online comments can provide insight into how people respond to material and the tone of the social world around a given topic, but the lack of consequences for anonymous or low-reputation accounts can polarize discussions in a counterproductive manner (1h13m22s).
  • The distribution of attitudes around a topic can be skewed by extreme attitudes that are emotionally amplified and not punished, leading to an exaggeration of longtail distribution opinions that may not occur in face-to-face social interactions (1h14m16s).
  • Anonymous or low-reputation accounts with few followers can cause havoc in online discussions, but may not be taken seriously, and social media platforms may implement mechanisms to hide or downplay their contributions (1h15m10s).
  • The lack of face-to-face emotional display in online interactions can contribute to the polarization of discussions, but social media platforms have evolved to include more emotional expressions and responses, such as likes, dislikes, and emojis (1h16m32s).
  • Online interactions often involve emotional responses, such as showing confidence or disdain, and designers of social media platforms may need to consider these dynamics when optimizing online public spaces (1h16m52s).
  • The public square in the physical world has traditionally been hierarchical, with local spots for argument and debate, and online public spaces may self-organize into similar hierarchies, with representative democracy-like structures emerging (1h17m36s).
  • Social media platforms like Twitter may already be self-organizing into hierarchical structures, with influential users and representatives emerging, and designers may need to consider these dynamics when optimizing online public spaces (1h17m45s).

Bot farms, moderation, and online criminality (1h18m4s)

  • The algorithms behind online platforms are not fully understood, and their methods of weighing discourse can be unclear, potentially leading to the amplification of certain viewpoints that wouldn't normally rise to the top (1h18m8s).
  • Anonymous troll types with no followers should have little effect on online discussions, unless algorithms accidentally augment their influence, or they make up for their lack of following with sheer volume (1h18m56s).
  • These anonymous trolls often exhibit a pattern of communication characterized by resentment and derision, and can be relatively interchangeable (1h19m9s).
  • Bot farms that create bots to leverage and hack systems can be a concern, as they can create tens of thousands of comments that end up boosting the wrong content (1h19m21s).
  • Online platforms must be aware of these issues and adapt to prevent the manipulation of their algorithms, but it's an ongoing evolutionary arms race (1h19m48s).
  • A significant portion of online activity is estimated to be criminal or quasi-criminal, with around 25% being pornographic and 20% being outright criminal, and an additional 5-10% being pathological troll types (1h20m24s).
  • This online activity may be a devolution to a more primitive form of human interaction, similar to the Wild West, due to the lack of established rules and law-governed societies (1h20m43s).
  • The removal of social cues and the abstraction of communication patterns online may have contributed to the loss of systems that regulate social behavior, making it more difficult to regulate online interactions (1h21m4s).
  • Online interactions often lack the emotional and behavioral cues present in real-life interactions, leading to differences in how people express themselves and respond to others (1h21m38s).
  • In real-life interactions, factors such as age and physical presence can influence how people behave towards one another, with younger men often showing more deference to older men (1h21m48s).
  • The absence of physical consequences for one's words online can lead to a lack of accountability and a greater willingness to engage in aggressive or inflammatory behavior (1h22m47s).
  • In public spaces, the risk of physical confrontation can regulate male communication and encourage more thoughtful and respectful interactions (1h22m49s).
  • The "call" or risk of confrontation serves as a check on behavior, encouraging individuals to avoid escalating conflicts and instead seek to resolve disputes through negotiation and compromise (1h23m2s).
  • Emotional expressions and signaling can be used to avoid conflict and maintain social harmony, with individuals using various tactics such as bluffing and posturing to achieve their goals without resorting to violence (1h23m15s).
  • Different domains of interaction, such as reputational and physical, involve different types of stakes and risks, with individuals weighing the potential costs and benefits of their actions in each context (1h24m22s).
  • Anxiety and other emotional responses can serve as mechanisms for avoiding conflict and maintaining psychological and physiological integrity (1h24m46s).
  • Pain signifies actual physical damage, while anxiety represents the threat of that damage (1h24m49s).
  • Negotiation is grounded in something like willingness to contend physically, which can be signaled through various means (1h25m0s).
  • Many people bluff during negotiations, but this bluffing is only effective if there is a reality behind it that makes the bluff credible (1h25m10s).
  • People often check each other out during negotiations to determine whether a bluff is pointless or not (1h25m24s).
  • A bluff is pointless if the reality behind it is not present at some level (1h25m19s).

Broad ability to read is incredibly recent, the evolution of writing, speech, and music (1h25m32s)

