Posted 07 Jul 2012 / 0
Social Evolution Forum “Matthew Zimmerman: Groups as the Most Natural and Useful Level of Analysis (a comment on Pinker)” I am not sure which frustrates me more: The contention that genes are the only “target” of selection; or The contention that selection on organisms is the only level at which selection occurs; or The contention Read More
A Minor Post, Altruism, Cooperation, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Multilevel Selection, Political Science, Sociology
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0
Science “Mining the Biodiversity of Plants: A Revolution in the Making” What’s fascinating to me about this is what happens when we have screened every plant we can find… will we then stop caring about the medicinal value of biodiversity?
A Minor Post, Biodiversity Loss, Genetics
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0
Science “The Development of C4 Rice: Current Progress and Future Challenges” I will be amazed if this works. The C3/C4 pathway split is a major evolutionary event in plants, and apparently we are poised to horizontally transfer this adaptation across lineages using genetic engineering. If this works, it will be an unprecedented feat of cultural Read More
A Minor Post, Food, Genetic Engineering, Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0
Science “Fences Make Good Nest Sites“
A Minor Post, Biodiversity Loss, Conservation Biology, Invasive Species
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0
Science “House Panel Set to Slash Climate, Environmental Research” Science “Environmental Science Feels Pinch in Canada’s Budget“
A Minor Post, Political Science, Public Policy
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0
PLoS Biology “The Limits to Sustainability Science: Ecological Constraints or Endless Innovation?” PLoS Biology “The Shifting Boundaries of Sustainability Science: Are We Doomed Yet?” PLoS Biology “The Macroecology of Sustainability“
A Minor Post, Macroecology, Sustainability
Posted 28 Jun 2012 / 1
Last summer I discussed a paper by Rand and Nowak that explored the dynamics of antisocial punishment in groups composed of cooperators, defectors, and loners playing a public goods game. In a conventional public goods game, at least some players must make a contribution in order to reap group reward. Cooperators make that contribution and Read More
A Major Post, Altruism, Articles, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Game Theory, Punishment
Posted 28 Jun 2012 / 0
Science Now “Mysterious Fairy Circles Are ‘Alive’“
A Minor Post
Posted 28 Jun 2012 / 0
Darwinian Conservatism “Does Strong Reciprocity Support a Darwinian Left?” This is a really interesting comparison of the “utopian” and “realist” versions of leftist politics, and of the struggle of thinkers like Singer. What I think needs to be kept in mind is that all these folks are doing more than just trying to produce science Read More
A Minor Post, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Punishment, Reciprocity, Social Norms
Posted 28 Jun 2012 / 0
Huffington Post David Sloan Wilson blog “The Nature of Regulation I: Breaking Out of Our Narrative Prisons“
A Minor Post
