
When Destructive Behavior Makes Biological Sense (2015) - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/31/stress/when-destructive-behavior-makes-biological-sense
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mfoy_
>Jay Belsky, a professor of human development at the University of California,
Davis, predicted 25 years ago that growing up under conditions of adversity
would accelerate sexual maturation, a prediction borne out by research.

Wow! This was a really interesting takeaway that I did not know! I wonder if
this contributes to the "bad boy" trope of the "troubled hot guy in
highschool". (i.e. he's hit puberty early because of instability at home). I
wonder if this _also_ contributes to the "latebloomers" and "nerdy kid" tropes
related to coming from more stable environments.

Of course there are dozens of more plausible explanations for each, but it'd
be neat if this was a statistically significant factor.

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pvaldes
This happens also in populations of animals subject to an increasing predation
pressure.

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otakucode
I have always found the lack of inclusion of self-harming and self-sacrificing
strategies as a fundamental limitation of game theory and similar analysis. If
your intention is to consider every strategy, why wouldn't you consider the
strategy of self-sacrifice? That opens many different possibilities,
especially when considering changing populations and heterogenous populations.
If considering something like the Cold War standoff, what would have been the
consequence had the USSR exploded a nuclear weapon in one of their satellite
states and claimed it was the work of the US or their allies? False
attribution requires self-harm. False flag attacks require self-harm. Many
strategies in the overall scheme of things require it, yet in most analysis it
is wholly absent.

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alexpotato
Apparently France's nuclear strategy fell into the category of "self-
sacrifice".

Essentially it was: "We don't have ICBMs but we do have nukes. If you invade
us, we will nuke you even if you are on our territory and even it is at great
cost to ourselves."

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tjwds
I've been thinking about this a bit lately in the context of the Freudian
death drive [0] — risk being a part of the will that drives us to do things
and build relationships.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive)

