Eric Michael Johnson has a Bachelors degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Evolutionary Anthropology. He pursued his PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke before joining the University of British Columbia to complete a doctorate in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Grand evolutionary dramas about human origins capture our imagination and the stories provide context as to how we view ourselves. They are the scientific version of creation myths. However, unlike Adam and Eve being fashioned in the garden or humanity being vomited up by the giant Mbombo (as the…
Classical literature has judged Helen of Troy harshly. Because she chose Paris after having children with Menelaus, her chroniclers condemn her for the destruction of a great society. In Homer's Odyssey the bard writes:
Helen would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country, if she…
Three products that profit on male insecurities (Enzyte, Viagra and Tiger Penis Wine)
Note: the third image is from a campaign to encourage people to stop, not an actual ad.
In my earlier posts I explored why women experience menopause and discussed the Grandmother Hypothesis as a leading…
There may need to be a significant revision in the recent description of one of humanity's oldest ancestors. Ardipithecus ramidus (or "Ardi" for short), the 4.4 million year old hominid fossil discovery, has been a godsend to paleoanthropologists (pun intended). But one of the key researchers has…
The Primate Diaries will have been at its new home here at ScienceBlogs for three months this coming Halloween. I know there are a considerable number of regular readers but from where I sit you're all a faceless mob, sitting invisibly out there in the impenetrable dark. I'd like to turn on the…
In my earlier post I discussed the "Grandmother Hypothesis" as an explanation for human reproductive senescence, or menopause. A problem arises in understanding why women forgo one-third (and sometimes as much as one-half) of their reproductive lives, a condition unique in the natural world.…
This, of course, refers to the famous remarks (almost four days old now) in which Richard Dawkins' suggestion that there be a separation of church and state in public schools was shouted down by O'Reilly's claim that he was imposing fascism.
Poor Winston Smith. When Orwell wrote his novel there…
"Babul" performed by Shubha Mudgal is a gorgeously produced music video that emphasizes the heartbreak of female domestic violence as seen through the eyes of a child.
According to Amnesty International:
In this video about female domestic abuse, a child walks through a party in which all the…
Whether they're referred to as hot flashes, power surges or personal summers, the experience of menopause is not fun. But could it be the result of human evolution?
One of the most fascinating areas of research in evolutionary studies is the question of reproductive senescence. Why do women go…
You know, it could work. Consider the Vatican's net worth as reported by Paul Velelli in the London Independent:
⢠The Vatican Bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione, manages £2bn of assets. It does not reveal its profits or dividends, which are paid directly to the Pope. It enjoys the…
In the classic film Casablanca, the drama hinges on Ilsa's choice between two men: her kind and supportive husband or her rugged and passionate ex-lover. In a moment of abandon, Ilsa returns to her lover's arms only to later change her mind and choose the more stable life she would have with her…
Bidding opens soon and I think the chances are good that we could nail this one. Top contenders so far are Azerbaijan and Sierra Leone. Chicago has some issues with government corruption and public safety, which is why it's currently in third place.
The Silly Olympics From Monty Python Live at…
In Aztec cosmology, Venus was associated with the god Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Nahuatl for "Lord of the Dawn"). In the mythic tale Legend of the Suns, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli attempted to shoot the sun with an arrow, but he missed and shot himself instead. The Aztecs had a sophisticated science of…
Researchers from Simon Fraser University, just a stone's throw from where I sit in Vancouver, have determined that the side effects from this endocrine disruptor can alter children's behavior:
Researchers have just linked prenatal exposure to bisphenol-A - a near-ubiquitous industrial chemical -…
Aldous Huxley wrote in his Collected Essays that, "Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know." In Plants and Empire: Colonial Bioprospecting in the Atlantic World, Stanford historian Londa Schiebinger highlights the role that such intentional ignorance…
Grrl Scientist has posted The Nobel Prize Edition of Scientia Pro Publica at Living the Scientific Life. Grrl will be leaving for Germany soon so please stop by and congratulate her on another great science carnival.
K'Naan - "Soo Bax"
K'Naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and was there when the Somali Civil War broke out in the early 90s before emigrating and getting his break in Canada (w00t!). Since then he's worked with Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, The Roots, Dead Prez, and Pharoahe Monch and released two…
CBS is reporting that ex-Senator Rick Santorum (who lost his Pennsylvania seat in 2006 with 41% of the vote) has entered the running for 2012 along with the likes of Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. All of them are staunch right-wing fundamentalist Christians who have advocated changing the…
I had the opportunity to see this live in April. I had never heard of Lawrence Lessig prior to this presentation, but I haven't been able to forget it. I'm so pleased to have found it online.
The Carnival of Evolution #16: The [find modest synonym for outstanding] edition is now up at Pleiotropy. Head on over and thank Bjørn for another great edition.
Over the years anthropologists have had a good deal to say about notions of power and inequality. For example, the late CUNY anthropologist Eric R. Wolf took his early experiences working with peasants in Puerto Rico to explore these larger questions in the global system. In the opening to his…
SUNY-Binghampton evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson currently has a response to my review "Survival of the Kindest" up at Seedmagazine.com. In his response he suggests that Dawkinsian critics such as Frans de Waal and Joan Roughgarden have adopted a group selection perspective in all but…
Seed magazine has just posted my review of Frans de Waal's The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society. I wanted to use this opportunity to thank Nikki, Evan, Bora and everyone else that helped in developing this piece. For posts on related topics please see Misunderstanding Dawkins…
Author's Note: This piece is a continuation of my article "Survival of the Kindest" that appeared in Seed magazine.
As an undergraduate in biology and anthropology I read every one of Dawkins' books voraciously and would get into heated debates with my close friends about the Dawkins-Gould rivalry…
Scientia Pro Publica, the biweekly blog carnival of science, is now up at The Lab Rat. Rats and primates haven't always gotten along, but I appreciate the interspecies support in the inclusion of my recent piece. Thanks for another great edition.
Fair and balanced ain't what it used to. The Huffington Post has published video of FOXNews producer Heidi Noonan encouraging protesters at the 9/12 event to be loud and boisterous while Griff Jenkins "reported" on their outrage. Noonan is seen motioning to the crowd periodically while speaking…
Heracles battles Death for generosity's sake / Frederic Lord Leighton (1869-71)
Whereas great scientific theories stand the test of time when they accurately predict the natural world through repeated empirical trials, great literature transcends the ages when it speaks to universal qualities of…
In fitting in with the recent sightings of conspiracy minded Stormtroopers here at ScienceBlogs I thought I would add my own contribution to the remix. Here Derrick Jensen tells the story of the little known early version of the film before it was optioned to an unknown director named George Lucas…
