Category Archives: Anthropology

How Exactly is Evolution a “Crosscutting Concept”? Enter Bill Nye the Science Guy

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Christopher Lynn

Finally, Some Evolution Controversy: No Such Thing As Bad Press If you’re like me, you are feeling pretty bummed today about not getting a ticket to see Bill Nye. The fact that only a limited number of students were able … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Evolution & Astronomy, Evolution & Pop Culture, Evolution in Higher Education, Evolution in Media, Evolution in the Classroom | Tagged Alabama Lectures on Life's Evolution, ALLELE, Bill Nye, Bill Nye the Science Guy, E.O. Wilson | Comments Off

Reflections on the Costs of Evolved Self-Awareness: Comparing Trajectories of Davids—Foster Wallace & Insurgent

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Christopher Lynn

I’m going to be writing on the costly implications of self-awareness in a forthcoming book & was walking around listening to Reagan Youth on Spotify & David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest on Audible when some parallels occurred to me. I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Evolution & Pop Culture, Evolution and Psychology, Evolution in Arts, Exaptation, Hypotheses, Literary Darwinism | Tagged CBGB's, Dave Insurgent, Dave Rubenstein, David Foster Wallace, depression, heroin addiction, Infinite Jest, Kurt Cobain, Lunachicks, marijuana addiction, New York Scum Rock, Nirvana, punk rock, Reagan Youth, self-awareness, self-obsession, suicide | Comments Off

Darwin’s Daily & Hourly Dharma

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Christopher Lynn

I’m just going to leave this right here… Yes, I know, I should explain, but my mind is reeling a bit right now. Ever have those experiences when you stumble across a literature that advances a model that runs parallel to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Evolution and Psychology, Evolutionary Medicine, Genetics | Tagged absorption, Ernest Rossi, eye-roll test, hypnosis, hypnotizability, Rebecca Seligman, Stanley Greenfield, Tanya Luhrmann | Comments Off

Tattooing Primes the Immune System

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Christopher Lynn

…But First, a Test of the “Rap Guide to Evolution”… A few weeks ago I presented a poster at the Human Biology Association annual scientific meeting about the roles of emotions in learning about evolution via a performance of Baba … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biological Anthropology | Tagged Baba Brinkman, EALS, Human Biology Association, immunoglobulin A, Ink and Immunity Study, innoculation hypothesis, inoculation hypothesis, Johnna Dominguez, Rap Guide to Evolution, Signaling theory, skin conductance, tattooing | 3 Comments

The Endemicity & Pervasiveness of Sexual Harassment

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Christopher Lynn

I just came back from great presentation & networking conferences, as usual elated by the collaborative opportunities & feedback about my work & the performances of my students & rejuvenated to push envelopes. I also returned slightly less oblivious to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biological Anthropology | Tagged SAFE13, sexual harassment | 1 Comment

Fire Up Your Hearth: Relax & Stay Warm (While Being Energetically Inefficient)

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Christopher Lynn

My lab & I have presented on & written about fireside relaxation so many times by this point that I’m running out of clever titles. However, now that our first paper has finally been published &, as it happens, at … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology | Tagged Coke Zero, Evolutionary Psychology, fire, fireside relaxation, fireside trance | 1 Comment

Is Cunnilingus an Adaptation to Increase Intercourse Length & Increase the Probability of Fertilization?

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Christopher Lynn

Several years ago a student of mine (Christy McGee) in my “Anthropology of Sex” class was studying highly promiscuous women with the hypothesis that they would be averse to cunnilingus. She suggested that cunnilingus was a male means of detecting infidelity. … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptation, Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Hypotheses, Mating and Sexuality | Tagged bats, bonobos, cunnilingus, Flying Fox, Gordon Gallup | 2 Comments

Tuscaloosa is BEST: Prosociality in Tuscaloosa

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Christopher Lynn

This past spring I started a study called the Belongingness Ecology Study Tuscaloosa (BEST). Like the Religious Ecology Study Tuscaloosa (REST) before it & over which I consider it an umbrella project, it grew out of the readings & activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Cultural Evolution | Tagged Belongingness Ecology Study, BEST, Dan Kruger, Daniel O'Brien, David Sloan Wilson, Developmental Assets Profile, Flint, group selection, lost-letter study, Madagascar, multi-level selection, Newcastle-on-Tyne, prosociality, Religious ecology study, REST, Search Institute, Tuscaloosa | Comments Off

Cognitive Evolution via Campfire Stories

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Christopher Lynn

A fantastic analysis of fireside conversations among Ju/’hoansi Bushmen collected over the course of four decades (1970s-2000s) was recently published by Polly Wiessner in PNAS Early Edition (“Embers of society: Firelight talk among the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen“—thanks to Daniel Lende & … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology | Tagged Bushmen, Catching Fire, fire, fireside relaxation, fireside trance, Ju/'hoansi, Polly Wiesner | Comments Off

Menstrual Huts Signal Paternal Certainty

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Christopher Lynn

An article from 2012 by Beverly Strassmann & colleagues is the first piece I think I’ve read that connects religious signaling to actual reproductive fitness, instead of merely group commitment (not that there’s anything wrong with that). They analyzed genetic … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Evolution | Tagged Beverly Strassmann, cuckoldry, Dogon, menstrual huts, paternal certainty, religious signaling, Signaling theory | Comments Off