evolution

How Evolution Sold Us Short As it Relates to Wisdom Teeth

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I came across an interesting article titled “‘Not tonight, I have toothache’: how evolution sold us short” published in February 16, 2013, in the Times in London and written by Hannah Devlin. The article talks about evolution and how it relates to wisdom teeth, which is a topic I don’t usually bring up on this site/blog since it is controversial. The idea goes that wisdom teeth were important for our ancestors because their diets consisted of a lot of tough and chewy foods. As their other teeth wore down, the third molars, played an important back up role as additional teeth to use. In addition, the idea is that as humans evolved their brains became larger and their laws became smaller leaving less room available for teeth to grow. Earlier hominids (our ancestors) had very large back teeth in long … Read more

How to Foster Cooperation

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Recently I have came across the book titled Why Society is a Complex Matter by Phillip Ball (Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012). Chapter 8 of the book is titled Love Thy Neighbour: How to Foster Cooperation. Ball states: “Society is a collaborative effort: it works to the extent that we can get along with our neighbours, agree on common goals, and accept shared responsibilities….Yet that seems to conflict with the supposed Darwinian imperative of competition, in which every individual is out for themselves. Long before Darwin’s theory, some philosophers insisted that the only way to avoid the rapacious state of affairs that followed from humankind’s greed and desire for power over others was to impose the restraining authority of the state. Others had more faith in humanity: they felt that God had made people inherently good and rational, and that this … Read more