For me, this is the key quote from the article below:
“…we have evolved brains that pay attention to anecdotes because false positives (believing there is a connection between A and B when there is not) are usually harmless, whereas false negatives (believing there is no connection between A and B when there is) may take you out of the gene pool…”
Something to watch for - both in self and in others.
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August 1, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, evolutionary psychology |
anecdotes, false negatives, false positives, science |
3 Comments
Human evolution
Feb 21st 2008 | BOSTON
From The Economist print edition
Biology invades a field philosophers thought was safely theirs
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July 22, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, brain, decision making, emotions, evolutionary psychology |
morality, morals |
No Comments
The endowment effect: an object is worth more to you if you already own it. The article below explores its evolutionary roots and how it is being exploited in today’s markets.
From The Economist:
The curse of untidiness
DNA all over the place
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June 19, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, evolutionary psychology |
clutter, endowment effect |
No Comments
Answer before you read it: how many personalizing objects do you have on your desk?
From Nature:
Car adornments betray a territorial mindset.
Matt Kaplan Read more »
June 17, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, evolutionary psychology |
bumper stickers, road rage, territorialism |
No Comments
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…”
——————————————–
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 |
No Comments
Nicely summarized in the title 
From Scientific American:
April 24, 2008
New studies show that money and social values are processed in the same brain region, providing insight into how we make choices
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April 25, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
behaviour, decision making, evolutionary psychology |
money, status |
No Comments
The science of religion
Mar 19th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Science and religion have often been at loggerheads. Now the former has decided to resolve the problem by trying to explain the existence of the latter
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April 21, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
anthropology, behaviour, brain, economics, evolutionary psychology, religion |
god, religion, science |
No Comments
From Time Magazine.
Thursday, Mar. 13, 2008
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March 27, 2008
Posted by
pragmasynesi |
anthropology, behaviour, brain, evolutionary psychology |
dopamine, hormones, risk, serotonin, stress, testosterone |
No Comments
