Learn About Your Brain and Change Your Life
I recently read Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson. The book catalogs the author's journey to understand the human brain. Johnson learns everything from how we read the minds of others to the...
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Evolution's Role in the Production of Beer
Did you ever wonder how yeast evolved the ability to produce alcohol? An article in the New Scientist presents a unique look at the evolutionary history of yeast and why the ability to produce alcohol...
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Consciousness as a Positive Feedback Loop
In Hofstadter's new book, I am a Strange Loop, consciousness is explained as a positive feedback loop. The Pulitzer Prize winning author, describes humans as evolved perceivers. As Simon Baron-Cohen...
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Cross-Dressing Cuttlefish
"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed...
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The Evolution of a Moral Faculty
Some religious opponents argue that we need religion because it provides us with a moral compass. According to them, without religion we would be wicked, hedonistic creatures that only looked out for...
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The Evolution of Sickness
Just yesterday I came down with a horrible case of the flu, which is why I am writing this post. Usually when we are sick, we do not spend much time thinking about what the evolutionary functions of...
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Moral Emotions vs. Moral Reasoning
Psychologist are currently debating the underlying processes involved in our moral judgments. Some psychologists believe that our moral judgments are caused by automatic unconscious moral intuitions...
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A Tribute to Kurt Vonnegut
As most of you probably already know, Kurt Vonnegut passed away April 11, 2007. Kurt Vonnegut was one of America's greatest authors. He was probably best known for his satire and black comedy. His many...
View ArticleScience Blogs
Some of my friends have taken it upon themselves to pimp my blog by referring to people to my site. I am writing this post to return the favor.First of all, I would like to say that Like a Lake is the...
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Reason vs. Faith: Move Over Religion, Science is Moving In
I am sure that everybody remembers Kirk Cameron, the child star from “Growing Pains.” Well, he grew up to be a Christian Fundamental Bible Pusher. Kirk and his friend Ray Comfort are pushing a program...
View ArticleEvolution is Not Magic: In Response to Mr. or Ms. Anonymous
Dear Anonymous, thank you for your comment, but I fear that you grossly misunderstand evolution. Evolution is not a magic trick and does not occur by random chance. It is a systematic process of...
View ArticleMate Poaching: How Rivals Intend to Steal Your Mate
Evolutionary psychology has paid a lot of attention to mating strategies. Recent research has paid specific attention to strategies that people use to attract mates who are already in a committed...
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More Evidence for the Role of Moral Emotions in the Formation of Moral Judgments
I recently posted some of the findings from my thesis, which suggests that moral emotions are more predictive of moral judgments than moral reasoning. Specifically, people who are high in disgust...
View ArticleWhy Does Disgust Induction Cause Conservatives to Become More Prejudice but...
For the purposes of this post, I am going to refer to high authoritarians as conservatives and low authoritarians as liberals. I have two reasons for doing this: 1. Political conservatism is strongly...
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Evolutionary Robotics, Self-Perception, and Evolutionary Theory
Evolutionary robotics is a relatively new field that integrates evolutionary theory, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Researchers in the field of evolutionary robotics create fitness functions...
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The Adaptive Value of Exaggerated Strength: The Case of Violent Human Yells
“What is a human being in a rage? On my sacred honor, nothing but a human beast! The next time it happens to you, look at yourself in the glass; and you will find your soul gone out of you at your...
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Why We Kill Each Other: The Evolution of War
In order to understand why we kill each other, the concept of war must be approached from an objective perspective. It is too simplistic and uninformative to qualitatively state that all war is bad or...
View ArticleTop Five Reasons for Wanting a Presidential Debate on Science
The first editorial in the February 7th issue of Nature discusses a petition for a presidential debate that would focus on scientific and technological issues. There has been significant support for...
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Yuck! More Evidence that Disgust Influences Our Moral Judgments
Disgust is an emotion that has evolved to protect us from ingesting toxins that could be potentially harmful to our survival and ultimately, to our ability to pass on our genes. Charles Darwin (1872)...
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