Watch Me Poison Myself

Jay has written something very interesting over at Makeout City as well as the comment he posted to We Quit Drinking So we're all drinking and smoking to get laid and make superior offspring. Thanks for the clarification -- but can't we just skip the smoking and drinking part and get down to the business at hand? Check ths out.

The idea is that substance abuse is very much like art. It is a signal to potential mates: "Look how rich I am, I can buy things that have no use and still have money for food"; or, the case of substance abuse: "Look how strong I am, even when I poison myself regularly I am still strong." These indicator signals are very common in animals. For example, zebras have a dance that they do when they see lions. This dance takes a long time and puts them at a disadvantage to escape, but through evolution it has come to signal to a lion that the zebra is very fast and they should both not waste their energy running when the lion will surely lose. Like alcohol, the immediate effect is debilitating, but the overall effect of the signal is an advantage.

BTW, will everyone stop writing interesting email and blog posts and comments, I'm going to be late to church and I can't be today.