Natural selection and religiosity: Validity issues in the empirical examination of afterlife cognitions

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian M. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Cultural Exposure ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Afterlife Beliefs

Bering's target article proposes that the tendency to believe in an afterlife emerged (in evolutionary history) in response to selective pressures unique to human societies. However, the empirical evidence presented fails to account for the broader social context that impinges upon researcher–participant interactions, and so fails to displace the more parsimonious explanation that it is childhood credulity that underlies the acquisition of afterlife beliefs through cultural exposure.

Descartes' Mistake: How Afterlife Beliefs Challenge the Assumption that Humans are Intuitive Cartesian Substance Dualists

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 387-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mitch Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Substance Dualism ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Funerary Rites ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Afterlife Beliefs

AbstractThis article presents arguments and evidence that run counter to the widespread assumption among scholars that humans are intuitive Cartesian substance dualists. With regard to afterlife beliefs, the hypothesis of Cartesian substance dualism as the intuitive folk position fails to have the explanatory power with which its proponents endow it. It is argued that the embedded corollary assumptions of the intuitive Cartesian substance dualist position (that the mind and body are different substances, that the mind and soul are intensionally identical, and that the mind is the sole source of identity) are not compatible with cultural representations such as mythologies, funerary rites, iconography and doctrine as well as empirical evidence concerning intuitive folk reasoning about the mind and body concerning the afterlife. Finally, the article suggests an alternative and more parsimonious explanation for understanding intuitive folk representations of the afterlife.

Spoken fluency revisited

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Joint Production ◽  
The Common ◽  
Interactive View

AbstractAn important priority for the English Profile programme is to incorporate empirical evidence of the spoken language into the Common European Framework (CEFR). At present, the CEFR descriptors relating to the spoken language include references to fluency and its development as the learner moves from one level to another. This article offers a critique of the monologic bias of much of our current approach to spoken fluency. Fluency undoubtedly involves a degree of automaticity and the ability quickly to retrieve ready-made chunks of language. However, fluency also involves the ability to create flow and smoothness across turn-boundaries and can be seen as an interactive phenomenon in discourse. The article offers corpus evidence for the notion of confluence, that is the joint production of flow by more than one speaker, focusing in particular on turn-openings and closings. It considers the implications of an interactive view of fluency for pedagogy, assessment and in the broader social context.

scholarly journals Predators as Agents of Selection and Diversification

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Jerald B. Johnson ◽  
Mark C. Belk
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Evolutionary Diversification ◽  
Multiple Predator Species ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Future Work

Predation is ubiquitous in nature and can be an important component of both ecological and evolutionary interactions. One of the most striking features of predators is how often they cause evolutionary diversification in natural systems. Here, we review several ways that this can occur, exploring empirical evidence and suggesting promising areas for future work. We also introduce several papers recently accepted in Diversity that demonstrate just how important and varied predation can be as an agent of natural selection. We conclude that there is still much to be done in this field, especially in areas where multiple predator species prey upon common prey, in certain taxonomic groups where we still know very little, and in an overall effort to actually quantify mortality rates and the strength of natural selection in the wild.

Knowledge by default

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Plausible Account ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Analysis By Synthesis

Abstract The target article presents strong empirical evidence that knowledge is basic. However, it offers an unsatisfactory account of what makes knowledge basic. Some current ideas in cognitive neuroscience – predictive coding and analysis by synthesis – point to a more plausible account that better explains the evidence.

scholarly journals The influence of a rival’s (in)fertility on jealousy and the allocation of blame following a mate’s infidelity

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryanne Fisher ◽  
Laura Robertson ◽  
Haley Dillon
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sexual Infidelity ◽  
Emotional Infidelity ◽  
Past Work ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Reproductive Capability ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

Selective pressures throughout evolutionary history have caused the adaptation of sex-specific responses to dilemmas that are relevant for reproductive fitness. Sex differences in imagined jealousy due to infidelity are well documented, but past work does not consider the influence of reproductive capability (i.e., being fertile versus infertile) on responses. Relying on an online survey of 369 adults, we hypothesized that infidelities involving an infertile interloper lead to less jealousy than infidelities involving a fertile interloper. Further, for sexual infidelity, regardless of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men would allocate the most responsibility to their partner and women would do so for the interloper, given women are assumed to behave with more intention. This hypothesis was partially supported; while men did allocate the most responsibility to their mate, so too did women, but women also blamed the interloper more than men. With regards to emotional infidelity, again independent of the interloper’s fertility, we hypothesized men will primarily hold their partner responsible. However, we hypothesized that women will again consider the interloper responsible, but also their partner, due to concerns over fear of losing access to needed resources. This prediction was partially supported, as both sexes primarily hold their partner most responsible, and women held the interloper more accountable than did men. The findings shed light onto how individuals assess relationship threats and allocate responsibility, according to reproductive capability.

