Blame it on evolution — we’re not perfect! Some quotes from the article:
“Our brains have evolved to live in the moment…”
“Most pleasure springs from the ancestral, reflexive system…”
“Thinking of the brain’s pleasure system as a kluge…”
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NEUROSCIENCE: A WORK IN PROGRESS
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May 16, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, evolution, evolutionary psychology, neuroeconomics |
book review, kluge |
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Time magazine article on love and evolution. The part on pheromones may be inaccurate as it mentions women synchronizing their menstrual cylces, and I am pretty sure I’ve read a recent study debunking that. But it seems to be up to date on the MHC detection issue, with the surprising conclusion that our high divorce rate may be affected by women selecting their mates while on birth control pills and realizing their choice is wrong after they get off it (nomally women prefer men with opposite MHC to their own; but while pregnant or on the pill, they prefer like MHC).
And most importantly, the wise advice: do not pick your mate with elevated levels of adrenalin — that seems to make them more appealing than they really are.
Here is the story:
Why We Love
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January 28, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
anthropology, behaviour, emotions, evolution |
|
No Comments
For me a key point was this statistics: “Constant warfare was necessary to keep population density down to one person per square mile. Farmers can live at 100 times that density.”
The way I see it is that there are too many people for this earth, and the rate of increase in population means we will have to come up with another miracle technology to be able to support more. Unless of course a nice global epidemic reduces the population, there will be more wars to secure raw resources (there is a limited amount of water, farmland, energy, minerals), with religion/culture as the excuse to start them.
Birth control, anyone?
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January 1, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
anthropology, behaviour, evolution |
|
2 Comments
Having sons shortens the mother’s life, and also affects younger siblings. Ouch.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=FAEB4508-E7F2-99DF-329AA2F69CCB6D5C
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October 16, 2007
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
anthropology, evolution |
|
No Comments
