Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

In Roger's words, "More than most people, I've 'been there and done that'. And while I was doing it, I was taking notes". Roger is a careful observer of the human condition, technology, and history, and this is what he writes about. He was a soldier in Vietnam in the sixties, an engineering student at MIT in the seventies, a personal-computer pioneer in the eighties, and a writer, traveler, and teacher in the nineties. He has visited twenty countries and worked in five. He has worked in five industries with both superstar and falling star companies. He's seen a lot. Other Fun Facts about Roger; Helped engineer the Space Shuttle; Climbed 4, 000 meter peaks in the Colorado Rockies and bicycled from Boston to Minnesota; Is a nephew of Margaret Bourke-White, photographer for Life magazine; Has a commercial pilot's license with an IFR rating; Was one of the first hundred people to play Dungeons and Dragons

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Evolution and Thought

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Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................1Selection, the Gene Pool, Four Human Lifestyles....................................................2Adaptive and Instinctive Thinking..................................................................4Humans are Diverse and the Diversity is Growing....................................................4One Final Comment from Mother Nature: "If it's good enough, it's good enough.".....................5Chapter One In the Beginning ......................................................................7Ten Thousand Experiments Later ....................................................................7Three Exceptional Human Skills.....................................................................8Strong Language Skill and Technology Surprises.....................................................8The Benefits of Strong Language Skill..............................................................8Diminishing Returns Kick In: Big Brains = Big Babies = Dead Mothers................................12Let's Talk Environments............................................................................13Chapter Two Welcome to Neolithic Village...........................................................14The Environment....................................................................................14The Common Features................................................................................14Thinking Adaptations to This Environment...........................................................15Neolithic Village Environment Thinking Shows Up in Modern Society..................................18Summary............................................................................................22Chapter Three Beauty, Brides, and Matrons..........................................................23A Young Mother Needs Help..........................................................................23Child and Adult Thinking...........................................................................23Meanwhile ... Back in the Village..................................................................25The Reason for Seeing Beauty.......................................................................25Bride Thinking and Matron Thinking.................................................................26How Does Beauty Affect Business?...................................................................27Before We Leave the Village........................................................................27Chapter Four Looking Hot to ... Your Mother-in-Law?................................................28Patriarchy and Matriarchy..........................................................................29Overview of the Neolithic Village Environment......................................................30The Next Stage.....................................................................................31Chapter Five Pushing the Gene Pool in a New Direction: Adapting to Agriculture.....................32The Agricultural Lifestyle.........................................................................33Leaving the Village Behind.........................................................................34Specifics of the Lifestyle Changes.................................................................34Born Losers........................................................................................37Summary............................................................................................37Chapter Six Industrial Age Thinking................................................................39The Industrial Age Lifestyle.......................................................................39Industrial Age Thinking............................................................................41Chapter Seven Information Age Thinking.............................................................43Between 1960 and 2010..............................................................................43Chapter Eight Instinctive Thinking in Modern Times.................................................46A Review of Instinctive and Adaptive Thinking......................................................46Neolithic Village Insider/Outsider Thinking........................................................47Chapter Nine The Prisoner's Dilemma................................................................51Cooperating and Defecting..........................................................................51Doing Some Predicting..............................................................................52Effects on the Cost of the Deal....................................................................53The Mutual Defection Environment...................................................................53The Mutual Cooperation Environment.................................................................54Choosing Between Environments......................................................................55Chapter Ten Delusion Thinking......................................................................57Chapter Eleven Worshipping at the Altar of the Holy Metal Detector.................................60Executive Summary..................................................................................60Detailed Argument..................................................................................61Introduction.......................................................................................61Attempting to Exploit False Positives..............................................................61The Three Essentials of Religion...................................................................62The Difference between Science and Religion........................................................62Where Science and Religion Mix.....................................................................63Why Does Aviation Involve Religion?................................................................63How Does Religion Express Itself in Aviation?......................................................64Why Was the Industry Blind-Sided?..................................................................65Enter Hijacking and Terrorism......................................................................65What Should the Aviation Industry Do?..............................................................67Parameters for a Robust Faith System for Flying....................................................68Breaking the Linkage...............................................................................68An Example of a Cheap (and Good) Fix...............................................................69Chapter Twelve Epilog..............................................................................71

Chapter One

Ten Thousand Experiments Later ...

The human species has been roughly human in shape and physical capability for about 200,000 years. This means that humans shaped as humans have gone through about 10,000 generations of adapting to their environment. (That's 200,000 years divided by 20 years per generation.) This means that Mother Nature has run roughly ten thousand experiments with each human family line alive today, to see...