Re: [asa] Darwin and Saving for Retirement

David,

Interesting post! First off, I'd like to have your definition of
"Darwinism". I realize this is off-topic and has been discussed before,
but I believe it's imperative to have an agreement on this terminology.

Certainly our behaviors are influenced by our wiring --- the hypothalamus
with its influence on the "four F's", e.g. Our carcasses are animal. For
the Christian it's clear there's more to being human than being a
biologically evolved big-brained primate. We're more than animals, but
our physical nature is animal which is shared by common ancestry with all
animals. Perhaps Original Sin is just the opportunistic animal nature
that conflicts with the altruistic divine nature?

Roger

> In today's Wall Street Journal, there's an article titled "Why Your
> 'Lizard
> Brain' Makes You a Bad Investor--and How to Battle Back" (no link
> available
> without subscription). Here's what the article reports:
>
>
> It's helpful to think of our brains as having two parts, says Boston money
> manager Terry Burnham, author of 'Mean Markets and Lizard Brains' and
> co-author of "Mean Genes." There's the analytical part, which is the part
> that calculates that we need to save $542 a month for retirement. And
> then
> there's what Mr. Burnham calls the 'lizard brain,' which includes the
> instincts that helped our ancestors survive. And the lizard brain says
> its'
> better to consume, so let's take that $542 and go shopping.
>
> ...
>
> So why do we strive for more? . . . 'There isn't necessarily a stop
> mecnanism in us that says, Relax, you've got enough,' notes Robert
> Trivers,
> an evolutionary biologist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.
> 'We've evolved to be maximizing machines.'
>
> ...
>
> For our ancestors to survive, they had to be good at spotting patterns,
> such
> as figuring out when and where they were likely to find wild animals, fish
> and other foods. But relying on past patterns can be a disaster if you're
> hunting for winners in today's markets.
>
>
> Does Darwinism apply to social behaviours such as spending vs. saving
> income?
>

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