evolution

Monkey Morality and the Problem of Human Morality

 The New York Times and the Times Online have published stories on primates and the origins of morality.  They mention several primate experiments in which monkeys and chimps display prosocial behaviors such as helping others when there is no reward, sharing with companions, consoling companions, and remembering and repaying debts.   These results add to a … Continue reading »

Grandparents, Parents, and Favoritism

One of the main theories used by evolutionary psychologists to explain altruism in humans is the kin selection theory, which states that altruistic behavior benefits the genes based on the degree of relatedness.  To put it simply, any gene from this generation will essentially be half a gene in the next generation because of recombination, … Continue reading »

Vatican: Darwin was on the right track

Once again, religion is giving ground to science when it becomes painfully obvious that religion is wrong.  The Vatican has released a statement essentially accepting that Darwin was right and that humans really did descend from ape-like ancestors.  That’s not all.  In a rather crushing blow to Intelligent Design, Vatican officials have deemed it a … Continue reading »

On Morality, “Should,” and Murder

The “Should Trap” and How we Ought to Behave I’ve frequently mentioned the trap hidden in the word, “should.” It’s time now for us to look at exactly what the word means, what it doesn’t mean, and how a good understanding of these things will allow us to understand how humans form concepts of morality. … Continue reading »

What is Morality?

In my years of debating with theists, one of the most common accusations leveled at atheists is the trap of moral relativism. Without a system of absolute beliefs about morality, they claim, society will descend into anarchy. There will be no way to decide what is right and what is wrong, and we will have … Continue reading »

Myth, Sexuality, and Culture: Part 2: The influence of the church

Please read THE FIRST PART of this continuing series. Please read THE THIRD PART of this continuing series. The Influence of The Church I’m going to begin my survey more or less at the same time that the first Christian cults appeared, or around 55 CE. However, we need to make some observations about the state … Continue reading »

Myth, Sexuality, and Culture: Part 1

PART 2 PART 3 I’m going to break this entry down into multiple parts, posting one per day, as it is quite long, and on reflection, I think it’s too much to ask readers to spend so much time per day on a blog entry.  To that end, if it seems as if there’s more … Continue reading »

More on Sexual Selection

I’ve explained in a little detail how female selection can cause runaway growth, as in a peacock’s tail or, as it turns out, a human brain.  I’m just going to take a few minutes today to explore one more aspect of the math behind runaway selection. In most sexually reproducing species, there is really no … Continue reading »

Evolutionary Psychology in Action

In a recent article in Evolutionary Psychology, Brown, Young, Sacco, Bernstein, and Claypool have presented their findings from two studies dealing with social inclusion and mating.  I’m going to attempt to give you the layman’s version and contrast it with the scientific explanation to try to show you how we can think scientifically about our … Continue reading »

Evolutionary Arms Races

Natural selection is not good at efficiency. Arms races in nature tend towards pushing the limits of energy absorption, and tend away from energy efficiency. Is this really evidence of intelligent design? Why doesn’t nature seem to have the forethought to do what’s best for itself, instead opting for immediate advantage over long term efficiency? If this author were the designer, things would surely be much different.

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