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David Dobbs on science, nature, and culture.
I write on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications. (Find clips here.) Right now I'm writing my fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion, which explores the hypothesis that the genetic roots some of our worst problems and traits — depresison, hyperaggression, violence, antisocial behavior — can also give rise to resilience, cooperation, empathy, and contentment. The book expands on my December 2009 Atlantic article exploring these ideas.
I've also written three books, including Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career — an elemental dispute running some 75 years.
If you'd like, you can subscribe to Neuron Culture by email. You might also want to see more of my work at my main website or check out my Tumblr log.
August 19, 2009
Category: Media
Hang in for the question at 5:55: He asks Obama what he does about "getting bullied a lot." Obama: "I wasn't bullied too much in school." "Can you dunk?" "Not anymore." "Would you like to become my homeboy?" "You bet."
Posted by David Dobbs at 12:11 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 11, 2009
Category: Healthcare policy
Crows, replicating the behavior of one of their ancestors in Aesops fables, figured out how to "raise the water level in a lab container by dropping stones in it to retrieve a worm floating on the surface."
Posted by David Dobbs at 7:57 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
August 2, 2009
Category: PTSD
Our current approach to post-combat distress is failing just as completely as the Rumsfled approach did. But in the halls that count, there's no sign a change in thinking.
Posted by David Dobbs at 10:35 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
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