Viewing Thread:
"What is childhood for (evolutionary-wise)?"

Seems like a silly question. What's the answer then? Mace (2000) points out that children could grow faster than they actually do grow. What do children learn during childhood that increases their inclusive fitness? Apparently there is no evidence on what this might actually be. Not such a silly question then!

I copied this from a website so don't ask who Mace is!

Seems like a silly question. What's the answer then? Mace (2000) points out that children could grow faster than they actually do grow. What do children learn during childhood that increases their inclusive fitness? Apparently there is no evidence on what this might actually be. Not such a silly question then!

I copied this from a website so don't ask who Mace is!

Can you link the website, or give me the full reference, which should appear at the bottom of the article?

Rosalind wrote:
> Can you link the website, or give me the full reference, which should
> appear at the bottom of the article?

http://salmon.psy.plym.ac.uk/year3/PSY339 EvolutionaryPsychology/EvolutionaryPsychology.htm

There's no more information on this topic - as nobody knows, it's just something to think about.

Oh, and I'm having to put a space in between the link cos it won't let me post it this long.

????

Seems simple enough.

say for example it was possible to clone someone and force grow them to age 16 ("Gap" series readers will know this) then what bank of knowledge and experience does the person have to draw on. None.

Childhood is a certain requirement of being human surely? Due to our outrageously complex and intellectual social and technological workframe, it is essential that several years are put aside to develop skills before one is free to be a part of it.

You can't exactly compare human children to, say, cows. All cows do is eat grass, drop pats and get eaten. You don't exactly need years of experience to draw on in order to function in the role.

Pandaemonium wrote:
> say for example it was possible to clone someone and force grow them
> to age 16 ("Gap" series readers will know this)

Ah, class series.

Insane Bartender wrote:
> Pandaemonium wrote:
> say for example it was possible to clone someone and force grow them
> to age 16 ("Gap" series readers will know this)
>
> Ah, class series.

I've just finished them last week. Donaldson certainly likes his unlikeable characters doesn’t he? I thought Thomas Covenant was the worst but the characters in this series? Jesus.

I was hooked in a weird masochistic way, eager to see how much more pain, torture, despair (“He is back in the crib, tied to the slats”) and hatred he could heap upon these poor, poor people ;)

Excellent. The cat and mouse battle in the Massif asteroid system is quite possibly the best space battle I’ve read. The fact that gravity (blackouts, redouts and broken limbs) plays a huge part in it is probably the reason why.