Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Patternicity and that jerk on the cell phone

Posted 22 May 2009 / 0

I was recently taking the Amtrak down from Vermont to New York City when I noticed an interesting contrast, pointed out to me by a chatty fellow passenger. I generally favor trains over planes when it comes to travel: trains have a drastically smaller carbon footprint, are more reliable, and allow more legroom. But one Read More

A Major Post, Consciousness, Evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, Human Evolution, Psychological Adaptation

Human Adaptation and Happiness

Posted 18 May 2009 / 0

I just finished reading a fascinating article in The Atlantic entitled “What Makes Us Happy?”. Although I am not all that well-read or at all trained in human behavioral science, I am increasingly interested by it, and this article by Joshua Wolf Shenk does an amazing job covering a lot of ground. In the past Read More

A Major Post, Adaptation, Altruism, Data Limitation, Ecology, Evolutionary Psychology, Happiness, Human Evolution, Long Term Ecological Research, Psychological Adaptation

Common Ground Symposium at Columbia University

Posted 13 May 2009 / 0

On May 3rd and 4th I attended and participated in a public symposium at Columbia University entitled “Science and Religion in Dialogue for a Sustainable Future”. The symposium, co-sponsored by Columbia’s Center for the Study of Science and Religion and The Fetzer Institute, was part of the Common Ground symposium series. Jeffrey Sachs, who writes Read More

A Major Post, Cooperation, Environmental Justice, Religion, Sustainability