The Biological Realist approach to...
almost anything human
Canada to constitutionally enshrine anti-science Social Constructionism
UPDATE: Bill C-16 has been passed by the House of Commons. If passed by the Senate it will become law. For a Department of Justice statement on the bill's Constitutional impacts, see here. Canadians can look forward to up to five years in jail for violating the...
Does Evolutionary Theory Entail Moral Relativism?
Today’s topic is one I’ve wrestled with a lot in the last couple years. I think I’ve finally resolved it in a coherent way, but, who knows? Think of this as a progress report, at least. For some people well versed in evolutionary biology and psychology, simply asking...
You never know, unless you try! (Though, you might soon.)
Conjuring up a well of limitless human potential, an old platitude – “you never know, unless you try” – is coming to now take on a slightly different inflection. In the process, the accuracy of the claim is likewise sliding slowly toward obsolescence. The original...
Snowden: A Biological Realist Review
Oliver Stone’s most recent film tells the story of Edward Snowden’s circumstances, decisions and execution of a plan to publish evidence revealing spying practices of the National Security Agency. Snowden became convinced that the NSA was violating the constitution...
Are We Humans Our Own Primary Hostile Force of Nature?
There are a lot of popular clichés about humans among people not as informed as they should be about evolutionary biology that get too much air play and word of mouth. For instance, there’s the claim that we’re the only species that fight each other in groups. Not...
Do We Overvalue Cooperation?
A big topic in the scholarship on human social evolution is our peculiar proclivity for cooperation. There’s no doubt that human cooperation is pretty remarkable, in a number of ways. The benefits it brings in terms of pooled risk, division of labour and economies of...
