Crack open for a hard boiled think
The power of Darwin’s theory of natural selection is beyond doubt, explaining how useful adaptations are preserved over generations. But the biggest mystery about evolution eluded him: how those adaptations arise in the first place. Can random mutations over a mere 3.8 billion years solely be responsible for wings, eyeballs, knees, photosynthesis, and the rest […]
The Arrival of the Fittest by Andreas Wagner Read More »
We tend to divide people pretty crudely into good and bad in our moral estimation. How much, though, do background factors play in moral behaviour? Genetics, parenting, economic conditions, quality of schooling, peer group association, and a whole host of other factors have influence. The individual has had no choice or control over any of these.
Hard Luck by Neil Levy Read More »
The news media in all its formats is saturated with reports of conflict and violence from around the world. A great deal of this violence is in the name of religion. Whole religious traditions as well as factions and sects within those traditions seek to assert their dominance over one another. Former Roman Catholic nun
Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong Read More »
100,000 years ago, at least six species of humanoid inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Homo Sapiens. How did our species survive and prosper up to the position we hold today? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Read More »
Nothing is more natural than to believe we have conscious control over our own choices. Indeed most of social behaviour including the criminal justice system is predicated on that conviction. What, though, if that presumption is simply not true? Professor Dick Swabb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Swaab) argues that everything we think, do, and refrain from doing is determined by our
We Are Our Brains by Dick Swaab Read More »
In 1980 I read ‘The Problem of Pain‘ (1940) by C.S. Lewis. It is essentially a defence of Christian doctrine – and the assertion of a loving God – in the face of ubiquitous suffering. It left many unresolved questions in my mind about the nature and existence of pain. Why, for example does pain have
The Story of Pain by Joanna Bourke Read More »
Have you ever wondered how the 3.3 pounds of gelatinous material inside your skull generates the amazing magic lantern show that humans call ‘consciousness’? This, in philosophy, is known as the ‘hard problem of consciousness’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness). Experimental science, undaunted, is having a go at finding out the answer. You may be surprised to learn just how long
Headhunters by Ben Shephard Read More »
If inequality doesn’t bother you a bit – turn away. If you believe it’s an obscenity that the rich can stash away £13 trillion in offshore investment accounts in order to avoid tax (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-22/news/32788549_1_tax-havens-tax-justice-network-investment-bank) whilst the poor are ground into the dust, made to work harder every day and have their income reduced – this
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Read More »
This is a treat for anyone who is already convinced by the ideas of evolutionary biology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_biology) or wishes an introduction to them. Here is a question…Will people born in the 1990s in the developed world live as long as those born 60 years ago? The upward trend in life expectancy of the last century
Mismatch by Peter Gluckman Read More »
