Munger’s notion of what makes recall easy for Munger, then revised to make

Munger’s use easy as he seeks to avoid errors.

 

I will start my summary with a general observation that helps explain what

follows. This observation is grounded in what we know about social insects. The

limitations inherent in evolution’s development of the nervous-system cells that

control behavior are beautifully demonstrated by these insects, which often have

a mere 100,000 or so cells in their entire nervous systems, compared to man’s

multiple billions of cells in his brain alone.

 

Each ant, like each human, is composed of a living physical structure plus

behavioral algorithms in its nerve cells. In the ant’s case, the behavioral

algorithms are few in number and almost entirely genetic in origin. The ant

learns a little behavior from experiences, but mostly it merely responds to ten

or so stimuli with a few simple responses programmed into its nervous system by

its genes.

 

Naturally, the simple ant behavior system has extreme limitations because of its

limited nerve-system repertoire. For instance, one type of ant, when it smells a

pheromone given off by a dead ant’s body in the hive, immediately responds by

cooperating with other ants in carrying the dead body out of the hive. And

Harvard’s great E.O. Wilson performed one of the best psychology experiments

ever done when he painted dead-ant pheromone on a live ant. Quite naturally, the

other ants dragged this useful live ant out of the hive even though it kicked

and otherwise protested throughout the entire process. Such is the brain of the