Philosophy Wire: Fossil record. Universal patterns.

Instead of the typical bell-shaped curve, the fossil record shows a fat-tailed distribution, with extreme, outlier, events occurring with higher-than-expected probability. Using the same mathematical tools that describe stock market crashes, scientists explain the evolutionary dynamics that give rise to universal patterns in the fossil record. [1] Patterns. Made out of extreme exceptions. Old dinosaurs roaming the Earth. Dying. Humans conquering. Sun burning. Galaxies dissolving Humans dying. We think there are extreme events. But life itself is an extreme event. Look at your models again. No! There are no outliers in your model. Except the model itself…

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