During the decade in which I was actively engaged in marital therapy, I became convinced that hidden beneath more superficial reasons that people marry each other is an evolved instinct to re-balance their respective temperaments. Temperament is the component of personality that is derived exclusively from genes and is comprised of blends of paired social …
BACK COVER OF THE BOOK The Ascension of the Human Spirit (excerpt) The remarkable aspect of evolution by sexual selection, which Darwin so courageously proposed, is that it is driven merely by the desire for a trait, in this case the desire for justice. I had realized that sexual selection is not only driven by …
I have been re-editing my book, and thought that this key juncture might hold together on its own. As mentioned, [Richard] Dawkins popularized the concept that natural selection can proceed at the level of genes. For example, some insects will sacrifice themselves for several of their genetic relatives. This is because it is actually the …
This morning I stumbled upon these paragraphs from my book that provide a shocking contrast to the hysteria into which we suddenly have been cast. The theme of the book is that, over the course of six million years, we have ascended from apes as a result of a naturally selected collective instinct for justice, …
The “radical” conservative philosophy being introduced by the Trump administration is old hat to Darwinian evolutionists. This is the philosophical strain flowing from Nietzsche to social Darwinists through Ayn Rand into Paul Ryan. It supports the businessman’s belief that he is the winner of life’s competitive contest is like the alpha male in a troop …
The Blog has stated before that the philosophical difference between the political left and right have their roots in their different views of human nature. This very moment of transition offers the philosopher of human nature a rare opportunity to have the distinctions on display. Thomas Hobbes expressed attitudes human nature popular on the political …
This Blog is about the three levels of motivation that have been laid down since primates started evolving groups about 52-million-years ago, and this post is about how Donald Trump fits into them. The deepest level is the ancient motivation for (sexual) domination in a hierarchy. Then, pushed by harsh climates and the threat of …
At the beginning of April, Pope Francis issued an “Apostolic Exhortation” on the subject of “Love in the Family,” which addresses the issue of divorce. Of great interest to the Blog is that the Pope has reintroduced conscience into Catholic dialogue. The Blog holds that the introduction of a collective conscience right at the beginning …
The social structure of humans was due to a decisive-and-then-stable shift in the level of selection: from the selection of individuals (for fitness) in apes to the selection associations between individuals (for fecundity & productivity) in humans.
Jill was in turmoil. She knew that Jack had been jealous of the dog he nicknamed Sissy
My uncle used to work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He was an artist in his soul and, among many other activities, designed the dioramas for the various exhibits. His favorite by far was the work he did at the Hall of Human Origins. He would often talk with great …
The megaliths at Brogdar, in the Orkney Islands stand as a clarion ring straight through to very heart of who we are.
This alternative view of human nature is a deeper, richer, and far more noble narrative of our exclusively human legacy: that of an indomitable spirit possessed of a will for justice and sustained through the millennia by the bounty that it fosters.
Primatologists’ disdain at the notion of an evolved human Spirit rivals that of the clergy in Darwin’s day.
Although there are limitations on how much can be known scientifically about the evolution of emotional experience through deep time, other methods of knowing can penetrate the origin of our emotions and thus reveal the core of human nature.
Linguist Steven Levinson criticizes evolutionary psychologist Michael Tomasello and linguist Derik Bickerson for being unable to shake loose of the “cold” abstract cognitive prerequisites rather than the “hot” motivational and interactive instincts that lie behind the universal patterns of multimodal communication.
Why, after 6 million years of aversively motivated group selection for cooperative monogamy, did Homo sapiens all of a sudden evolve a highly goal-oriented inclination for sex and vanity?
When the principle vector of evolution shift from the individual to relationships between individuals, that included subgroups, groups, groups of groups all the way up to biological families.
Due to decreasing birthrates in apes, natural selection switched from selection at the level of the fittest individual to the most PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS, not only between monogamous pair-bonds, but also between same sex relationships.
Sex evolved into mother-infant attachment in mammals under the protection of spiritual forces in dominance hierarchies; a sacred covenant creates hominins.
