by Christine Kenneally BH | May 8, 2013 | Ancient DNA, Ancient genomics, Australopithecus afarensis, Brain, Complexity, Consciousness, Evolution, Extinction, Fire, First human..., Genes, History, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis, Homo habilis, Humans, Mitochondrial DNA, Neandertals, Prehistoric humans, Science, Social complexity/connection, Soul/Free Will, Walking
I reviewed four new science books for The New York Times. They span millions of years, beginning with the birth of humanity and ending with a serious look at...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Aug 2, 2012 | Identity, Social complexity/connection
In the August issue of The Monthly, I write about the half-million Australian children who were incarcerated in "orphanages" in C20th Australia. The issue is now on...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Oct 5, 2009 | Altruism, Baboons, Chimpanzees, Co-operation, Complexity, Evolution, Genes, Social complexity/connection
Frans de Waal, director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, believes that it's just as natural to be nice as it is be mean. Man may be wolf to man, as the old saying has it, but de Waal points out with casual...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Dec 3, 2008 | Ants, Humans, Social complexity/connection
If you took a planet and a handful of genes, you could pose some great questions about human nature and then run experiments to answer them. Instead of asking how much altruism, cooperation, creativity, or any other human trait is hard-wired, you could adjust the...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Sep 21, 2007 | Chimpanzees, Infants, Orangutan, Social complexity/connection
Chimpanzees are smarter than humans. Orangutans are smarter than chimpanzees. Humans are smarter than chimpanzees. Which of these statements is true? More at Huffington Post.
by Christine Kenneally BH | Sep 1, 2007 | Baboons, Parsing, Social complexity/connection
The intricate ways humans connect with one another to co-create reality help explain the origin of language and culture in some very interesting ways. Most recently, Robert Seyfarth and Dorothy Cheney published Baboon Metaphysics, exposing the layers of social...
