The Struggle for Existence: The Lovely Deathscape
Nature is beautiful, but it’s really a lovely deathscape: the struggle for existence is everywhere, and only the trees die of old age.
The First Law of Biology: Malthusian Superfecundity
The first law of biology is Malthusian superfecundity: All living things produce more offspring than can survive. Humanity is not exempt.
Biomimicry & The Ideal Free Distribution
Biomimicry is a complicated attempt to arrive at the simple, natural solutions that result from the Ideal Free Distribution.
Wasp Evolution & Animal Urbanization
The evidence of wasp evolution around my home is an example of animal urbanization, i.e., how living things adapt to encroaching humanity.
The Black Death, Perfume, and Tobacco Addiction
Could tobacco addiction and the perfume industry be a legacy from the Black Death of the 14th century?
Compassion vs Survival, & Pragmatism
We think of compassion as a universal moral position, but when the choice is compassion or survival, pragmatism will always win out.
Ecology, Economics, and Delayed Gratification
Economics fails to explain why Homo economicus struggles with delayed gratification, but ecology can offer some historical perspectives.
The Need for Biologists in Public Policy; The Bourgeois Strategy
The input of biologists in public policy can help us understand the disruptions of human progress; one example is ‘the bourgeois strategy’.
Infinite Monkeys Typing the Human Genome
Infinite monkeys aren’t needed to type Shakespeare nor to make the human genome. But both still seem impossible. So just how did Shakespeare write Shakespeare, and just how did life build humanity?
Starting Wars: Anger Manipulation
Starting wars and anger manipulation benefit the powerful: politically, economically, and ideologically.
Biological Numbers, Astronomical Numbers
We marvel over astronomical numbers, but by asking ‘How many cells on Earth?’ we see that biological numbers are vastly larger.
Publishing Problems and OpenSource-Capitalist Hybrid Publishing
Many publishing problems confront authors today, so I’m trying an OpenSource-capitalist hybrid publishing strategy for my next book, Darwin, Dada, Dalí, Duke & Devadevàya, or 5D for short. My Next Book I haven’t posted anything in some time. I retired from medicine, moved to Spain, and started working on my next book. I’ll be taking … [Read more…]
Prologue, Part I: Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths
Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: the ‘great men’ of history were really vicious criminals whose rule was, indeed, ‘the banality of evil’.