Why Humans Cooperate: The Evolutionary and Game-Theory Foundations
Why do humans cooperate at unprecedented scales? The science of kin selection, reciprocal altruism, Axelrod's tournaments, altruistic punishment, and Ostrom's commons.
August 2024
May 2024
Why Humans Are Religious: The Cognitive Science of Belief
Religion is universal across human cultures and deep in human history. Cognitive scientists have developed compelling theories about why — and the answers are surprising.
April 2024
What Is Anthropology? The Science of Human Diversity
A comprehensive introduction to anthropology: the four-field approach, Franz Boas, Malinowski's fieldwork, Geertz's thick description, Svante Paabo's Neanderthal DNA research, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and decolonizing anthropology.
March 2024
How Different Cultures Think About Death
From Mexican Día de los Muertos to Japanese ancestor veneration to the Torajan death feasts of Indonesia — how different cultures approach death, mourning, and the afterlife reveals what each society values most.
July 2023
What Is Moral Relativism?
Moral relativism holds that moral judgments are true or false only relative to a cultural or individual framework. From Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict to arguments for and against, explore the debate over moral progress and cross-cultural disagreement.