9 Comments
Oct 24Liked by Tommy Blanchard

Really fun to read this one. I'll mention your study the next time one of my colleagues tries to convince me the title of an article must be a fundamental truth

Expand full comment

"Not to toot my own horn, but I was a great monkey video game programmer."

This seems like this talent would be incredibly desirable in this day and age.

Expand full comment

Such a fun story, and an interesting look at the way diverse aspects of society intersect

Expand full comment

Enjoyed this. But am left wondering, after all this monkeying around, whether there were any implications related to free will? Is the very presence of a similar "evolutionary ancient bias" in a related species supportive of incompatibilism? Should we be chastened that we do no better?

Expand full comment

Cool story, Tommy! It’s classic how narrow minded people can be about research and how willing they are to jump on things as being wasteful despite the clear downstream benefits of understanding incentives.

Expand full comment

As a science/space nerd growing up, I hated Proxmire SO MUCH because he targeted studies based on how he could mock them and didn’t care at all about merit. He attacked a study about safety for flight attendants because he could make a joke about “restrained stewardesses”.

Expand full comment

Nice story telling!

Expand full comment

Be very careful when putting your mind in a monkey. Despite the wisdom offered by DT Suzuki in his classic ZEN MIND, BEGINNER'S MIND, never forget what happened in the movie ALL OF ME.

Expand full comment