Stumbled across a book review. . . . .

[Bob Keeter]

Going to have to stop by Borders this weekend. 8-)

"A Brain for All Seasons: Evolution & Abrupt Climate Chage",
William H. Calvin.

Based on the short description, appears that Mr. Calvin
proposes that the increased mental capacity of the early
hominids, and their ability to adapt their lifestyles and tool
kits, may have put them in a very favorable position to
survive the whipsaw climatic changes that seem to have been
very frequent over the last couple of million years. I THINK
that the basic proposition is that the climate swings upset
the "status quo" and provided the kick in the butt for
selection, and aside from the 'big brain" genes, the selection
criteria might have been the toolkit.

Even plays into an old thread from this newsgroup as to
whether technological evolution (yeah even the "killer
frisbees" are technology if you competition dont have them!)
has matched, surpassed or replaced genetic evolution as the
prime avenue for human evolution and ultimately survival.

Dont really know Mr. Calvin, so I dont know if he has to
necessary alphabet soup to provide sufficiently scholarly
input through the windows of the high towers, but seems to
have a pretty legit resume with even a few tomes being
published by that pretty fair MA "trade school" (MIT) down the
way, so I think I'll buy it. 8-)

Anyway, Philip, if I get the book I can probably get my kids
to read me the big three, four and five-sylable words and
translate them down to my humble level. Whadda 'bout dem Sox,
an' gimme some of dos the pickled eggs and pigs feet!
Whaddareyou, a Sunday driver or what! 8-))))))))

Regards bk

[Pz]

In article <B8F96399.CD1C%rkeeter@earthlink.net>, Bob Keeter
<rkeeter@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Going to have to stop by Borders this weekend. 8-)
>
> "A Brain for All Seasons: Evolution & Abrupt Climate Chage",
> William H. Calvin.
>
> Based on the short description, appears that Mr. Calvin
> proposes that the increased mental capacity of the early
> hominids, and their ability to adapt their lifestyles and
> tool kits, may have put them in a very favorable position to
> survive the whipsaw climatic changes that seem to have been
> very frequent over the last couple of million years. I THINK
> that the basic proposition is that the climate swings upset
> the "status quo" and provided the kick in the butt for
> selection, and aside from the 'big brain" genes, the
> selection criteria might have been the toolkit.
>
> Even plays into an old thread from this newsgroup as to
> whether technological evolution (yeah even the "killer
> frisbees" are technology if you competition dont have them!)
> has matched, surpassed or replaced genetic evolution as the
> prime avenue for human evolution and ultimately survival.
>
> Dont really know Mr. Calvin, so I dont know if he has to
> necessary alphabet soup to provide sufficiently scholarly
> input through the windows of the high towers, but seems to
> have a pretty legit resume with even a few tomes being
> published by that pretty fair MA "trade school" (MIT) down
> the way, so I think I'll buy it. 8-)

He's a professor of psychiatry at my alma mater, the
University of Washington. I've met him a few times, and
although he is a very pleasant and personable guy, my general
impressions of his work are 1) how did he fit all that ego
into that head? 2) it's all theoretical, and he just seems to
go fishing through the literature to find other people's data
that he can use to selectively support whatever his latest fad
might be, whether it's computational ballistics or chaotic
weather, and 3) boy, does that ego make his work irritating to
read. I feel bad dissing someone who is so friendly and nice
in person, but I've never found his work particularly
compelling, and it's always way too over-inflated for the
paucity of actual data to support it. I did rather like his
idea that one of the advantages that could have driven
expansion of the human brain was computational redundancy,
which would have permitted greater accuracy in throwing.

> Anyway, Philip, if I get the book I can probably get my kids
> to read me the big three, four and five-sylable words and
> translate them down to my humble level. Whadda 'bout dem
> Sox, an' gimme some of dos the pickled eggs and pigs feet!
> Whaddareyou, a Sunday driver or what! 8-))))))))

--
pz

[Lorenzo L.]

Bob Keeter wrote:
>
> Going to have to stop by Borders this weekend. 8-)
>
> "A Brain for All Seasons: Evolution & Abrupt Climate Chage",
> William H. Calvin.
>
> Based on the short description, appears that Mr. Calvin
> proposes that the increased mental capacity of the early
> hominids, and their ability to adapt their lifestyles and
> tool kits, may have put them in a very favorable position to
> survive the whipsaw climatic changes that seem to have been
> very frequent over the last couple of million years. I THINK
> that the basic proposition is that the climate swings upset
> the "status quo" and provided the kick in the butt for
> selection, and aside from the 'big brain" genes, the
> selection criteria might have been the toolkit.
>
> Even plays into an old thread from this newsgroup as to
> whether technological evolution (yeah even the "killer
> frisbees" are technology if you competition dont have them!)
> has matched, surpassed or replaced genetic evolution as the
> prime avenue for human evolution and ultimately survival.
>
> Dont really know Mr. Calvin, so I dont know if he has to
> necessary alphabet soup to provide sufficiently scholarly
> input through the windows of the high towers, but seems to
> have a pretty legit resume with even a few tomes being
> published by that pretty fair MA "trade school" (MIT) down
> the way, so I think I'll buy it. 8-)
>
> Anyway, Philip, if I get the book I can probably get my kids
> to read me the big three, four and five-sylable words and
> translate them down to my humble level. Whadda 'bout dem
> Sox, an' gimme some of dos the pickled eggs and pigs feet!
> Whaddareyou, a Sunday driver or what! 8-))))))))
>
> Regards bk

Is this a new book? Because he has been promoting this
climatic pumping of evolution for years. But just how whipsaw
were the climatic changes in Africa?