  • Human language, writing, music, and other aspects that make us "human 2.0" were not directly evolved, but rather developed through cultural evolution, as discussed in the book "Vision Revolution" (1h25m33s).
  • Reading is a relatively recent development, with most people's great-grandparents being illiterate, yet humans have developed visual word form areas in the brain that are not actually reading areas (1h26m6s).
  • Despite not evolving to read, humans are amazingly good at reading, with children becoming proficient by the age of four, suggesting that reading is almost an instinct (1h26m24s).
  • It is proposed that cultural evolution shaped the look of writing to resemble nature, allowing humans to use their existing visual systems to process written language (1h26m39s).
  • Writing systems have developed to include features such as L Junctions, T Junctions, and X Junctions, which are also found in natural scenes, making it easier for humans to recognize and process written language (1h26m56s).
  • Research has shown that the types of junctions found in writing systems are similar to those found in natural scenes, and occur in similar proportions, supporting the idea that writing has evolved to fit the human visual system (1h27m50s).
  • The ability to read is not part of human nature, but rather a product of cultural evolution, which has harnessed the visual object recognition brain for reading by developing writing systems that fit the human visual system (1h28m10s).
  • Spoken language evolved to sound like nature, particularly like solid object physical events, with consonants representing solid objects and sonants representing vibrations or ringing sounds (1h28m40s).
  • The basic notion of a syllable is a combination of a "hit" and a "ring," with consonants and sonants working together to create this effect (1h29m15s).
  • Grammars of solid object events can be used to work out regularities in language, such as the tendency for events to start with a consonant or aive and end in certain ways (1h29m33s).
  • These regularities can be found across human languages, with many dozens of kinds of morphemic regularities existing at this level (1h29m56s).
  • Music sounds like speech but is fundamentally different, being utterly evocative and enjoyable to listen to (1h30m49s).
  • Music is hypothesized to be the sounds of humans moving in one's midst, with this idea dating back to the Greeks (1h31m36s).
  • The sounds of music can be broken down into basic components, such as the sounds of humans moving, to understand why they are enjoyable to listen to (1h31m48s).
  • Colors are ultimately emotional and evocative because they are about human skin, bodies, emotion, and health (1h31m25s).
  • Humans are the most important stimuli in our lives, which is why colors and music are so important to us (1h31m22s).
  • Music has various components such as beat, loudness modulations, and scales, which allow people to dance to it, suggesting that music is designed to evoke human movement (1h31m49s).
  • Doppler shifts, which occur when objects move through the world, are also present in music and have patterns that resemble human movement, with exaggerated Doppler shifts indicating faster movement (1h32m17s).
  • Faster movement in music is associated with a bigger difference between high and low pitch, as well as a faster tempo, which is reflected in the music's tesur, or the difference between the top and bottom notes (1h32m35s).
  • Research has shown that faster tempo songs tend to have a wider tesur, and this relationship is connected to the patterns of modulations of loudness, beat, and rhythmic things in music (1h33m9s).
  • Studies have analyzed the movement patterns of humans, such as soccer players, to understand how fast they turn and how many steps they take to turn 90 degrees, which is typically around two steps (1h33m51s).
  • This movement pattern is reflected in music, with the top of the high pitch typically occurring when the sound is coming directly towards the listener, and the low pitch when it's moving directly away (1h34m2s).
  • The relationship between movement and music is evident in the fact that it typically takes around four beats, or one measure, to move a half a tesur, which is a common pattern in thousands of songs (1h34m22s).
  • The basic structure of music is mapped onto the kinetics of human movement, which is why music is evocative of motion and why people tend to move their bodies when listening to music (1h34m41s).
  • Music unifies people socially by creating a pattern of movement that unites everyone when they move in time to the music, evoking a sense of shared experience (1h35m2s).
  • Musical compositions often involve a proposition and counter-proposition, similar to an argument, and may include duets and other complex elements (1h35m16s).
  • A baseline for human behavior can be established by analyzing common patterns across various songs, and good composers deviate from this baseline to create interesting stories (1h35m33s).
  • Cultural harnessing, such as music and language, has played a significant role in shaping human behavior and abilities, making us more than just our biological selves (1h36m0s).
  • Humans often define themselves by their ability to speak, create music, and engage in artistic activities, but these abilities are relatively recent developments in human evolution (1h36m11s).
  • Until around 200,000 years ago, humans did not have language, writing, or music, and may not have even had vocalizations (1h36m25s).
  • The things that make us human today, such as language and music, are products of cultural engineering and are not inherent to human biology (1h36m37s).
  • Humans are often referred to as "human 2.0" because of the significant impact that cultural engineering has had on our abilities and behavior (1h36m41s).
  • The difference in intelligence between humans and chimpanzees is not as significant as it may seem, with humans only being slightly higher on the intelligence scale (1h36m54s).
  • The reason for the significant difference in abilities between humans and chimpanzees is due to the impact of cultural technology, such as language, on human behavior and abilities (1h37m44s).
  • Language is a cultural product that has made a significant impact on human behavior and abilities, and is not an inherent part of human biology (1h37m51s).
  • Language has been shaped by cultural evolution and has co-evolved with human brains to enable communication (1h37m54s).
  • Object-event systems have been harnessed to enable language and communication, allowing humans to suddenly communicate with each other in a way that was not previously possible (1h38m5s).
  • Human capabilities such as music, writing, and language are evolving and are grounded at a perceptual level in our ability to perceive real-world phenomena (1h38m28s).
  • The concept of language can be viewed as having two sides: the "language Instinct" folks, such as Stephen Pinker and Chomsky, who believe humans evolved to have a language Instinct over millions of years, and the opposing side that argues humans are infinitely plastic and malleable (1h38m57s).
  • However, both of these views are considered incorrect, and instead, language is seen as a continuity that is not unique to humans, violating the concept of "zoocentrism" which states that humans are not special and are just animals (1h39m35s).
  • Zoocentrism is the hypothesis that humans are animals and should not be considered special, and this concept applies to language as well, suggesting that language is not a unique human Instinct but rather a result of cultural evolution (1h39m37s).
  • Cultural evolution, a blind designer or watchmaker, has been designing and giving humans new powers and technologies over hundreds of thousands of years, including language and writing (1h40m7s).
  • The instinctual elements of language are related to the fundamental elements of language and their ability to abstract out of a substrate associated with our evolved perceptions of the natural world, preserving zoocentrism (1h40m51s).
  • This view is similar to a modified language Instinct argument, but instead of language being the Instinct, it is the fundamental elements of language that are instinctual and tied to our perceptions of the natural world (1h40m43s).

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