From: "Phil Roberts, Jr." 
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 21:10:46 -0400

Lee Kent Hempfling wrote:
> 
> "Phil Roberts, Jr."  enunciated:
>  
> >Wow!  And I thought I'd heard them all. Of course, the fact that the
> >dominant members of the pack have less stress doesn't seem at all
> >unreasonable, but the conclusion that the suffering of the underlings
> >is selected for because it benefits the overlings, that seems a bit of a
> >stretch, don't you think? (Sheesh! These guys never cease to amaze me.)
> >For one thing, group selection has been largely ruled out by most
> >responsible authors going all the way back to J.B.S. Haldane. Who's
> >the author on this?  For a couple of papers on the _maladaptiveness_
> >of emotional disorder see DeCantanzaro and Eysenck in my bibliography.
> >These are both symposiums so you get the opinions of dozens and dozens
> >of leading authorities.
> 
> >Here's a brief list of other theories I am aware of that have also tried
> >to force the ugly daughter's foot (anomlous human behavior) into
> >Cinderella's slipper (theory of natural selection):
> 
> 
> 
> I will add one though:
> 
> 6. The reason Evel Knievel jumped across the Snake River canyon is
> because wanted to make a living and didn't have any other source of
> income. The Snake River canyon was just a step up in the ladder of
> making more money. It was a stunt. It had no motivation other than
> enhancing the income potential.
> 

My list of naturalistic reductions is based on the presupposition that 
Evel's behavior wasn't prudent and therefore naturalistically anomalous 
both in terms of his personal well-being and in terms of perpetuating 
his DNA. If you are suggesting that it was actually done for practical 
reasons (money is also status enhancing, don't forget) rather than 
emotional ones, pick another example, e.g., celibate monks, self-endangering 
Greenpeacers, mountain climbers ("its what the mountain tells you about 
yourself"). But since you are implying that Evel's behavior is reasonable 
in practical terms, I assume we will all get to see you up on the ramp 
in the near future, eh?  After all, think of all that money.

Phil Roberts, Jr.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5476