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Evolution is central to the understanding of life, including human life. Like all living things, we are outcomes of natural selection; we got here bec...more

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Computation has finally demystified mentalistic terms. Beliefs are inscriptions in memory, desires are goal inscriptions, thinking is computation, per...more

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Some people think that evolutionary psychology claims to have discovered that human nature is selfish and wicked. But they are flattering the research...more

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Many textbooks point out that no animal has evolved wheels and cite the fact as an example of how evolution is often incapable of finding the optimal ...more

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Many people think that the theory of the selfish gene says that “animals try to spread their genes.” That misstates the facts and it misstates the the...more

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The typical imperative from biology is not "Thou shalt... ," but "If ... then ... else.

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Perhaps we should rejoice that people’s emotions aren’t designed for the good of the group. Often the best way to benefit one’s group is to displace, ...more

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A design can excel at one challenge only by compromising at others.

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Even evolutionary explanations of the traditional division of labor by sex do not imply that it is unchangeable, “natural” in the sense of good, or so...more

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Thinking is computation, I claim, but that does not mean that the computer is a good metaphor for the mind. The mind is a set of modules, but the modu...more

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A bumper sticker from the 1970s read, “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.

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The Darwinian approach to sex is often attacked as being antifeminist, but that is just wrong. Indeed, the accusation is baffling on the face of it, e...more

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Language-lovers know that there is a word for every fear. Are you afraid of wine? Then you have oenophobia. Tremulous about train travel? You suffer f...more

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Some people think that evolutionary psychology claims to have discovered that human nature is selfish and wicked. But they are flattering the research...more

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It looks as if the offspring have eyes so that they can see well (bad, teleological, backward causation), but that's an illusion. The offspring have e...more