This is an interesting theoretical article from Frontiers in Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience on the evolution of the human capacity for pattern processing as a uniquely human trait. According to Mattson, superior pattern processing (SPP) [is] the fundamental basis of most, if not all, unique features of the human brain including intelligence, language, imagination, invention, … Read more
I have only skimmed this article, but I see in this Big History approach the possibility of its use in integral theory to replace Ken Wilber’s teleological version of cosmological evolution. This could only be a good thing for integral theory since Wilber’s misconceptions about evolution have been widely criticized. By way of clarification, here … Read more
From the journal Behavioral and Brain Science, this is a very interesting and long article on the process of creating intentional change in people. Two of the authors are the evolutionary sociobiologist, David Sloan Wilson, and the creator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Steven C. Hayes. I am only including the abstract and introduction, … Read more
Bruce Hood is the author of The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity (2012). His new book is The Domesticated Brain: A Pelican Introduction, and he was at The RSA in England recently to talk about the new book. Bruce Hood on the Domesticated Brain 7th May 2014 Listen to the audio (full … Read more
I love it when reality interferes with crazy. This cool article and podcast comes from Mother Jones. The book that serves as the foundation for this piece is Neil Shubin’s Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. This Fish Crawled Out of the Water…and Into Creationists’ Nightmares Some 375 … Read more
This is a brief but cool little article from Rick Hanson’s blog – and this may be preaching to the choir, but it felt worth sharing. The Effect of Relationships on the Evolution of the Brain posted on: April 10th, 2014 Your brain is the product of 3.5 billion years of intense evolutionary pressure, including … Read more
I may not be able to blog this week, since I’m going to be spending some quality time with my family, so I’m leaving you dear readers with a fascinating documentary. We’ve seen in multiple cases before the intricacies of various animals. What’s different about today’s documentary is that it showcases the interesting and intricate … Read more
Every now and then a cartoon comes along that, through the use of a hilarious reductio ad absurdum, so clearly and succinctly demolishes creationism as a viable alternative hypothesis to explain the complexity and diversity of life, exposes its inherent irrationality, and makes clear its ulterior motivation and the double standards on which it is … Read more
Penises… they’re great. In my case, we’re best friends. I never leave home without mine. Do you? It may seem pretty obvious what they’re for (what, with their relentless one-mind track), but there are still many mysteries surrounding these anatomical masterpieces. For instance, how come lots of species sport a bone in theirs while humans … Read more
The art and science of formal classification owes its origin to the great philosopher Aristotle, who conceived of a conceptual tree whose trunk and branches denote different divisions of ontology, hierarchies of being, logical and natural relations, etc. This tree metaphor became ubiquitous until very recently. It’s been used to map historical and genealogical changes … Read more