Tag Archives: Signaling theory
Sabbatical is Here!
Have I started relaxing yet? Everyone asks me this. Do y’all not know me? We just arrived at my in-laws for the holiday, & I’m already thinking about how to fill my days. I don’t relax well. But I am … Continue reading
Tattooing Primes the Immune System
…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
Menstrual Huts Signal Paternal Certainty
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
The Wrong Holy Ghost
Out this week in Ethos is a paper I wrote called “‘The Wrong Holy Ghost’” Discerning the Apostolic Gift of Discernment using a Signaling and Systems Theoretical Approach.” It’s about an incident I call “the wrong Holy Ghost” because that … Continue reading
Signaling Religious Commitment in Brazilian Candomble
I was critiqued in a recent NSF grant proposal review that, while I elegantly integrated signaling & cultural consensus theories in my research design, my statements that (1) signaling theory derives from evolutionary biology & (2) that no one has … Continue reading
Evolutionary Tchotchkes as Objectified Cultural Capital
I was recently skimming thru human behavioral ecologist Lee Cronk’s book That Complex Whole looking for a good definition of signaling theory (which I couldn’t find there but found in a recent Bulbulia & Sosis article). In rereading Lee’s intro, I saw that one … Continue reading
Cueing Self-Deception thru Cosmetics & Speaking in Tongues
In my friend Bria Dunham’s piece, “The Role for Signaling Theory and Receiver Psychology in Marketing,” I came across this line: In women, facial masculinity may serve as a cue of sexual attitudes and behavior due to the underlying association … Continue reading
WHY CAESAR’S WIFE MUST BE ABOVE SUSPICION: MATES FUNCTION AS HONEST INDICATORS OF STATUS AND PRESTIGE. BY BEN AND BO WINEGARD.
In Plutarch’s Life of Julius Caesar, a story is related that Julius Caesar divorced his wife (Pompeia) because of rumors of opprobrious behavior. At trial, Caesar said he knew nothing about his wife’s rumored adultery, but asserted that he divorced her … Continue reading