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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.

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Pharma:

Hits of the week past

Category: Brains and minds

The week's best -- with new features!

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Posted by David Dobbs at 2:14 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Why do antidepressants work only for the deeply depressed? A neuroskeptical look

Category: Medicine

Neuroskeptic takes a sharp look at how our expanding definition of depression paralleled our expanding use of antidepressants -- and perhaps led to antidepressant's poor performance in the less severely depressed. T

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Posted by David Dobbs at 8:11 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Sell the drugs, they pay you. Criticize the drugs, they sue you.

Category: Culture of science

So a company, angry at being accused of trying to suppress information, responds by ... sueing the guy who released the information.

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Posted by David Dobbs at 3:13 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Why is the swine flu vaccine so late? Who are you to ask such a question?

Category: Healthcare policy

I like industrial secrets as much as the next person. But it would seem that when tens of millions of doses of vaccine are weeks late, we might get something more specific than that one company was overoptimistic and another had trouble filling syringes.

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Posted by David Dobbs at 8:43 AM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Dipstick: religious brains, more school, more meds, states rights, and dancing with the unwilling. Plus Ardi, free

This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior. May be something to that, Razib says — but it would be nice "get in on the game of normal human variation in religious orientation (as opposed to studies of mystical brain states which seem focused on outliers)."

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Posted by David Dobbs at 6:51 AM • 1 Comments •

Morning dip: Obama on fascistic healthcare, Razib on religion, & other notables

Category: Brains and minds

As Obama explains, world leaders are puzzled that healthcare gets painted with a Hitler moustache. and other news.

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Posted by David Dobbs at 6:27 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

To boost or not to boost, or how our H1N1 vaccines will leave millions naked

Category: Public health

The good news? The US's swine flu vaccines seem to work really well. The bad news? Because they use twice as much antigen as necessary, they leave about a quarter BILLION people elsewhere naked to the virus.

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Posted by David Dobbs at 4:44 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks