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NEW! Evolutionary Tidbit of the Moment
In seemingly unrelated languages from every corner of the globe, the word corresponding to "mother" contains a sound like /ma/, as in "amma," "mama," or "ima." Father words tend to have the /pa/ or /ba/ sound, like "appa," "abba," "baba," or "papa." A discarded hypothesis held that the words for "mother" and "father" had remained largely unchanged from a proto-language from which all modern languages evolved.
The currently favored explanation is that these are the first sounds infants are able to make, with /m/ being slightly easier (and thus developing sooner) than /p/ or /b/, explaining why the primary caretaker (usually the mother) tends to be referred to by words which sound like "mama" in languages all the world over.
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Interpreting the cup: Schopenhauer, Darwin, and human suffering.
I There is something discomfiting about our society’s constant moral admonitions that we should be happy. The world is not always a benevolent place. And our lives are not always filled with joy. It is vexing to pretend perpetually … Continue reading
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Evolutionarily-Informed Headphone Design!
Fair warning, this post won’t be about evolutionary clinical psychology per se, but a bit about how a functional, evolutionary perspective can inform technological solutions for better living! Most of us take our binaural hearing for granted. Having two working ears … Continue reading
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Signaling Singleness: Mating Intelligence and Black Day
This post was co-authored with Jessica Fell Williams who is an MA student in Psychology at SUNY New Paltz and a member of the Evolutionary Psychology Lab. This is cross-posted at the Psychology Today blogs and at the blogroll for … Continue reading
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EvoS Summer Courses from New Paltz – Summer 2013!
Evolutionary Studies Seminar (EVO 301; instructor is Glenn Geher) and Evolution and Human Health (EVO 201; instructor is Hamilton Stapell) will be offered in a fully online format this summer (along with several other courses that comprise New Paltz’s unique … Continue reading
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The Two Tragedies of life
“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” Oscar Wilde In Mike Cahill’s idiosyncratic and charming indie film King of California, a mentally troubled man with … Continue reading
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More on “Angst,” a New Book on Evolutionary Psychopathology
A couple months ago, I mentioned a new book of interest to those who like clinical psychology and evolution. It’s called Angst: Origins of Anxiety and Depression by Jeffrey P. Kahn, M.D., a psychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medical College who … Continue reading
Evolutionary Psychology for Kids – Part 1
Evolution and Human Behavior – Thoughts for 6th Graders In late 2011, my daughter Megan, then 11, was taking an awesome social studies class in 6th grade. Her teacher, Ms. Naclerio, was very interested in evolution and human origins – … Continue reading
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Mating Intelligence Unleashed is now unleashed!
Good news (at least for me and Scott Barry Kaufman!) – Mating Intelligence Unleashed: The role of the mind in sex, dating, and love has just been released. This book, the product of a great deal of time and energy … Continue reading
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What Academia Should be Like – Anthropology, Gender, Evolution, and Sharing of Ideas in an Academic Community
What Academia Should be Like – Anthropology, Gender, Evolution, and Sharing of Ideas in an Academic Community I was very fortunate to be asked to give a guest lecture in Ben Junge’s Anthropology of Gender class earlier this semester. This … Continue reading
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Angst: A New Book on Evolutionary Clinical Psychology!
Continuing the cute trend of popular science books with one-word titles, Jeffrey P. Kahn, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center has just published the new book Angst: The Origins of Anxiety and Depression. The … Continue reading
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