Tag: Anthropology

Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation

It looks like ancient humans got around.  It's pretty well known now that most of us have Neanderthal DNA, but apparently a lot us also have Denisovan DNA: Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation -- ScienceDaily. Tibetans were able to adapt to high altitudes thanks to a gene picked up when their ancestors … Continue reading Extinct human cousin gave Tibetans advantage at high elevation →

Vitamin D apparently has nothing to do with skin color

This article is a reminder that in science, nothing is certain until you have evidence (even then, nothing is totally certain): In human evolution, changes in skin's barrier set northern Europeans apart -- ScienceDaily. The popular idea that northern Europeans developed light skin to absorb more UV light so they could make more vitamin D -- vital … Continue reading Vitamin D apparently has nothing to do with skin color →

Neanderthals ate their veggies

We know this because: Found: Oldest Known Poop From a Human Ancestor | RealClearScience. Archaeologists in Spain have dug up the oldest known feces from a human ancestor. Their find is detailed inPLoS ONE. Retrieved from El Salt, an open-air site near Alicante, Spain, the samples date back around 50,000 years, firmly trouncing the previous record of … Continue reading Neanderthals ate their veggies →

Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed, a brief review

After my post the other day on what fields I thought someone needed to be familiar with for coming up with credible theories about why civilizations collapse, a number of people recommended I read Jared Diamond's book, 'Collapse'.  I finished it this week, and like the other books I've read by Diamond, I enjoyed it. … Continue reading Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed, a brief review →

The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion

Today at lunch I listened to the latest Point of Inquiry podcast, which was an interview of Marlene Zuk about her new book on common delusions about evolution and the paleolithic life style.  These misconceptions usually run along the lines of assuming that since we evolved to be hunter gatherers, that we should live like those … Continue reading The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion →

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question)

The other day, I did a post asking what religion is.  This TED talk by Kwame Anthony Appiah seems to be in much the same theme, pointing out that making accurate generalizations about religion is difficult since there is no one definition of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY I do think that perhaps Appiah may be hiding behind exceptions … Continue reading Kwame Anthony Appiah: Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question) →

The ages of communication

I think I've mentioned before that I only recently came the realization that the scientific revolution was more a matter of increased communication than necessarily a breakthrough in method.  Along the lines of this realization, I have a few thoughts about communication and its effects on human history. Humans are social animals.  Communication between and among … Continue reading The ages of communication →

The ethics of allowing uncontacted natives to remain uncontacted

This video has also been around a while, but I just saw it this weekend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLErPqqCC54 Watching this, I had three conflicting sets of emotions.  The first is amazement that there are still tribes in the wild that have not yet been contacted by the outside world.  I find that remarkable. The second is a feeling of … Continue reading The ethics of allowing uncontacted natives to remain uncontacted →

Beauty is determined by both biology and culture

Science can't determine values, and this includes aesthetics, beauty.  But that doesn't mean science has nothing to say about beauty.  As this article at PolicyMic indicates, it can study what most of us see as beauty and explore the reasons why we see it as beautiful. The primary reason we are alive is to reproduce … Continue reading Beauty is determined by both biology and culture →