Carl, it seems to me that a lot of what we’re discussing here has analogues in human food-sharing. Babyeaters who contribute more food to the pen might have higher tribal status. Punishing low contributors to the pen doesn’t force a homogenous level of reproductive effort, either. Suppose that all Babyeaters make equal contributions to the food pen; their leftover (variance in) food resources could be used to grow their own bodies, bribe desirable mates (those of good genetic material as witnessed by their large food contributions), or create larger numbers of offspring.
Under the circumstances, I also have to ask if you’re personally alarmed at the prospect of running into actual Babyeaters some day, or the universe actually looking like that; or if you’re just calmly picking nits.
Carl, it seems to me that a lot of what we’re discussing here has analogues in human food-sharing. Babyeaters who contribute more food to the pen might have higher tribal status. Punishing low contributors to the pen doesn’t force a homogenous level of reproductive effort, either. Suppose that all Babyeaters make equal contributions to the food pen; their leftover (variance in) food resources could be used to grow their own bodies, bribe desirable mates (those of good genetic material as witnessed by their large food contributions), or create larger numbers of offspring.
Under the circumstances, I also have to ask if you’re personally alarmed at the prospect of running into actual Babyeaters some day, or the universe actually looking like that; or if you’re just calmly picking nits.