The Post-Partisan Emporium

  The Great Cognitive Advance On a per capita basis, the highly intelligent became ten times more numerous in England between 1000 and 1850. Written by Peter Frost. DNA from human remains is showing us how different populations have evolved over time, not only during prehistory but also well into recorded history. This evolution has affected a wide range of mental and behavioral traits: cognitive ability, time preference, propensity for violence, monotony avoidance, rule following and empathy, among others. Such traits vary among human populations because different cultures have imposed different demands on mind and body. In general, a culture will favour those who can better exploit its possibilities, just as the natural environment does. There has thus been a process of coevolution: we make culture, and it remakes us—by selecting those among us who survive and pass on their genes. This coevolution has followed different trajectories in different times and places. One trajectory b...

  Real Holes in Neverland Edward Curtin Even though it isn’t a nut, reality is especially hard to crack these days. But if you closely observe daily life all around you, no matter how superficial it may at first seem, you will catch many glimpses of why this may be so. The signs of falsehood are everywhere here in the land of make-believe, for those willing to decipher them. The big lies and deceptions of politicians, intelligence services, and their media minions have their counterparts in trivial encounters where, as Melville said,  “A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities.”  Such smiles plaster not just human faces, but appear in the signs and symbols of the wider culture everywhere you look. They are meant to tranquilize with trivia. They are offered as bait to induce people to stop worrying and be happy as their leaders smash the world to bits. I recently chanced to look down the cereal aisle of a supermarket where my already florescent-irritated eyes were ...

 A terrorist tells it better...  

When Modern Moron Slaves have nothing better to do...  It seems that nowadays the easiest solution is...  Good Lives we have...