Natural Reward Podcast

Ulrike Bauer discusses the evolution and diversity of pitcher plants, focusing on the spring trapping mechanism found in some species. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that capture insects in a fluid-filled cavity. They have evolved independently multiple times and are found all over the world. The spring trapping mechanism is a composite trait that involves multiple adaptations, including a horizontal lid, a spring-like structure, and a slippery surface. The study of this mechanism invo...

Illegal dumping is a widespread problem in cities throughout the world and differentially affects disadvantaged neighborhoods. Brian Johnson is a software engineer who moved to San Francisco nearly a decade ago. At the time, Brian could afford a house only in the least-expensive neighborhood, Bayview. Despite hopes for improvement, over time Bayview declined because of an illegal dumping problem. To protect his children, Brian started brainstorming ways to solve this problem. The ...

In this episode, Jon and I discuss some of the background to the previous episode. We discuss generalized versions of Hamilton's rule, Fisher's fundamental theorem, and Wright's fitness maximization formula. W. D. Hamilton used Sewall Wright's formula as the foundation of the theory of inclusive fitness. We discuss Wright's shifting balance theory and the role that Wright's formula played in his theory. We also discuss the difference between Wright's rendition of Fisher's fundamental th...

In this episode, my brother Jon and I discuss my work on the evolution of kin recognition. Jon is a software engineer and likes to put my arguments in terms of debugging software. For many years, the mere finding of kin recognition in nature was taken as prima facie evidence of W. D. Hamilton's theory of "inclusive fitness." A large paradigm was built on the teleological assumption that kin recognition is evidence of the final cause of "inclusive fitness maximization." A major anomaly t...

This is my first conversation with Chris Fortier, Vice President of the Web 3.0 company Rally. It begins when Chris questions me on what he calls my "natural forces" theory, which invokes two nonrandom forces of evolution: natural selection and natural reward. Relevant to this theory, we discuss the concept of teleology, especially as it relates to evolutionary adaptation and experimental evolution in microorganisms. We then review the "major transition” framework for classifying evolutionary...

Today, my brother Jon Gilbert addresses problems of income inequality and rising costs of living in the USA. In the first half of this episode, Jon presents figures showing the problem as it has manifested since the 1950s. Jon then argues that we may address the problem with a market-based solution: the use of "labor coins" to remove taxes on costs of living and transfer taxes to more frivolous expenditures. This is an interesting idea that I have never heard before, but which seems to mesh w...

Andrés Vega is a native Costa Rican who has devoted his life to conservation, education, and research in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. In this episode, I speak with Andrés about how he got interested in conservation and his new approach to preserving wildlife. Andrés recounts his first morning in Corcovado, in which he got to see, and get chased by, some of the most charismatic large animals that live there. We talk about the geological and biological features that make Corcova...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Nikunj Goel about about spatial sorting, which refers to the build up of dispersal morphs on expanding edges of populations. Dr. Goel is a postdoctoral researcher at UT Austin working with Tim Keitt. We begin with a discussion of Dr. Goel’s background in physics and math, how he got interested in biology, and his work in ecology. We then get into Dr. Goel’s views on biological theory, and his approach to using the Price equation to model spatial sorting. I as...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about a reviewer’s reaction to her book proposal. All academics deal with rejection. How a researcher deals with rejection determines whether she gets her work published, and how it will appear. We brainstorm strategies to deal with the reviewer’s response and the question of what approach to take in a revision. We discuss whether Komi should try to appeal to her opponents, or whether she should try to appeal to third parties. We also cover some o...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Komi German about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in academia and related issues. Komi is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Freedom (FIRE). Komi recently completed her Ph. D. in psychology at UC Riverside with a dissertation entitled, "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policies in Academia: The Faculty's Response." Komi's dissertation reviews the history of DEI in academia and reports the results of her surveys of UC...