What is it about fire that fascinates us so much? Why are camping trips so incomplete without fires? Why do people like sitting by the fire and having deep, meaningful conversations? Growing up as a kid, I was always fascinated with fire. I bothered my parents with questions about it. I experimented with it. I burnt …
This article will explore the psychology of fatherless daughters in light of evolutionary theory. There are broadly two types of heterosexual mating strategies that humans pursue: short-term and the long-term mating strategy. Short-term mating strategy means forming brief relationships with multiple partners while a long-term mating strategy means forming an enduring relationship, typically with one …
This article will attempt to explain the psychology of gangs and gang violence in men using the concept of a dominance hierarchy. Timmy, a boy of fifth grade, was eating lunch at school, relishing his delectable dish in the peace and quiet of the school’s dining hall. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jimmy and his friends …
Evolution has rendered female sexuality more valuable than male sexuality. There are two major reasons behind this: First, human males produce huge quantities of sperm while females produce only a limited number of eggs. Second, human females invest much more in offspring than males. The result being that female sexuality is a scarce and much …
Why do people go to war? Why do humans engage in warfare at all? At first blush, engaging in warfare seems to make no evolutionary sense. After all, if survival and reproduction are our core needs, why would we ever want to engage in an activity where the chances of us getting killed are so high? To …
The bell rang and the high school kids rushed out with vigor as if released from prison. As they were leaving their classrooms, boys and girls showed different kinds of behaviors. While the girls walked slowly and with grace, boys could be seen doing a number of things such as kicking one another, tripping and hitting …
This article will look at why physical aggression is so prevalent in men from an evolutionary perspective. Understanding the evolutionary benefits of aggression for men may provide insights into what circumstances trigger such behavior. But first, consider the following scenario: The boy was just fourteen and he had blood smeared all over the front of …
Most people are conformists who conform to the social norms of their respective societies. After all, man is a social animal, right? Conforming to your social group helps you stay in the good books of your group members. And when you’re in the good books of your group members, they’re likely to help you and …
To understand why justice is important, we first need to understand the evolution of the tendency in humans to form cooperative coalitions. This is because it’s this phenomenon only that gives rise to contexts in which we seek justice and revenge. So why do we form cooperative coalitions at all?Why do people come together and …
Where does our tendency to cooperate come from?Is it natural for us to cooperate or is it the result of social learning? It’s tempting to think that we’re born as non-cooperative beasts that need to be tamed via education and learning. The whole idea of ‘human civilization’ revolves around the assumption that humans have somehow …