primerlearning

"Hamilton's rule is a lie" is a lie... and plush blobs

Added 2020-12-06 23:42:19 +0000 UTC

Hey folks,

New video today. This one isn't a paid Patreon post, though, since it's not a normal video. I made it to address a mistake in a previous video. It's also my first try at a talking-head video and isn't the highest production quality. Overall, it didn't feel right to charge you fine people for this one.

In "The Natural Selection of Altruism", I claimed that Hamilton's rule was a lie. I meant that to be a somewhat comically bold statement, but I've since realized that I was laboring under a misunderstanding and that the video is more misleading than is acceptable. Today's video acknowledges that error and goes through five pathologies of thought that contributed to my publishing an error. This has been a useful reflective process for me, so I hope sharing it will be useful to some others.

Sorting out how to handle this has been a big part of the delay in finishing the main Hamilton's rule video. I wanted the end product to be a smooth set of videos for new people who find the channel, but I also wanted to acknowledge the mistake in a big enough way that many who saw the old video would get a chance to realize it was misleading.

I've taken down the old video. I'll replace it with a new version that avoids Hamilton's rule (which also won't be a paid Patreon post), and following that will be the dedicated Hamilton's rule video. My hope is to have both of these published by the end of the year.

On a more cheerful note, blob plushies are now available for pre-order at dftba.com/collections/primer. Patrons get 20% with the code 848HEQD0BJ2A. Please let me know if you have any trouble.

Other tier rewards from the previous video are on their way this coming week.

Justin