evolutionary

Does evolutionary psychology imply we have no free will?

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Begging for Sympathy

Panhandling is a surprisingly lucrative profession:Anecdotal surveys by journalists and police, and even testimony by panhandlers themselves, suggest that begging can yield anywhere from $20 to...

Teens and Sex

You've got to feel very sorry for Bristol Palin. The poor teenager isn't running for political office and yet she's the subject of two front page stories in the NY Times today. All of a sudden, every...

Evolutionary

Ideas: Who is Against Evolution?It’s a widespread view, but true in only a narrow sense. People who say they are against teaching the theory of evolution are very likely to be Christian...

Paper — Random Drift versus Selection in Academic Vocabulary: An Evolutionary Analysis of Published

Random Drift versus Selection in Academic Vocabulary: An Evolutionary Analysis of Published Keywords Source: PLoS ONEThe evolution of vocabulary in academic publishing is characterized via keyword...

On Human Sacrifice and Political Correctness

This text is somewhat related to one of my older essays, about the history of cacao and chocolate. When I was younger, I was once told that regularly practiced cannibalism didn't exist in any society...

Crows Can Recognize Human Faces

The saying may go that elephants never forget, but scientists have proven that crows never forget a face. At the very least, they can recognize individual human faces. The New York Times reports...

Quote of the Day #6: Get Off Your Ass

If we sit on our heels and wait for some apocalyptic insurrection or some evolutionary stage, which, to be frank, doesn't look as if it is coming, then we will find that any instinct for mutual aid...

Cooking and Cognition: How Humans Got So Smart

The human brain went through two enormous evolutionary changes -- one in size, followed by an even more important one in cognitive ability. Your brain consumes huge amounts of calories and...

Why Chili Peppers are Hot

The hotness of chili peppers has always been something of an evolutionary mystery. A plant creates fruit in order to entice animals to eat and disperse its seeds -- so why would any fruit be...

Fake It To Make It: What Swedish Trout Might Tell Us About Breeding Selectivity

by Philip H. DISCLAIMER - The opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author alone. They do NOT represent the official opinion, policy, or action of any governmental agency the...