Coming to a restaurant near you?

Paul, the octopus, is (for all we know) six-for-six in his World Cup picks. This is much better than most of us. The other Paul (Paul Bloom) writes about "essentialism" and all of the episodes that reveal our enjoyment of (and our bids for) artifacts that are "genuine" or that have been touched by the rich and famous. He wonders whether this is adaptive behavior or just a Spandrel. I enjoyed the book, but am not yet convinced of either side of the argument.

But never mind. Octopus appears on the menus of many fine restaurants and I am waiting to hear about the bidding for Paul (the octopus). Paul (the author) mentions that many cannibals are inspired by the idea that they inherit the qualities of the people they partake of.

UPDATE

The New Yorker has this long piece on the challenges of authentication. Score one more for Paul Bloom.