Posts by Agustínfuentes

Do genetics and economics tell us why some people abuse their kids? Why do so many researchers keep trying to make human psychology simple and gene-based? A recent headline proclaims: “Researchers say a specific gene might make parents more likely to abuse their children during tough times.” The argument is that during bad economic times, or more specifically…

A focus on the phallus is pervasive in our society. The penis is not what defines a biological or a social male. Despite there not being any biological or evolutionarily robust reasoning, our society often associates the penis with social power, and worth. This is the phallus fallacy. Like many, I caught the summer blockbuster movie…

We need to talk openly and intelligently about race. I am occasionally racist— and so is most everyone in the USA. Even if we don’t think we are. Race is all around us, often in ways we often don’t realize. We can be less racist, and even move away from racism, but it takes a bit of…

A focus on genitals does not tell us much about being human We know sex is complicated in primates and that human sexuality is the most complex sexuality of any animal on the planet. But for some reason we keep asking very simple evolutionary questions about sex and thinking we get good answers…turns out, they are usually wrong.…

Our relationships with other animals have helped to shape our mind and body I love my dog. I love to see monkeys leaping through the rainforest, dolphins swimming in the sea, and house sparrows feeding on a park bench, I am fascinated by urban coyotes and cheer the return of the mountain lion across the…

Violence and sex are important, but ignoring what we do most is dangerous. Here is the sort of headline we expect to see: 4 killed and 20 raped in New York City today  Here is the headline we never see: 8,299,976 people got along in New York City today This contrast is even more dramatic when…

President Barack Obama was re-elected with more than 70 percent of non-white citizens voting for him and about 59 percent of whites voting against him. What does this suggest? We are a diverse country and many people have unequal access to the benefits this nation has to offer… and they voted accordingly. Race was not…

Science and scientists are not the same thing. Did “our hands evolve to fight” and does evolution explain why “women love to shop and men don’t”? University of Utah researchers claim to have shown that humans (actually, men) have hands evolved for fighting, and researchers at the University of Michigan assert that gendered shopping behavior reflects ancestral foraging adaptations. However, this…

How Barbies, Hollywood, and fruit flies push gender stereotypes ‘Tis the season for gender enforcement. This is a time of year when we venture forth to buy gifts for kids and are surrounded by action heroes and Barbies, pink toy ovens and blue toy trucks, fully clothed Santas and scantily clad female helpers. What we buy for children…

A forthcoming article by two economists says it is. These economists tell us that relative genetic diversity is a major factor impacting societies’ development and economic success. But their association between human genetic diversity, history, and economic development and success is superficial and built on a framework of poor assumptions and mistaken interpretations of what…