Lorenzo L. Love http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"Facts are meaningless. You can use facts to prove anything
remotely true." Homer Simpson

[Bob Keeter]

in article myers-8FFB7B.09360604052002@laurel.tc.umn.edu, pz
at myers@mac.com wrote on 5/4/02 9:36 AM:

> In article <B8F96399.CD1C%rkeeter@earthlink.net>, Bob Keeter
> <rkeeter@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> Going to have to stop by Borders this weekend. 8-)
>>
>> "A Brain for All Seasons: Evolution & Abrupt Climate
>> Chage", William H. Calvin.
>>
>> Based on the short description, appears that Mr. Calvin
>> proposes that the increased mental capacity of the early
>> hominids, and their ability to adapt their lifestyles and
>> tool kits, may have put them in a very favorable position
>> to survive the whipsaw climatic changes that seem to have
>> been very frequent over the last couple of million years. I
>> THINK that the basic proposition is that the climate swings
>> upset the "status quo" and provided the kick in the butt
>> for selection, and aside from the 'big brain" genes, the
>> selection criteria might have been the toolkit.
>>
>> Even plays into an old thread from this newsgroup as to
>> whether technological evolution (yeah even the "killer
>> frisbees" are technology if you competition dont have
>> them!) has matched, surpassed or replaced genetic evolution
>> as the prime avenue for human evolution and ultimately
>> survival.
>>
>> Dont really know Mr. Calvin, so I dont know if he has to
>> necessary alphabet soup to provide sufficiently scholarly
>> input through the windows of the high towers, but seems to
>> have a pretty legit resume with even a few tomes being
>> published by that pretty fair MA "trade school" (MIT) down
>> the way, so I think I'll buy it. 8-)
>
> He's a professor of psychiatry at my alma mater, the
> University of Washington. I've met him a few times, and
> although he is a very pleasant and personable guy, my
> general impressions of his work are 1) how did he fit all
> that ego into that head? 2) it's all theoretical, and he
> just seems to go fishing through the literature to find
> other people's data that he can use to selectively support
> whatever his latest fad might be, whether it's computational
> ballistics or chaotic weather, and 3) boy, does that ego
> make his work irritating to read. I feel bad dissing someone
> who is so friendly and nice in person, but I've never found
> his work particularly compelling, and it's always way too
> over-inflated for the paucity of actual data to support it.
> I did rather like his idea that one of the advantages that
> could have driven expansion of the human brain was
> computational redundancy, which would have permitted greater
> accuracy in throwing.
>

Sounds like a mixed bag. 8-(

Perhaps I'll dig a bit beyond the "Sports Illustrated" review
before I invest the $20! 8-)

On the other hand, if his problem is inflated ego and overt
self-importance it might be a useful read just to be able to
better understand to deal with such people, a talent I am
sorely (and blissfully?) missing. ;-)

Thanks for the input! Will probably go get it anyway,
probably beats re-reading my auto-repair and "Bass for Bubba"
books. 8-))))

Regards bk

[Bob Keeter]

in article 3CD41C8C.4A1048FE@thegrid.net, Lorenzo L. Love at
lllove@thegrid.net wrote on 5/4/02 12:35 PM:

> Bob Keeter wrote:
>>
>> Going to have to stop by Borders this weekend. 8-)
>>
>> "A Brain for All Seasons: Evolution & Abrupt Climate
>> Chage", William H. Calvin.
>>

>
> Is this a new book? Because he has been promoting this
> climatic pumping of evolution for years. But just how
> whipsaw were the climatic changes in Africa?
>

Yep. Its just out this month I think (Univ. of Chicago Press).
Well, he might have a point. Genetic selection requires some
"selecting agency" and a drastic climatic shift would
definitely provide that I think. Based on some stuff that
starting to filter down to the phlebian publications ( you
know, Popular Mechanics, Road and Track, and things that us
common people can get! 8-) ), a lot of evidence is starting to
pile up that the "ice ages" may have had some pretty dramatic
changes at least in part based on the instabilities of the
ocean currents. (We see the same sort of thing but far less
drastic with the "El Nino" effects.)

