My theories

--I think Feng Shui has parallels with evolutionary thinking...

*Here's a link to a paper I wrote about this topic.*

For those who don’t know this field very well, a good definition can be found on the first page of “The Western Guide to Feng Shui” by Terah Kathryn Collins. Within she explains “...I often begin by saying that it is ‘the study of how to arrange your environment to enhance the quality of your life.'” She then goes on to explain this intriguing topic. If we looked at her definition from an evolutionary view we would find positive feng shui energy called “chi” associated with a healthy environment. Here are some other examples of parallels;

· It’s not auspicious to have dead plants in your environment.

· Don’t live in a desert environment.

· Having a garden is very auspicious.

· You’ll be more at ease if you can see your surroundings ( i.e. The classic example of not having your desk face away from the door because you won’t know what’s going on, like it someone was trying to sneak up to you.)

· Don’t have your environment smell bad, like don’t have rotting food around.

For the sake of brevity, I won't get into specific examples of the correlating evolutionary ideas from the practices noted above. I would prefer that the reader think for herself/himself about how these practices make sense evolutionarily speaking. Don’t you think it makes sense?

The website of the feng shui author mentioned above.

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-- I think night clubs can be explained fairly well with a mix of evolutionary thinking and conspicuous consumption--

One of the advantages of being interested in evolutionary psychology is that I’m young enough to experience some unique events compared to a 65 yr old academic. I believe one of those experiences is my nightclub adventures, or lack there of. Let me explain. I was at this one club in France. So I couldn’t really speak the language, I knew like two people in the whole place, and well, it was a Latin club and I can’t salsa. So like any good academic in training, I decided to do a little “research”. With the postulates of Amotz Zahavi in mind (whom first started the whole thing about certain characteristics evolving because they were handicaps) I began to think night clubs were an example of this line of reasoning. Here's an example to clarify a little...If we look at mallard ducks for a typical example, the males have a very bright plumage which would not help camouflaging them into the environment. Yet, the reasoning goes that somehow the females “know” that the males with the brightest plumage can only survive if their genes are really great. Hence, this sorta explains why females choose the males with the brightest colors. Ok, so getting back to the night club scenario, I began to think some humans like the nightclub experience because they're opposite of classic evolutionary thought. Yet, it fits well with the hypothesis of Amotz Zahavi. For example;

	The place predominately serves alcoholic drinks. We know that alcohol is not good for us.
	Furthermore, the prices the club charges for the drinks (and cover charges). Only someone with large amounts of money could afford those prices.
	There are so many strangers that could be potential threats lurking all around.
	For the women, there’s the issue of high-heels. Pretty much the opposite of a running shoe. Let’s just say that in our ancestral environment, not only would have 6 inch stilettos clashed with all the gaudy fur and bone necklaces, but also would have greatly impeded day to day affairs like collecting food and not getting eaten by a predator.
	You can hardly see in most of them, or the lighting obscures proper vision as well.
	Any other ideas you can think of?

I hope you can start to see the functionality of the night club through an evolutionary viewpoint. Jared Diamond and Steven Pinker both cover this scientist, just not in the same application. The link will take you to my little write-ups on some of their written material.

Quick Question...

Do babies cry more at night?

-If they indeed do, maybe this behavior is an evolved mechanism. Infants might have the hunch people in general (including their parents) have sex more at night than during the day. Babies might try and break up this sexual behavior to inhibit another child being born. For those readers especially skeptical about this type of evolving behavior, check out page 446 and nearby pages in “How the Mind Works.” These pages explain quite well parental/infant conflict.