Posted 06 Oct 2012 / 0
The Chronicle of Higher Education “The Marketplace in Your Brain” I think that this article suggests that much of economics is not much of a science. Faced with new information, mainstream economics has failed to update its models of how the world works. Doing so would make economics akin to physics or medicine or evolutionary Read More
A Minor Post, Belief, Economics, Emotion, Evolutionary Psychology, Game Theory, Neuroscience, Psychological Adaptation, Psychology, Religion, Social Networks, Social Norms
Posted 28 Sep 2012 / 2
PLoS ONE “What Are Punishment and Reputation for?” Once again, a valuable and ingenious experiment over-reaches on the meaning of its finding, and the over-reach bleeds into the popular media. This is a really valuable experiment in that it asks about the scale at which social norms are enforced. It is significant that participants in Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Behavior, Cooperation, Ethics, Evolutionary Psychology, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Multilevel Selection, Psychological Adaptation, Punishment, Reciprocity, Reputation, Social Networks, Social Norms
Posted 28 Jun 2012 / 0
Darwinian Conservatism “Does Strong Reciprocity Support a Darwinian Left?” This is a really interesting comparison of the “utopian” and “realist” versions of leftist politics, and of the struggle of thinkers like Singer. What I think needs to be kept in mind is that all these folks are doing more than just trying to produce science Read More
A Minor Post, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Punishment, Reciprocity, Social Norms
Posted 24 Jun 2012 / 0
Psychology Today “Busting Myths About Human Nature“
A Minor Post, Human Nature, Social Norms
Posted 29 May 2012 / 0
NPR Planet Money “Who Decides Whether This 26-Year-Old Woman Gets A Lung Transplant?” Although this feature does make some interesting observations about the economic dilemmas associated with donated organ assignment, it misses the bigger picture: if everyone elected to donate their organs upon death, increased supply would diminish a lot of the dilemma.
A Minor Post, Altruism, Radio & Podcasts, Social Norms
Posted 21 May 2012 / 0
Darwinian Conservatism “Darwinian Natural Right in E. O. Wilson’s New Book” One of the most interesting issues raised by this post has to do with “evolutionary ethics” and that question of whether there is a natural morality. I would caution against confusing this issue with the “naturalistic fallacy”, which to me has to do with Read More
A Minor Post, Cooperation, Ethics, Social Norms, Web
Posted 21 May 2012 / 0
Huffington Post David Sloan Wilson “The New Atheism and Evolutionary Religious Studies: Clarifying Their Relationship” It might surprise you which discipline is more scientific in their approach!
A Minor Post, Cultural Evolution, Evolution, Religion, Social Norms