scholarly journals Belowground Carbohydrate Reserves of Mature Southern Pines Reflect Seedling Strategy to Evolutionary History of Disturbance

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Mims ◽  
Joseph O’Brien ◽  
Doug Aubrey
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Southern Pine ◽  
Mature Trees ◽  
Carbohydrate Reserves ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Southern Pines ◽  
History Of

Carbohydrate reserves provide advantages for mature trees experiencing frequent disturbances; however, it is unclear if selective pressures operate on this characteristic at the seedling or mature life history stage. We hypothesized that natural selection has favored carbohydrate reserves in species that have an evolutionary history of frequent disturbance and tested this using three southern pine species that have evolved across a continuum of fire frequencies. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) roots exhibited higher maximum starch concentrations than slash (P. elliottii) and loblolly (P. taeda), which were similar. Longleaf also relied on starch reserves in roots more than slash or loblolly, depleting 64, 41, and 23 mg g−1 of starch, respectively, between seasonal maximum and minimum, which represented 52%, 45%, and 26% of reserves, respectively. Starch reserves in stems did not differ among species or exhibit temporal dynamics. Our results suggest that an evolutionary history of disturbance partly explains patterns of carbohydrate reserves observed in southern pines. However, similarities between slash and loblolly indicate that carbohydrate reserves do not strictly follow the continuum of disturbance frequencies among southern pine, but rather reflect the different seedling strategies exhibited by longleaf compared to those shared by slash and loblolly. We propose that the increased carbohydrate reserves in mature longleaf may simply be a relic of selective pressures imposed at the juvenile stage that are maintained through development, thus allowing mature trees to be more resilient and to recover from chronic disturbances such as frequent fire.

Developmental transformations in attachment in middle childhood

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Kerns
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Fundamental Nature ◽  
Target Article ◽  
The Social ◽  
Developmental Transformations

AbstractThe target article proposes a model to explain the emergence of sex differences in attachment in middle childhood and their implications for reproductive strategies. While biological factors are prominent in the model, little is said about the social context of middle childhood and its contributions. There is also a need to clarify the fundamental nature of attachment in middle childhood.

Adaptation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan B. Losos
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

Adaptation—the fit of organisms to their environments—has been a central focus in scientific research for centuries, predating even the rise of evolutionary biology. At its core, the study of adaptation is the study of natural selection—how is it that populations become so well suited to survive and reproduce in the environment in which they occur? Nonetheless, the topic of adaptation has many wrinkles and nuances. Even the definition of adaptation is not agreed on by all. The manner in which adaptations evolve (or fail to evolve) and the consequences they have for the evolutionary history of a lineage have been the subjects of considerable scientific research and discussion for more than a century.

scholarly journals Tribalism Is Human Nature

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 587-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory J. Clark ◽  
Brittany S. Liu ◽  
Bo M. Winegard ◽  
Peter H. Ditto
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Group Loyalty ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Political Spectrum

Humans evolved in the context of intense intergroup competition, and groups comprised of loyal members more often succeeded than groups comprised of nonloyal members. Therefore, selective pressures have sculpted human minds to be tribal, and group loyalty and concomitant cognitive biases likely exist in all groups. Modern politics is one of the most salient forms of modern coalitional conflict and elicits substantial cognitive biases. The common evolutionary history of liberals and conservatives gives little reason to expect protribe biases to be higher on one side of the political spectrum than the other. This evolutionarily plausible null hypothesis has been supported by recent research. In a recent meta-analysis, liberals and conservatives showed similar levels of partisan bias, and several protribe cognitive tendencies often ascribed to conservatives (e.g., intolerance toward dissimilar other people) were found in similar degrees in liberals. We conclude that tribal bias is a natural and nearly ineradicable feature of human cognition and that no group—not even one’s own—is immune.

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