Caveman Politics

Coronavirus Disease 2019

Dear CDC: I Have to Make a Life-and-Death Decision

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on June 28, 2020

What is the fully informed, expert estimate of the probability that a typical person has COVID-19 right now? Is it 1%, 10%, 25%, or something else?

Politics

Schoolyard Politics: The Role of Height in Elections

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on March 1, 2020

Recent schoolyard behavior by candidates has reignited the discussion about the effects of height on presidential politics. What do the numbers tell us?

Media

Is Political Polarization Natural? What Ants Show Us

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on January 19, 2020

One of the hottest topics in politics is polarization. Humans and non-human animals share many behaviors, including splitting into competing groups.

Politics

Nature and Nurture: Connecting Personality to Politics

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on September 8, 2019

The debate on nature versus nurture goes back to humans’ earliest days of intellectual dispute. But we know our behavior is the result of both.

Environment

Living in a Digital World with a Stone Age Brain

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on April 21, 2019

We navigate an anonymous but densely populated, digital world with a brain molded millions of years ago in small, familiar groups who roamed open grasslands. What could go wrong?

Mating

We Can Read Books by Their Covers: Corrupt Politicians

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on December 2, 2018

Faces convey a great deal of information. Do corrupt politicians look corrupt? Our built-in cheater-detection system may help us "read" their faces.

Friends

Seeing Kavanaugh's Testimony: Contempt, Distaste and Regret?

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on October 3, 2018

Judge Kavanaugh spoke many words, but there’s more than a spoken record to be examined. What can we glean from his nonverbal behavior?

Race and Ethnicity

Do You Suffer from Racial Paralysis?

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on July 11, 2018

How deciding where to sit at a fast food restaurant can be like deciding to take a position on a political controversy.

Suicide

When Does Making the Ultimate Sacrifice Make Sense?

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on April 22, 2018

Why do people make an “extreme self-sacrifice”? You don’t have to be a trained psychologist to wonder in earnest why some people sacrifice themselves for their group.

Politics

Science Weighs In: Conservatives “Look Better”

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on March 18, 2018

Why do political conservatives hold a "beauty advantage?" New research provides a couple of common-sense explanations.

Neuroscience

How Politicians' Statements Register in the Partisan Brain

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on February 11, 2018

Kneejerk partisanship is running amok these days. But do political partisans really only react reflexively?

Intelligence

Football Fans, Political Partisans, and Evolutionary Forces

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on January 7, 2018

Football fans and political partisans may be motivated by the same forces that motivated humans' ancestors.

Genetics

Why Would Anyone Run For Office? It’s In Their Genes?

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on October 1, 2017

For the life of me I’ve never understood why someone would want to run for office. This may help explain it.

Intelligence

War, Intelligence Collectors, and Inevitable Mortality

Gregg R. Murray Ph.D. on August 27, 2017

Your job is to go into a dangerous place and talk with people who may want to kill you. Your job constantly reminds you of your own mortality. How do you do this job effectively?