Travel Diary 13: Berkeley talk 6 Nov 2009 Well, yet again I have utterly utterly failed to embarrass my university by making an idiot of myself in public. In short, the talk (on the Essentialism Myth) to the Vertebrate Zoology crowd at Berkeley went very well I am told. I believe them because instead of sending me on my way surreptitiously, they bought me beer. Lunch with Chuck Crumly of UC Press, Brent Mishler of the Herbarium, and mein host Kevin Padian was lovely, if a little tipsy. I recognised some faces in the crowd, once I had got the computer working. Nick Matzke, once of NCSE and now a doctoral student, was there. Tonight I will take it easy, and tomorrow I meet a crew from talk.origins for pizza and a ferry ride. Then Sunday back home, at last! Administrative Evolution History Philosophy Science Species and systematics Species concept Systematics
Administrative Talk on natural classification 23 Mar 2011 If anyone happens to be near the University of New South Wales on Friday, I’m giving a talk on natural classification. Come and heckle (or Haeckel). Read More
Epistemology Evopsychopathy 2: The phylogenetic bracket 7 Dec 20122 Jan 2013 As noted, SB and EP have a very unfortunate tendency to reflect the status quo in their results and research questions. This is not unique to them. History, sociology, other fields of psychology (psychotherapy for gods’ sake!), and in my own profession, ethics, all have this “Pull of Privilege”. Somehow… Read More
Evolution Natural selection fails with Man – W. R. Greg 12 Feb 2009 In the Descent of Man, Darwin cites a paper published about 5 years earlier by W. R. Greg, which argues that natural selection is not active among humans (or, as the convention had it then, “Man”). It is most interesting that he does, because Greg is the intellectual father of… Read More