#lose-shift

[scitechchron]

SciTech Chronicles. . . . . . . . .June 9th, 2026

SciTech Chronicles. . . . . . . . .June 9th, 2026

Vol VI Issue 62 Who Said this? Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. Today, 459 links Curat

[scrambledbooks]

Win-stay, lose-shift

Over time, if everyone plays a strategy of win-stay, lose-shift, people will come to be highly sorted such that everyone is doing something they are good at. If we imagine that something like this has been going on for thousands of years of our history, and we are prepared to believe that different tasks really do require different skills, then we would expect a variety of different talents and skills to emerge and be maintained in our societies. If we find this suggestion surprising or even alarming, we need look no further than just about any sports field. Games such as football, soccer, and basketball attract people of different body shapes and sizes. Height is far more important to a basketball player than it is to a soccer player, and bulk and strength are more important to a football player than to a basketball player. Jockeys and rowing coxes are small.

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Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind (Mark Pagel)