The New Yorker has a piece this week on E. O. Wilson and others on current debate in evolutionary psychology and altruism. Online only has the summary, so you’ll have to buy a copy, but I expect quality from the magazine. E. O. Wilson published a fictional story on ants I found enjoyable and educational in the New Yorker himself a couple years ago. I saw Wilson speak and got[…] Keep reading →

I love this representation of the size of things in the universe so much I have to link to it, even though I prefer to post things that I created more of. Please check it out and play with it. (EDIT: alternative link) It’s an updated, interactive, unnarrated version of the great educational 1968 short film, the Powers of Ten. I think the movie and interactive representation show some of[…] Keep reading →

A friend asked why guys who have trouble meeting women insult them. With the worst insults you can think of, no less. As we’ll see, not only men in that context do it. In other contexts women do it. And not just about other people. I do it. You do it. Everybody does it. What’s going on? Let’s look at the pattern. It keeps you from improving your life, so[…] Keep reading →

I wanted to love the China Study, a bestselling book by a scientist and doctor on nutrition. It’s gotten a lot of media attention (from the NY Times, Huffington Post, Bill Clinton, and Oprah, for example). It’s based in science, promotes healthy eating, and does two main things — one well, one not so well. Overall, I like the book and recommend it. At the end of this post I[…] Keep reading →

If you look for problems you’ll find them. And you’ll fill your life with problems. But if you look for solutions you’ll find them too, and you’ll fill your life with solutions. You’ll find your problems go away or don’t show up at all. A day after posting on labels not helping with introversion and extraversion came this op-ed piece on a guy whom doctors diagnosed with autism, supposedly “a[…] Keep reading →

On a discussion online about introversion and extraversion, I responded to someone pointing out that the labels of introversion and extraversion hurt more than they helped. Labels add no value and hold people back from improving their lives. Dealing with groups requires one set of skills. Dealing with solitude requires another (with much overlap). If you don’t have skills for one situation you will avoid it. Once you acquire the[…] Keep reading →

I don’t see many people celebrating New York City’s incredibly comfortably warm January and February weather. I think it’s scaring people. When I was a kid people would have celebrated 62 degree weather in February. Now, with each of the past eleven years registering in the hottest twelve years on record, the chance we may see that the worst fears of global warming not only in our lifetimes, but in[…] Keep reading →