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cybermuleI've nearly finished the Selfish Gene, which I've been meaning to read for years.
The theory is as follows. Wessex Trains are a bit shit, and only have room for two bikes on board. That's not the only reason they are crap, but it's the relevant reason.
They generally run commuter services to and from large connubations.
The further from such a place of work you live, the more likely you are to be highly paid. It has to be worth your while to travel in that far on expensive trains.
Also, the more likely you are to be able to get your goddam bike on the train. So the more likely you are to be pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Live too near to work, and you're likely to be less well off, and less likely to be able to get your bike on the train. Assuming you can get it through the poky little door. Which is less likely than for posh people, as you'll have a bulky mountain bike that probably fell off the back of a lorry.
If you are already healthier and wealthier than average by the above two rules, you are more likely to propagate your genes. Your genetic stock will start to prevail.
Sooner or later, however, the pendulum will swing the other way, as normal folk will remove your genes from the pool by bludgeoning you to death with the bikes that they can never fit on the train due to your monopolisation of the little bike space, then dragging your carcass along like a trophy to deter other inbred, round-vowelled miscreants.
And so the cycle will continue. This is what I learned from my book today, while freezing at the station.
What I learned today that wasn't in my book was that sometimes you can come home, and somebody will have dug a random hole in your front garden.
Note to reader: posh people are very rarely wise. That doesn't come into the equation, unless you count genetic wins as inherent intelligence. It just sounded good.
The theory is as follows. Wessex Trains are a bit shit, and only have room for two bikes on board. That's not the only reason they are crap, but it's the relevant reason.
They generally run commuter services to and from large connubations.
The further from such a place of work you live, the more likely you are to be highly paid. It has to be worth your while to travel in that far on expensive trains.
Also, the more likely you are to be able to get your goddam bike on the train. So the more likely you are to be pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Live too near to work, and you're likely to be less well off, and less likely to be able to get your bike on the train. Assuming you can get it through the poky little door. Which is less likely than for posh people, as you'll have a bulky mountain bike that probably fell off the back of a lorry.
If you are already healthier and wealthier than average by the above two rules, you are more likely to propagate your genes. Your genetic stock will start to prevail.
Sooner or later, however, the pendulum will swing the other way, as normal folk will remove your genes from the pool by bludgeoning you to death with the bikes that they can never fit on the train due to your monopolisation of the little bike space, then dragging your carcass along like a trophy to deter other inbred, round-vowelled miscreants.
And so the cycle will continue. This is what I learned from my book today, while freezing at the station.
What I learned today that wasn't in my book was that sometimes you can come home, and somebody will have dug a random hole in your front garden.
Note to reader: posh people are very rarely wise. That doesn't come into the equation, unless you count genetic wins as inherent intelligence. It just sounded good.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-23 09:02 pm (UTC)