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Normism: The Philosophy of Norm Macdonald, a short book I wrote about the late great comedian, is available on Amazon.
Category Archives: Science
Liberals Are More Emotion-Driven Than Conservatives
From EurekaAlert: Emotions are powerful motivators of human behavior and attitudes. Emotions also play an important role in guiding policy support in conflict and other political contexts. Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya have studied … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Sociology
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Did “King Kong” (1933) Create Nessie?
Here’s an interesting sociological angle regarding the Loch Ness Monster mythos: New research from America’s Columbia University suggests the sightings in northern Scotland were triggered by the release of the 1933 classic, which, along with the giant rampaging gorilla, also … Continue reading
Posted in Sociology
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Europeans Drawn From Three Ancient ‘Tribes’
From the BBC: The modern European gene pool was formed when three ancient populations mixed within the last 7,000 years, Nature journal reports. Blue-eyed, swarthy hunters mingled with brown-eyed, pale skinned farmers as the latter swept into Europe from the … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution
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‘The Nation’ on Evolutionary Psychology
In The Nation (of all Rousseaun places) is a good article on the appeal and potential flaws (namely, tautology) of evolutionary psychology as an explanatory schema.
Posted in Evolution, HBD, Psychology
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Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat?
In a Chronicle article (“Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat?“), the focus is on the thought experiments of Nick Bostrom, who directs the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. When the world ends, it may not be by … Continue reading
Posted in Nanotechnology, Science
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Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness
The Atlantic has an article on “Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness” (from 2013): People who are happy but have little-to-no sense of meaning in their lives have the same gene expression patterns as people who are enduring chronic adversity.
Posted in Culture, Psychology
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Were We Happier in the Stone Age?
Yuval Noah Harari asks “Were we happier in the stone age?” Even if we take into account solely the citizens of today’s affluent societies, Romantics may point out that our comfort and security have their price. Homo sapiens evolved as … Continue reading
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus was a thinker far ahead of his time. From a TLS review of two new books on him (Robert Mayhew’s Malthus: The life and legacies of an untimely prophet and Alan Macfarlane’s Thomas Malthus And The Making Of … Continue reading
Discrimination as Ingroup Favoritism (Not Outgroup Hostility)
How did this brief article, by Eliana Dockterman, get past the Time editors? (“Sometimes Discrimination Is More About Favoritism Than Hostility, Research Says“): Most cases of recent prejudice stem from preference for the ingroup, not hate for the outgroup. Discrimination … Continue reading
Posted in HBD, Psychology
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The Strange Evolution of Eugenics
Another wonderful post by Steve Sailer in TakiMag (“The Strange Evolution of Eugenics“), the jumping off point being Nicholas Wade’s new book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History. Sailer notes the reception of Wade’s book is breaking down … Continue reading