Author Archives: Dan

Dan

About Dan

Daniel Tumminelli O’Brien, PhD, is the Project Manager of the Harvard Boston Research Initiative at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Binghamton University where he has been a key player in the development of the Binghamton Neighborhood Project. Both projects bring together academic and city agencies in the development of innovative solutions for the everyday challenges of urban life. Amidst these efforts, his own research focuses on urban social behavior. As an educator, he has concentrated on pedagogical techniques that bring evolutionary theory to classrooms outside the biological sciences.

A-Roid

Before moving forward into deeper, more philosophical commentaries on the role of testosterone in shaping world history, I want to make a simple comparison. I’m not sure how many people reading this blog are Yankee fans, nor how many are … Continue reading

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A Clockwork Strategy

I was reading SUNY Plattsburgh professor William Tooke’s most recent blog post on this site about the old Stanley Kubrick film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and started thinking about another Kubrick film: A Clockwork Orange. The main character in this … Continue reading

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Worried about (not) Breastfeeding

Last week I was helping a student who had questions on human physiology. Jenn was very comfortable with the details of physiology—the chemicals, cell types, processes—but she was having trouble seeing the forest for the trees. As we talked, it … Continue reading

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Everyday Evolution: Exploring the Way Daily Events Illustrate Our Evolved Psychology

For my entire life I have been deeply intrigued by the human species, and why not? We are brilliantly pragmatic, finding ways and means to conquer every ecology the planet has to offer. We are constantly improving technology to become … Continue reading

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Posted in Evolution and Psychology | 2 Comments