Under Pressure

Reply to reply: An Economic Explanation For the Evolution Of Intelligence

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TomFoolery, do cats look both ways before they cross a street?  Cars certainly put a selection pressure on cats.  This pressure shifts the population of cats to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?   (see... Evolution via Roadkill).

Each year a flock of introduced parrots eats the figs on my neighbor's tree here in Southern California.  These parrots then fly around and poop the fig seeds out.  Some of these seeds germinate... and a few of the seedlings mature and bear fruit.  Parrots put a selection pressure on fig trees in California.  This pressure shifts the population of fig trees to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?

Hummingbirds are only native to the Americas.  What would happen if they were introduced to Africa?  The hummingbirds would pollinate some flowers and not others.  Hummingbirds would put a selection pressure on plants in Africa.  This pressure would shift the population of plants in Africa to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?

Honey bees are not native to the Americas.  They have pollinated some flowers and not others.  The honey bees put a selection pressure on plants in America.  This pressure has shifted the population of plants in America to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?

Consumers are allowed to shop in the private sector.  They give their money to some producers and not others.  Consumers put a selection pressure on producers in the private sector.  This pressure has shifted producers in the private sector to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?

Consumers are not allowed to shop in the public sector.  What would happen if they were allowed to shop in the public sector (aka pragmatarianism)?  Consumers would give their money to some producers and not others.  Consumers would put a selection pressure on producers in the public sector.  This pressure would shift producers in the public sector to some degree in some specific direction.  To what degree?  And in what direction?

For humans... I argued that complex carrying put a significant degree of pressure on our ancestors in the direction of greater intelligence.  I can see this same pressure possibly eventually resulting in raccoons and monkeys being as intelligent as we are.  But this same pressure isn't relevant to the other animals that you mentioned.  I've shared a few thoughts on octopuses here.

Every species has individuals that are exceptional in different ways.  Some individuals are exceptionally fast/slow, tall/short, weak/strong, colorful/drab, intelligent/dumb and so on.  In order for these exceptions to become the rule... there has to be some pressure that makes them the rule.

If you, or anybody else, is interested... here's a playlist of different animals carrying things.