Posted 25 Oct 2013 / 0
This View of Life “The Role Of Writing And Recordkeeping In The Cultural Evolution Of Human Cooperation” What is also so interesting about written language is that it is another means of defining a group: only those who are literate and can read the particular recorded language can fully benefit from the cooperation fostered by Read More
A Minor Post, Cooperation, Empathy, Group Selection, Multilevel Selection
Posted 25 Oct 2013 / 0
The Chronicle of Higher Education “Bringing up brainchildren” This is such a fun and insightful essay on the relationship between our pursuits that yield — alternatively — genetic and memetic fitness. It effectively captures the wish of the intellectual producer to leave behind a legacy of ideas, to affect the cultural idea pool in some Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Cultural Evolution, Gene-Culture Coevolution, Memetic Fitness
Posted 25 Oct 2013 / 0
The Chronicle of Higher Education “MOOCs and the Arts: A Plea for Slow Education” This article makes some great points about what kinds of teaching are and are not compatible with massive, anonymous, separated forms of education: in some fields learning can come from a well-crafted exercise that involves no other interaction than learner with Read More
A Minor Post, Art & Design, Articles, Higher Education, Teaching, Teaching Tools
Posted 11 Oct 2013 / 0
Web Information Systems Engineering – WISE 2013 “A Study on the Evolution of Cooperation in Networks“
A Minor Post, Articles, Game Theory, Social Networks, System Stability
Posted 11 Oct 2013 / 0
WMAC Northeast Public Radio “Academic Minute: Dr. Alicia Melis, University of Warwick – Cooperation and Chimpanzees” Chimps’ ability to take the perspective of others has been questioned, but this set of experiments seems to show that chimps can mentally put themselves in the place of a comrade, imagining what that comrade should do and then Read More
A Minor Post, Behavioral Ecology, Cooperation, Human Uniqueness, Primates, Radio & Podcasts, Reciprocity, Web
Posted 10 Oct 2013 / 0
Wired “On the Microbial Frontier, Cheaters Rarely Prosper” This is fascinating, particularly because it attempts to connect the ability of bacteria to sustain cooperation through range expansion with the unique range expansion undertaken by humans in the last 30,000 years. I am not sure this will be a fruitful comparison, but you have to give it Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Cooperation, Evolutionary Modeling, Microbial Ecology, Web
Posted 07 Oct 2013 / 0
The Economist “Science’s Sokal Moment” Science “Who’s Afraid of Peer Review?” The correct term for the kinds of journals that publish open-access work that is poorly reviewed is “predatory”. Like unaccredited “universities”, they prey on scientists whose work is not high enough in quality or significance to publish in the larger, mainstream journals by offering Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Economics, Ethics, Periodicals, Publication, Scientific Fraud, Web
Posted 27 Sep 2013 / 0
It’s the beginning of another very exciting Fall semester and one of my regular duties — as club advisor to Envirolutions — is in full swing. This has been an exceptional semester so far, as our veteran leaders in the club have become extremely well-versed in what it takes to bring more sustainable practices to our Read More
A Minor Post, Envirolutions, Pratt Institute, Sustainability
Posted 19 Sep 2013 / 0
Inhabitat “The Biomimicry Manual: What Can Sloths Teach Us About Energy Efficiency?“
A Minor Post, Adaptation, Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Coevolution, Green Design, Mutualism, Tropical Forest, Web
Posted 19 Sep 2013 / 0
The Chronicle of Higher Education “‘Farm to Brain’: Locavore Education vs. MOOCs” What I really appreciate about this piece (full disclosure: it was written by my current Dean) is that it makes clear that the MOOC model is simply the extensification of the big research university model of education. It is no wonder that these educational Read More
A Minor Post, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Teaching, Web
