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Runaway positive feedback and disease
Vicious cycles are everywhere once you recognize them
Jan 25
•
Randolph Nesse
15
8
3
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The genotype-to-phenotype path is a maze in a tangled bank
Severely limiting the power of genetic predictions
Jan 6
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Randolph Nesse
24
2
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Psychiatry’s Holy Grail does not exist. What now?
We need a medical view of disorders as failure modes in functional systems
Dec 14, 2025
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Randolph Nesse
41
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Viewing Diseases As Adaptations
An error that is as natural as it is serious
Oct 14, 2025
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Randolph Nesse
13
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Mood disorders are control system failure modes
Not products of specific brain abnormalities
Sep 15, 2025
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Randolph Nesse
54
1
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Epistasis Illustrated
to make the concept and formulas make sense
Sep 7, 2025
•
Randolph Nesse
8
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ADHD is not an adaptation
But foraging theory is crucial for understanding it
May 26, 2025
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Randolph Nesse
22
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The Body is not a Machine
This post is adapted from my 2016 essay that inspired the 2025 PNAS Nexus article with Guru Madhavan and Jay Labov on the origins of failure in bodies…
May 22, 2025
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Randolph Nesse
20
3
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Randy Nesse's essays on why evolution left us vulnerable to sickness, suffering, and simplistic thinking.
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