The same paultry, opiante-for-the-uneducated-masses rag (thats
for PHilip of course! 8-) ) that I found the book review in,
i.e. Discover, has a separate article discussing the changes,
20 "interludes" between 120,000 and 10000 years ago where the
average temperature in Europe may have increased 10-18 degrees
in less than a decade only to quickly fall back to the "Ice
Ages" again. The authors apparently developed a computer model
of the Gulf Stream's circulation that seems to match the
effect quite nicely. Now if this was going on in the central
and northen atlantic, Ive got to suspect that you would be
seeing something going on in the south atlantic. (Remember the
Gulf Strem "reverse flow" runs all the way down to Antarctica
before it turns back as surface water.)

To put 10-18 degrees temperature shift over a decade into
perspective, look at the numbers being touted by the "global
warming" crew.

Yeah, philip, I do read Discover! After all its Saturday
afternoon and I finally finished last Sunday's comics! 8-)

>
> "Facts are meaningless. You can use facts to prove anything
> remotely true." Homer Simpson

While Homer is far wiser than he looks, I suspect that Will
Rogers has nothing to fear! 8-) I do love it though! 8-)

Regards bk

--
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.

[David Timp]

"pz" <myers@mac.com> wrote in message
news:myers-8FFB7B.09360604052002@laurel.tc.umn.edu...
| In article <B8F96399.CD1C%rkeeter@earthlink.net>,

| He's a professor of psychiatry at my alma mater, the
| University of Washington. I've met him a few times, and
| although he is a very pleasant and personable guy, my
| general impressions of his work are 1) how did he fit all
| that ego into that head? 2) it's all theoretical, and he
| just seems to go fishing through the literature to find
| other people's data that he can use to selectively support
| whatever his latest fad might be, whether it's computational
| ballistics or chaotic weather, and 3) boy, does that ego
| make his work irritating to read. I feel bad dissing someone
| who is so friendly and nice in person, but I've never found
| his work particularly compelling, and it's always way too
| over-inflated for the paucity of actual data to support it.
| I did rather like his idea that one of the advantages that
| could have driven expansion of the human brain was
| computational redundancy, which would have permitted greater
| accuracy in throwing.

He also apparently buys into AAT (or whatever you want to call
it). I caught a little bit of circular referencing going on
between Marc, Elaine Morgan and him awhile back (Marc
referencing Elaine about something she read in one of his
books, which turned out to be based on his speculations upon
reading one of Elaine's books). He's not responsible for the
circularity, of course but he does seem to consider himself an
expert on everything. I've picked up a couple of his volumes
in a book store on occasion, and always put them back on the
shelf. If anybody knew even half the things he claims to the
rest of the academic world might as well quit right now. Just
as likely, his knowledge could be a mile wide and an inch
deep. I already have enough problems along that line.

He'd probably fit right in here. I could imagine all sorts of
interesting interchanges between him and Crowley or McGinn.

--
Dave Timpe

dtimpe at new dot rr dot com

[Pz]

In article <1HUF8.41010$X9.1590327@typhoon.kc.rr.com>, "David
Timpe" <DTimpe@NOSPAMnew.rr.com> wrote:

> "pz" <myers@mac.com> wrote in message
> news:myers-8FFB7B.09360604052002@laurel.tc.umn.edu...
> | In article <B8F96399.CD1C%rkeeter@earthlink.net>,
>
> | He's a professor of psychiatry at my alma mater, the
> | University of Washington. I've met him a few times, and
> | although he is a very pleasant and personable guy, my
> | general impressions of his work are 1) how did he fit all
> | that ego into that head? 2) it's all theoretical, and he
> | just seems to go fishing through the literature to find
> | other people's data that he can use to selectively support
> | whatever his latest fad might be, whether it's
> | computational ballistics or chaotic weather, and 3) boy,
> | does that ego make his work irritating to read. I feel bad
> | dissing someone who is so friendly and nice in person, but
> | I've never found his work particularly compelling, and
> | it's always way too over-inflated for the paucity of
> | actual data to support it. I did rather like his idea that
> | one of the advantages that could have driven expansion of
> | the human brain was computational redundancy, which would
> | have permitted greater accuracy in throwing.
>
> He also apparently buys into AAT (or whatever you want to
> call it). I caught a little bit of circular referencing
> going on between Marc, Elaine Morgan and him awhile back
> (Marc referencing Elaine about something she read in one of
> his books, which turned out to be based on his speculations
> upon reading one of Elaine's books). He's not responsible
> for the circularity, of course but he does seem to consider
> himself an expert on everything. I've picked up a couple of
> his volumes in a book store on occasion, and always put them
> back on the shelf. If anybody knew even half the things he
> claims to the rest of the academic world might as well quit
> right now. Just as likely, his knowledge could be a mile
> wide and an inch deep. I already have enough problems along
> that line.
>
> He'd probably fit right in here. I could imagine all
> sorts of interesting interchanges between him and Crowley
> or McGinn.

Whoa, I wouldn't say that Calvin is *that* bad.

--
pz