5 ms·

According to your opinion, which evolutionary advantage would something like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia provide to your group?

hoseja 3y ago
Religion.
- RockCoach 3y ago
  Interesting thought. More than once I've heard the theory that the prophets of old (Moses, Jesus, Muhammad etc.), were actually schizophrenics and hearing voices. Only due to the superstition of the time they sometimes became regarded as holy men (or women like the case of Jeanne d'Arc) instead of being shunned, or, as we do it today, treated and medicated in order to suppress the symptoms.
  - gtroja 3y ago
    https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/ https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann... Maybe they have a way to listen what a culture says but nobody else listens
pwdisswordfishc 3y ago
"It's not paranoia when they're really out to get you"
subjectsigma 3y ago
Someone posted an article a while ago that claimed the ratio of people with ADHD, autism, etc. lined up with Dunbar’s number (the theoretical preferred size of a social group) so that there would be about one individual per group with these traits. The article then went on to theorize that this was an evolutionary adaptation against total conformity. Even if everyone else doesn’t see the landslide in the distance the one weirdo might. I can’t find the article after searching on hn.algolia.com but IIRC there was no real evidence for this, it was just a theory.
- gtroja 3y ago
  If you find it please post, I'm interested
  - RockCoach 3y ago
    Perhaps it was this comment (or from the discussion): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24388204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24388204
- ryandvm 3y ago
  As someone with ADHD, I've often mused this. It would absolutely suck to have a tribe of nothing but ADHD folks, but having just a couple around to think outside the box would be pretty damn helpful.
mjburgess 3y ago
You wouldnt need full BP or Schizophrenia to justify this -- if partial traits to partial degrees confer advantage, then the full constellation of them may be dysfunctional in an individual but worth preserving for net benefits. Evolution does not operate at the level of individuals, so most in practice, are often dysfunctional in many respects. As for schizophrenia, see it is an exageration of rule-seeking and pattern-seeking behaviour, an over-imparting of consciousness and intention to the world, a (disregulated) sense of significance. But each of these are vital for survival and procreation in less extreme degrees. As for BP, hypomania seems plainly adaptive in some cases (eg., esp. having sex a lot, working a lot, ...); and "hypo-depression" likewise (eg., low opporunitites for winter work, retreating, conserving, less risk takign, etc.). It also seems adaptive that we would swing between these, so we can better explore the mood-space of motivation. You just extremize that and you get disfunction
faeriechangling 3y ago
Don't know much about BPD, know a little more about schizophrenia. The genes that make you predisposed to schizophrenia seem to positively impact creativity and certain types of creative output. A gene doesn't necessarily have to have a good outcome for everybody with that gene, so long as it results in enough good outcome to make up for it. I think of this with homosexuality. What is the possible evolutionary advantage to homosexuality? Well there's lots of reasons why we would want humans to be attracted to both men and women, so they're reproduce, and it's not hard to see how genes that cause that could make people gay.

hoseja 3y ago

Religion.

RockCoach 3y ago
Interesting thought. More than once I've heard the theory that the prophets of old (Moses, Jesus, Muhammad etc.), were actually schizophrenics and hearing voices. Only due to the superstition of the time they sometimes became regarded as holy men (or women like the case of Jeanne d'Arc) instead of being shunned, or, as we do it today, treated and medicated in order to suppress the symptoms.
- gtroja 3y ago
  https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/ https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann... Maybe they have a way to listen what a culture says but nobody else listens

pwdisswordfishc 3y ago

"It's not paranoia when they're really out to get you"

subjectsigma 3y ago

Someone posted an article a while ago that claimed the ratio of people with ADHD, autism, etc. lined up with Dunbar’s number (the theoretical preferred size of a social group) so that there would be about one individual per group with these traits. The article then went on to theorize that this was an evolutionary adaptation against total conformity. Even if everyone else doesn’t see the landslide in the distance the one weirdo might. I can’t find the article after searching on hn.algolia.com but IIRC there was no real evidence for this, it was just a theory.

gtroja 3y ago
If you find it please post, I'm interested
- RockCoach 3y ago
  Perhaps it was this comment (or from the discussion): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24388204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24388204
ryandvm 3y ago
As someone with ADHD, I've often mused this. It would absolutely suck to have a tribe of nothing but ADHD folks, but having just a couple around to think outside the box would be pretty damn helpful.

mjburgess 3y ago

You wouldnt need full BP or Schizophrenia to justify this -- if partial traits to partial degrees confer advantage, then the full constellation of them may be dysfunctional in an individual but worth preserving for net benefits. Evolution does not operate at the level of individuals, so most in practice, are often dysfunctional in many respects. As for schizophrenia, see it is an exageration of rule-seeking and pattern-seeking behaviour, an over-imparting of consciousness and intention to the world, a (disregulated) sense of significance. But each of these are vital for survival and procreation in less extreme degrees. As for BP, hypomania seems plainly adaptive in some cases (eg., esp. having sex a lot, working a lot, ...); and "hypo-depression" likewise (eg., low opporunitites for winter work, retreating, conserving, less risk takign, etc.). It also seems adaptive that we would swing between these, so we can better explore the mood-space of motivation. You just extremize that and you get disfunction

faeriechangling 3y ago

Don't know much about BPD, know a little more about schizophrenia. The genes that make you predisposed to schizophrenia seem to positively impact creativity and certain types of creative output. A gene doesn't necessarily have to have a good outcome for everybody with that gene, so long as it results in enough good outcome to make up for it. I think of this with homosexuality. What is the possible evolutionary advantage to homosexuality? Well there's lots of reasons why we would want humans to be attracted to both men and women, so they're reproduce, and it's not hard to see how genes that cause that could make people gay.