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“After you, please”: The ancient roots of etiquette
I was drilled in good manners growing up. I wouldn’t dare sit down at the table until guests had been seated. I always walked curbside, especially when walking with a woman. And I still to
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Monkey Business
Years ago, in the early days of what’s now known as behavioral economics, researchers began to recognize that people often made decisions rational economic theory failed to predict. Many of these decisions were characterized by
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The Paradox of Idleness
Would Sisyphus have been happier just sitting in a jail cell, twiddling his thumbs? After all, the punishment Zeus meted out to him was nothing more than make-work: rolling that boulder up the hill again
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Study Reveals Potential Evolutionary Role for Same-Sex Attraction
Male homosexuality doesn’t make complete sense from an evolutionary point of view. It appears that the trait is heritable, but because homosexual men are much less likely to produce offspring than heterosexual men, shouldn’t the
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Xenophobia, For Men Only
Very few people fear dandelions. Or even dangerous things—like Hummers. We may object to outsized automobiles on principle, but the mere sight of them doesn’t make us tremble and sweat and run away. On the
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Primed For Ripeness
There was a time when the world was full of women named Daisy and Iris and Lily and Rose. Naming daughters after nature’s blooms was considered a high compliment, a celebration of feminine beauty. Flowery
