Category Archives: Human Nature

Rare Earth updates: recent research on why complex & intelligent life are rare in the Universe

Preface. These are updates to Ward & Brownlee’s book “Rare Earth: Why Complex life is Uncommon in the Universe”. If we are one of the few planets with intelligent life, what a shame it would be if we destroyed ourselves … Continue reading

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Prime movers of human evolution

Preface. The human brain and culture evolved at an astonishing rate, making scientists wonder what conditions and ecological pressures drove it, why we became homo sapiens so quickly. This is a post that will grow over time as I find … Continue reading

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Review of Wrangham’s The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue & Violence in Human Evolution

Preface. This is a fantastic, must read book if you’re at all interested in how we evolved to be who we are today, how we domesticated ourselves, gossip, conformity, violence and more.  It reminds me of why I don’t read … Continue reading

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Book Review: Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight & Loose Cultures Wire Our World

Preface.  A must-read book for those who want to understand themselves, their family and friends, their culture and the world.  A new framework that gives clearer vision, rather than muddying it up by giving false understandings like astrology or seeing … Continue reading

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Why some people are conservative and others liberal

Preface. Although I thought Chris Mooney’s book “The Republican Brain” was brilliant, I couldn’t help but thinking that these conservative and liberal viewpoints must be embedded in our psychology from how we evolved over the last 300,000 years.  What follows … Continue reading

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The History of Drunkenness

Preface. This is a book review of “A short history of Drunkenness” by Mark Forsyth. I expect alcohol to be a big part of life postcarbon not only because most cultures have embraced alcohol, but to drown the sorrows and … Continue reading

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Book Review “Conservatives without Conscience” by John Dean

Preface. This is a book review of “Conservatives without Conscience” by John Dean. It is the best book I’ve read in explaining the history of conservatism and leaders like Newt Gingrich on the increasing authoritarianism of Republicans, It also explains … Continue reading

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A Strong Case for the Anthropocene: no other species has ever consumed so much of earth’s resources so quickly

Figure 1. Produced energy and the pattern of human population growth from 1750. Utilization of these energy sources, together with the energy used by humans from net primary production, is now approaching the entire energy available to the global ecosystem … Continue reading

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Native American enslavement

Preface.  This is a book review of “The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America” by Andrés Reséndez Slavery is an important postcarbon topic because given our past history, future wood-based civilizations will certainly return to slavery, … Continue reading

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A book review of “Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America“ by David J. Silverman

Preface. This is a book review of “Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America“ by David J. Silverman 2016. I found this book hard to put down.  It should be read because it tells the role guns played … Continue reading

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