The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Blog

Exploring life at the intersection of biology, psychology, and philosophy.

by Steve Stewart-Williams

The Cartoon Guide to Psychology!

Recently a reader put me onto these very cool, very smart cartoons, which deal with a range of topics in psychology and evolutionary biology and life in general. The stars of the show are some sperm and eggs going about their everyday business. The cartoons are the brainchildren of Sheila McCann; if you like 'em, there are plenty more where these came from... Read More

The Meaning of Life Revealed!

Evolutionary theory answers one of the most profound and fundamental questions human beings have ever asked themselves, a question that has plagued reflective minds for as long as reflective minds have existed in the universe: Why are we here? The question was answered in 1859 by Charles Darwin, and the answer can be stated in just six words... Read More

My Family and Other Animals

Does size matter? What are the chances that you might accidentally marry a blood relative? What’s the difference between a trip to the zoo and a family reunion? Should psychology become a branch of zoology? Are doctors just glorified veterinarians? All these questions and many more will be answered in this blog post! Read More

Rewriting Morality III: How Should We Treat Animals?

W. R. Inge: "We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form." Read More

Rewriting Morality II: Suicide and Euthanasia

Critics of euthanasia claim that it is immoral to take a person's life, even if that person is suffering and wishes to die with dignity. After Darwin, we might argue instead that it is immoral to force people to keep on living when they would rather not. It is strange that we have elevated human life - i.e., pure biological continuation - so far above the quality of life for the person living it. If an animal is suffering terribly from a fatal injury or disease, most people agree that the humane thing to do is to put it out of its misery. But because of the inflated value assigned to human life, we are less humane in our treatment of human beings in the same boat. People are made to suffer needlessly on the basis of superstition. Read More

Rewriting Morality I: Goodbye to Human Dignity

Is it always wrong to take a human life? Is the life of an animal ever worth more than the life of a human being? Traditional moral systems would answer "no" to both questions, for they are based on the view that human life is infinitely valuable whereas the lives of other animals have little or no value. But evolutionary theory undermines this view. It undermines the idea that we were made in the image of God, and the idea that we deserve special moral treatment because we are rational animals. This has important implications for ethical issues including suicide, euthanasia, and the proper treatment of other animals. Read More

Evidence for Life after Death?

Where there's good evidence for an alleged paranormal phenomenon, it can easily be explained in naturalistic terms; where an alleged paranormal phenomenon cannot be explained in naturalistic terms, there's no good evidence for it. Read More

Why Do Men Cheat?

I got an email the other day from a journalist who was writing an article about why men cheat. "I'll probably be paying the most attention to Cheryl Cole and her recent marital problems," she wrote. Read More

Longing for an Afterlife

Human beings know something terrible. We know that one day we're going to wake up, and it will be the last time we ever do. We know that one day will be the last day of our lives. We know, in short, that one day - inevitably, inexorably, inescapably - we're going to die. It is an unfortunate by-product of our intelligence that we are burdened with this knowledge, knowledge that no other animal on the planet could hope to possess. And it is, to use the technical term, a bit of a bummer. Read More

Did Morality Evolve?

Is morality an adaptation, crafted by the invisible hand of natural selection? Or do we just make it up? This turns out to be a tricky question to answer. On the one hand, there's little doubt that evolutionary theory can shed light on the origins of some of the behaviours that fall within the rubric of morality, including altruism. On the other hand, the morality-as-adaptation hypothesis faces some serious challenges. If morality were a direct product of evolution, why would people constantly argue about what's right and wrong? And why would we spend so much time teaching our children to be good? Read More

Is the Universe Conscious?

One day, 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang and almost four billion years after life first evolved, something strange began to happen: Tiny parts of the universe became conscious, and came to know something about themselves and the universe of which they are a part. Read More