Category Archives: Hypotheses

Are We Confusing Self-Deceptive Enhancement with Illusory Superiority?

A New Statesman post by Uta Frith found its way to me this morning via a Tweet by @SteveSilberman with the catchphrase, “Men are more likely to think their IQ is 5 pts higher than it is, and women think theirs … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Evolution and Psychology, Exaptation, Hypotheses | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Assholes and Self-Deception

  Findings just published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Kristina Durante et al. indicate that women are hormonally deluded during ovulation to believe that hot guys will stick around. This is a crass way of saying … Continue reading

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Posted in Adaptation, Evolution and Psychology, Hypotheses, Mating and Sexuality | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fireside Trance and the Boob Tube

When I was in my early 20s & wanted to be the next Charles Bukowski, I used to hang out at a bar called Coney Island High on St. Mark’s Place in NYC after work. Consistent with the Bukowski schtick, I … Continue reading

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Wrangham’s “Catching Fire” and Selection for Calmness

Several years back sociologist James McClenon speculated in a 1997 article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion that selection for prosocial calmness took place in Homo erectus when they started manipulating fire. I took issue with this, … Continue reading

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Darwin’s Lessons for the Graduates

Hear that robin singing in the morning? Smell the white blossoms on the natural rose bushes near the woods? See the turkey vultures soaring high – in communicative harmony with one another? Note this: The same forces accounting for these examples account for everything you see when you look in a mirror. Your are part of this magnificent natural world. This insight is, for my money, what makes Darwinism a truly spiritual approach to the world.
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Posted in Evolution and Biology, Evolution and Psychology, Evolution and Scientific Method, Evolution in the Classroom, Fact, Glenn Geher, Hypotheses, Theory | 3 Comments

The Giraffe’s … tale.

“The great tragedy of Science – the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.“ Thomas H. Huxley (1825 – 1895) English biologist; supporter of Darwin; father of Aldous & Julian Huxley. Missed Opportunities In the lead up to … Continue reading

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Posted in Evolution and Biology, Evolution and Psychology, Evolution and Scientific Method, Fact, Hypotheses, Theory | 5 Comments