Category Archives: Evolutionary Psychology

One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 5: examples

on December 15, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] As a final note on empathy gaps, I wanted to note a few examples of empathy gaps — using them, observing them in others, and observing them in yourself. Researchers normally present empathy[…] Keep reading →

One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 4: overcoming them

on December 14, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Now we are familiar with empathy gaps — that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion. We get how insidious they can be[…] Keep reading →

One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 3: why empathy gaps make sense

on December 13, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] As usual, understanding ourselves better helps us overcome the problems of empathy gaps — that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion. Yet[…] Keep reading →

One of the most insidious barriers to getting hard things done, part 2: research and experiments

on December 12, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Yesterday I talked about the effect that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion, nor do you realize you can’t, also known as[…] Keep reading →

You’re an animal

on December 6, 2012 in Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

Sometimes when I talk about how I don’t eat meat or avoid leather people will comment Josh, you know animals aren’t people. If you think they’re at the same level as us, you’re missing something. They’re implying we’re more advanced than animals. I respond I’m not elevating them to a higher level. I’m not that impressed with us. I find thinking about us as animals gives me more insight to[…] Keep reading →

First cherries of spring!

on May 30, 2012 in Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature

If the first cherries of spring don’t warrant a post of their own, I don’t know what does. Billions of years of evolution led to them tasting so good — on their side and mine. After all the amazing tropical fruits of Vietnam and China, I like being reminded of how good some local fruit here can taste. Every spring I eat cherries until they make me feel woozy. Then[…] Keep reading →

The difference between men and women

on May 29, 2012 in Blog, Evolutionary Psychology, Nature, Tips

I’m going to explain a major difference between men and women that will help men understand women and women understand men. It won’t explain everything, but it will help you understand the opposite sex better than most perspectives. I’ll overstate the point for clarity. You have to figure out for yourself how much to dial it back. And keep in mind, I’m presenting a model. If it works for you,[…] Keep reading →

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