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Stories by Eric Michael Johnson

Evolution

We Contain Multitudes: Walt Whitman, Charles Darwin, and the Song of Empathy

In the struggle for existence how do we herald the better angels of our nature? Author's Note: On Tuesday I will be traveling to Manchester, England for the International Conference for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine where I'll be giving my talk entitled "A Historical Epistemology of Empathy from Darwin to De Waal." In the lead up to my journey across the pond the iCHSTM organizers offered me the opportunity to publish a shortened version of my talk on the conference blog where I have cross-posted that which follows...

July 19, 2013 — Eric Michael Johnson
Evolution

Punishing Cheaters Promotes the Evolution of Cooperation

Humans are one of the most cooperative species on the planet. Our ability to coordinate behavior and work collaboratively with others has allowed us to create the natural world’s largest and most densely populated societies, outside of deep sea microbial mats and a few Hymenoptera mega-colonies.However, a key problem when trying to understand the evolution of cooperation has been the issue of cheaters...

August 16, 2012 — Eric Michael Johnson
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