Intelligence of Cultured Races

Arms Races and Car Races

Evolutionary car racing (ECR) is extended to the case of two cars racing on the same track. A sensor representation is devised, and various methods of evolving car controllers for competitive racing are explored. ECR can be combined with co-evolution in a wide variety of ways, and one aspect which is explored here is the relative-absolute fitness continuum. Systematical behavioural differences ...

Human races

Carl was not a geneticist by training or at heart, and although cognizant of horizontal gene transfer, saw it as a creative force at the beginning of cellular evolution (the ‘progenote’ stage), not as a challenge to defining the ‘true’ relationships between living things now. Most of the phylogenetic community still holds Carl’s belief as foundational. Nor was he, as Mayr complained, a card-car...

Ecological dominance, social competition, and coalitionary arms races: Why humans evolved extraordinary intelligence

Human cognitive abilities are extraordinary. Our large brains are significantly modified from those of our closest relatives, suggesting a history of intense natural selection. The conditions favoring the evolution of human cognitive adaptations, however, remain an enigma. Hypotheses based on traditional ecological demands, such as hunting or climatic variability, have not provided satisfying e...

Description of the human races: A historical perspective

Evolution: Sexual Arms Races

The reproductive interests of males and females usually differ, resulting in sexual conflict. Recent studies in which experimental selection trials were carried out under conditions of either 'high' or 'low' sexual conflict show that conflict can promote speciation and reduce female reproductive success.