Science! "Hyperadaptationalist"

Recidiva

Harastal
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Posts
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I'm so glad this word exists.

Anyway, background...

http://www.improbable.com/

Here's a link to the "Annals of Improbable Research" which is associated with the Ig Nobel Awards. The Ig Nobel Awards are given once a year to some of the weirdest research done. For instance...to the developers of people who have figured out pony-tail physics for accurate video representation...

In this case...there's apparently been a theoretical discussion about blushing. The idea that science can't prove that someone blushes in the dark. Now...of course you can and in an improbable development, someone did, by measuring heat on someone's face in the dark.

So that's all silly. Granted. That's why it's improbable research.

But...why do we blush? What is the reason? Does it make sense? To my mind, there's absolutely no "adaptive" reason to blush.

Leading to the word "Hyperadaptationalist" which for me is the theoretical idea that everything in evolution has a reason, a wisdom and a purpose.

In this case...it seems pretty dumb.

So...I ask...what do you guys think is the purpose of blushing? 'Cause I for one can't damned well think of a single reason why it would exist or why it would be adaptive. "Oh look, that person is lying! Let's have sex!"

Science is weird.

Discuss.
 
I adore freckles...



:)

I don't really understand freckles either. And I have lots of them, at least that is when I actually go out into the sun, which as a vampire I avoid. But when I was a kid I was out in the sun all the time and always blistered up my shoulders before I got a good tan, so I have residually freckled shoulders.

I wonder if blushing before the development of language was purely having to do with coloration and mating.

And then language came along and messed up the signaling.

Thanks language!
 
What does it signal and why?

Flatulence is also a non-verbal signal that is not adaptive socially but is only adaptive mechanically. It's there so rupture isn't.

The facial coloring is the signal, and the message is in other responses. Your face can be red for sundry reasons...drunk, rage, physical exertion, etc. Its the other signs that give up the meaning...heavy breathing, tension, gait, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, calm demeanor. The red color simply attracts your attention.
 
The facial coloring is the signal, and the message is in other responses. Your face can be red for sundry reasons...drunk, rage, physical exertion, etc. Its the other signs that give up the meaning...heavy breathing, tension, gait, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, calm demeanor. The red color simply attracts your attention.

Yeah, but that's adaptive for other people, not the person blushing.

And that may be it entirely. Seeing a blush might have meant something socially that it no longer means with the advent of language...though I suppose observing one can create a form of social intimacy and signal.

I get that being hyperadaptationalist means that our pattern-seeking brains try to find a reason that we then buy. I haven't thought about blushing at all because it's so insignificant in my experience other than seeing that other people experience it as a nuisance. There's even a dysfunction in those who blush floridly and inappropriately at the tiniest of stimuli.

Blushing is often experienced while lying, getting caught at something, being embarrassed...it indicates so many damned things, none of which are terribly helpful for the blusher.

Though maybe having women with blushed cheeks and men without them is a clue.

In the case of alcohol or drugs though, that's a sign of toxicity.
 
I cannot recall ever blushing. Am I a sociopath?



:eek:

Uh oh, now we're getting into "You Might Be A Redneck" territory.

I think there are people that just have conscious control over it and don't give much away.

When I was a kid I was bullied by older siblings until I learned to have absolutely no reaction to anything and just provide an icy, contemptuous stare to anybody trying to hurt or humiliate me. I also developed a talent for lying and acting at the same time.

I didn't blush, I didn't react. I could lie on command and blush and cry on command.

It wasn't until years and years later after I'd left the theater and didn't lie daily, when I tried to "lie" as a joke and I had a blush, something I'd never experienced before.

Do you lie a lot? :D
 
Look, I get that you live in Gomorra...


We prefer our men strong and our women pretty, not vice versa. :cool:

Oh you do not. There are loads of gay people in Kansas. My first husband lived there. My daughter visits there all the time.
 
gay_pride_rainbow_kansas_flag_tshirt-r4ebe6216611e4c77b0424b7bd747dcdc_804gs_324.jpg
 
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