From: Joe E. Dees (joedees@bellsouth.net)
Date: Thu May 27 1999 - 16:48:54 MDT
Date sent: Thu, 27 May 1999 13:50:39 -0700
To: extropians@extropy.com
From: James Rogers <jamesr@best.com>
Subject: Re: Property Rights
Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
> At 02:36 PM 5/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >> Only a tiny percentage of the population is composed of violent criminals.
> >> Probability dictates that even if only a small percentage of the population
> >> carries, it creates a significant selection pressure on the criminal
> >> population (do the math; while the percentages are small, there is a huge
> >> increase in actual risk to the criminal). This isn't just theoretical;
> >> there is *a lot* of real world evidence strongly suggesting the validity of
> >> the math.
> >>
> >Most of these criminals also play the lottery; if they had a degree
> >in statistics they might not be ripping people off, but they don't.
>
>
> Are you being deliberately dense? Since when was evolutionary selection a
> voluntary process?
>
Bullets do not delineate a coherent fitness landscape; they'll kill
anyone, fat or thin, old or young, strong or weak, male or female,
smart or dumb, indiscriminately. There is no selection going on
there, for a bullet will reach into every niche.
>
> It doesn't matter whether or not criminals understand probability; they are
> subject to it just the same. By engaging in criminal activity they have
> automatically subjected themselves to these selection pressures. Some will
> learn and some won't, but either way you have fewer criminals.
>
I'd prefer not to be the dead body that points law enforcement in the
direction of an evolutionary loser, for then I lose as well,
thankyouverymuch!
>
> -James Rogers
> jamesr@best.com
>
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