Author Archives: Christopher Lynn

About Christopher Lynn

Christopher Dana Lynn is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama, where he founded the Evolutionary Studies program. Chris teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in biological anthropology, human sexuality, evolution, biocultural medical anthropology, and neuroanthropology. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology in 2009 from the University at Albany, SUNY, where his doctoral focus was on the influence of speaking in tongues on stress response among Pentecostals. Chris runs a human behavioral ecology research group where the objectives include studying fun gimmicky things like trance, religious behavior, tattooing, and sex as a way of introducing students to the rigors of evolutionary science. In all his “free” time, he breaks up fights among his triplet sons, enjoys marriage to the other Loretta Lynn, strokes his mustache, and has learned to be passionate about Alabama football (Roll Tide!). Follow Chris on Twitter: @Chris_Ly

Television News, Embedments, & Cognitive Evolutionary Literary Studies

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

I just met Bill Evans earlier this semester, who is a professor in the Department of Telecommunications & Film here at the University of Alabama & has had an abiding interest in evolutionary approaches to media analysis. I feel this … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution in Arts, Evolution in Media, Literary Darwinism | Tagged embedments, Jonathan Haidt, Lisa Zunshine, Richard Alexander, theory of mind, William Evans | Comments Off

You Can Minor in Evolutionary Studies & Start as an Assistant Professor in a Business School at $150k per Year

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

After that little bombshell, I just sort of zoned out & walked thru the rest of the day in a dissociative fugue, wondering about how different it would have been had I known that 15 years ago. I would love … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution and Psychology, Evolution in Media, Evolutionary Consumption | Tagged A.J. McCarron, ALLELE, Consuming Instinct, Crimson Tide, football, Gad Saad, T.J. Yeldon | Comments Off

What about a Lentil is Less Creative?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

Catching up again on articles sent to me over the past few years, a 2010 Science summary by Ann Gibbons of a Current Biology piece by Philipp Gunz & colleagues (“Brain development after birth differs between Neanderthals and modern humans”) indicates … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biological Anthropology | Tagged brain expansion, cerebellum, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Neandertals, Neanderthals, parietal, Steven Mithen, temporal | Comments Off

Hey there, Lil’ Red Riding Hood, You Sure are Lookin’ Good..

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

You’re everything a big bad wolf could want… This is cool as shit. Thanks to Lee Dugatkin for sharing on Facebook. Jamshid Tehrani in the Department of Anthropology & Centre for the Coevolution of Biology & Culture at Durham University … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Cultural Evolution, Evolution in Arts, Literary Darwinism | Tagged folklore, Grimm Brothers, Jamshid Tehrani, Little Red Riding Hood, phylogenetics, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs | 1 Comment

Darwinian thoughts on Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

I recently pulled out an old paper I wrote as an undergraduate examining Joseph Conrad & D.H. Lawrence using Darwinian theory of consciousness & self-deception derived from Richard Alexander’s “Evolution of the Human Psyche.” This would have been 1995 or 1996 … Continue reading →

Posted in Literary Darwinism | Tagged "Mother's Little Helper", Antonio Damasio, Fahrenheit 451, Itchy & Scratchy, Ray Bradbury, Richard Alexander, science fiction, self-deception, smartphones, sociobiology, The Rolling Stones, The Simpsons | 2 Comments

Cooperators Attract Cooperators, Non-Cooperators are Stuck with Each Other

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

In catching up on a back-log of articles people have emailed me, I’m absorbing what I think are probably obvious but nonetheless profound implications of a study by Coren Apicella, Frank Marlowe, James Fowler, & Nicholas Christakis that was published … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Cultural Evolution | Tagged behavioral immune system, cooperation, Coren L. Apicella, degree assortativity, degree distribution, Frank W. Marlowe, free-riders, Hadza, homophily, hunter-gatherers, James H. Fowler, Joseph Henrich, Nicholas A. Christakis, parasite-driven wedge, reciprocity, social networks, transitivity | 2 Comments

Baba does Bama

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

Hip hop evolutionist & playwright Baba Brinkman performed for the Bama ALLELE series last night. He got one of the best turnouts we’ve had, & I think it was one of our better efforts at promoting evolution education. Unlike many … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution and Psychology, Mating and Sexuality | Tagged ALLELE, Baba Brinkman, Margo Wilson, Martin Daly, University of Alabama | Comments Off

Of Epigenetic Aggression & Silver Foxes

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

Originally posted on the “Biology, Culture, & Evolution” blog of the UA Anthropology Blog Network at http://anthropology.ua.edu/blogs/ant475/2013/09/24/of-epigenetic-aggression-silver-foxes/ . Epigenetic Mechanisms, Quick & Dirty Jablonka & Raz (2009) show us this elegant illustration of broad and narrow epigenetic transmission. Epigenetic inheritance in … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Anthropology, Evolution and Biology | Tagged epigenetics, Eva Jablonka, Gal Raz, Nina Popova, serotonin, silver foxes | Comments Off

University Greek Systems are Natural Experiments for Multi-Level Selection Theory (Waiting to be Investigated)

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

I was talking with a UA EvoS student & member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority the other day about the current controversy here in Tuscaloosa. Last week, a municipal school board election was essentially bought by greek-backed candidates. This student … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Evolution, Evolution in Higher Education | Tagged Cason Kirby, E.O. Wilson, Joe Scarborough, Kelly Horwitz, law, Lee Garrison, Machine, multi-level selection, politics | 1 Comment

Watch Out Grad Students, Junior Faculty, & New Parents: Why I Eat Sh*t When I am Operating on Just a Few Hours Sleep

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

From a Scientific American Mind (September/October 2009) that I finally got to after it hung out for 4 years in my bathroom “library,” re a study by Motivala et al published in May 2009 Psychoneuroendocrinology: Sleep mediates ghrelin and leptin … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution and Biology, Evolutionary Medicine | Tagged food, ghrelin, leptin, sleep | Comments Off