john_SPAM{at}wilkins.id.au (John Wilkins) wrote in
news:c6q1cm$2baq$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> Wirt Atmar  wrote:
> 
>> Joe writes about John Maynard Smith:
>> 
>> >Perhaps you'd "never guess" it because he left the
British Communist
>> >Party in 1956.  A mere 48 years ago.
>> 
>> Which of course brings to mind one of Winston Churchill's most famous
>> (and disputed) quotes:
>> 
>> "If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart.
>> If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.'
>> 
>> Wirt Atmar
> 
> Also ascribed to Russell, Shaw and, of course, Wilde.
> 
> [moderator's note: Of course, I said it first. - JAH]

And which of course also has a solid adaptationist explanation - Larry 
Moran  (if you are reading this) STOP HERE :-)

At age 20, most of us are relatively impoverished and would love to share 
the wealth of those who have more. At age 40, most of us (at least in the 
middle class) have managed to accumulate a modicum of property and would 
like to protect it from the upstarts. Was this true among hunter-
gatherers? 

I would guess that the tendency towards increasing conservatism with age 
would still exist, if not for worldy possessions at least in a decreased 
willingness to take risks - anyone who survived to age 40 probably 
already had children and would have more interest in staying alive to 
protect that "investment".


Yours,

Bill Morse  

P.S. While I have not yet gotten around to reading any of John Maynard 
Smith's books directly, I would be hard pressed to name any significant 
book on evolution written after the 60's that did not include a reference 
to his work. He will be sorely missed.
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