A new hypothesis for human evolution, based on the tendency of our species to nurture members of other species, has been developed by paleoanthropologists.
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July 20, 2010
New hypothesis for human evolution and human nature
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June 24, 2010
Against narrativity
'We understand ourselves through stories' is a common, even fashionable, sentiment. Not everybody agrees. Philosopher Galen Strawson's 2004 article "Against Narrativity" is a both-barrels attack on this idea. Strawson identifies two theories which he wishes to emphatically reject. The psychological Narrativity thesis is the idea that it is unavoidable human nature to experience their lives as a s
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9 Vote(s)
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February 26, 2010
Area responsible for neuroscience errors located
I liked this funny and recursive brain diagram from tech journalist Quinn Norton that makes fun of our tendency to be wowed by brain scans.The diagram has a good evidence base. A 2008 study found that adding a picture of a brain scan to a scientific argument about human nature made the general public more likely to be believe it even if brain activity wasn't relevant to the point being made.Anoth
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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September 24, 2009
When Assessing Risks, Our Emotions Can Lead Us Astray
If you find yourself more concerned about highly publicized dangers that grab your immediate attention such as terrorist attacks, while forgetting about the more mundane threats such as global warming, you're not alone. And you can't help it because it's human nature, according to a new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder psychology Professor Leaf Van Boven.
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9 Vote(s)
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August 8, 2009
Why Chimpanzees Make Bad Suicide Bombers
The Evolution of Spite is the Evil Twin of AltruismSomeone walks into a crowded restaurant, looks about the diners calmly, and blows themselves up as well as everyone nearby. Why? This is a scenario that forces us to explain the dark side of human nature. Why do humans have a capacity for such hate that they'll take their own lives in order to destroy others?A study in Proceedings of the Natio
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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June 3, 2009
Play Makes Us Human I: Outline of a Ludic Theory of Human Nature
I've been working lately on a ludic theory of human nature. In case you haven't studied Latin in a while (perhaps not since several lifetimes ago), I hereby inform you that ludic means playful. I'm calling my theory a ludic theory because if I called it a playful theory you wouldn't take it seriously. (I'm trying hard to ignore the fact that the only common English derivative of ludic is ludicrou
5 Vote(s)
5 Vote(s)
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