Epstein Secrets

l to the percentage of their genes that others carry. This insight was further developed by the concept of parental investment. Ronald Fisher and Robert Trivers (1972) defined it as "any investment by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring's chance of surviving...at the cost of

f parental investment. Ronald Fisher and Robert Trivers (1972) defined it as "any investment by the pare

are beneficial, for what individuals and in what contexts, and through what specific mechanisms. Recent research has made it patently clear that William James (1890, p. 442, 2) underestimated the faculties of human infants when he suggested that their first sensory experiences were a "blooming, buzzing

of parental investment. Ronald Fisher and Robert Trivers (1972) defined it as “any investment by the paren

p. 101. "William Hamilton, “The Genetical Evolution of Social Behavior, IT” Journal of Theoretical Biology 7 (1964), pp. 17-52. "Ronald Fisher and Robert Trivers, “Parental Investment and Sexual Selection,” B. Campbell (ed.), Sexual HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021284 Selection and the Descent of Man (Chicago: Aldine Pub

ces are beneficial, for what individuals and in what contexts, and through what specific mechanisms. Recent research has made it patently clear that William James (1890, p. 442, 2) underestimated the faculties of human infants when he suggested that their first sensory experiences were a “blooming, buzzing conf

lves are also the ones most likely to lash out with extreme violence when someone threatens the reality of their stature. The evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers was the first to identify the adaptive significance of self-deception and its connection to deception. As he insightfully notes in his book The Folly

s of victory in war — or any competitive arena. Though this is a costly strategy, there are clear evolutionary benefits under conditions explained by Trivers and Johnson. Self-deception is favored when opponents have imperfect information about their strengths and weaknesses, and where the payoffs are high

Unfortunately, there are no clear categories, no bright lines separating normal from abnormal or uncommon. As the distinguished American psychologist William James noted, however, studying “the abnormal is the best way to understand the normal.” Let’s follow this logic. Consider the developmental disorder of au