Re: poly: Why Oldies Stations?

Curt Adams writes:
>>Why don't kids just listen to their parent's oldies station,
>>to start out with already filtered stuff?, and then slowly
>>explore other options.
>
>The short answer is that their preferences may well not resemble
>their parents. Music is a fairly idosyncratic thing.

I meant considering the group of kids as a whole, why do they
so ignore the oldies? Of course any one kid may differ from her
parents, but the group of kids as a whole should differ less from
the group of parents as a whole.

>>what is it exactly about being up one the latest food and music
>>fashions that makes a mate attractive? Does it signal that one
>>is socially connected and hence popular, and hence likely to have
>>other attractive qualities?
>...
>Generally speaking, sexual selection elements don't have to have any
>value other than being sexual selection elements.

Huh? Selected-for sexual strategies may not have an overall value
to the species, but they must have a value to the individuals involved.

Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/
RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-8614
Received on Mon Apr 6 16:26:44 1998