"Wily wolves learn to haul in Canadian crab traps. The startling discovery – and potential use of #tools – broadens our understanding of wolf intelligence and gives a glimpse at the delightful surprises that emerge when predators coexist with humans ...They’ve lived with people for millennia, but they’ve forged a strikingly different relationship. It is possibly one of the few places in the world where wolves can fully be wolves." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/20/canadia-british-coumbia-sea-wolves-learn-to-loot-crab-traps-for-bait
"“For me, the takeaway is we know very little—even the very basic of how they find a site,” Parzer says. “Then there’s a lot of species variation. Why are some puddling a lot? Why are some not at all? We have some species where females also puddle—why is that? And then we noticed there’s a big gap. A whole continent is essentially missing—Africa—so there clearly needs to be something done in that area as well.”"
Understanding Our Brain to Get the Best Out of Ourselves and Others
Why We Do What We Do combines scientific research with concrete examples and illustrative stories to clarify the complex mechanisms of the human brain. It offers valuable insights into how our brain works every day, at home and at work, and provides practical ideas and tips to help us lead happy, healthy and productive lives.
• Learn about how your brain functions
• Find out how emotions can be overcome or last a lifetime
• Access your brain’s natural ability to focus and concentrate
• Think creatively
Behavioral Neurobiology of PTSD by Eric Vermetten et al,
This volume focuses on the behavioral neuroscience that supports our understanding of the neurobiology of trauma risk and response. The collection of articles focuses on both preclinical and clinical reviews of (1) state-of-the-art knowledge of mechanisms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring disorders.
(2) the biological and psychological constructs that support risk and resiliency for trauma disorders, and (3), novel treatment strategies and therapeutics on the horizon.
Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Our Brain to Get the Best Out of Ourselves and Others by Helena Boschi, 2020
Why We Do What We Do combines scientific research with concrete examples and illustrative stories to clarify the complex mechanisms of the human brain. It offers valuable insights into how our brain works every day, at home and at work, and provides practical ideas and tips to help us lead happy, healthy and productive lives.
Culture as Embodiment: The Social Tuning of Behavior by Paul Voestermans & Theo Verheggen, 2013
Culture as Embodiment utilizes recent insights in psychology, cognitive, and affective science to reveal the cultural patterning of behavior in group-related practices.
Applies the best of the behavioural sciences to contemporary issues of behavioural cross-fertilization in global exchange Presents an original theory to be used in the gender and integration debates, about what the acceptance of newcomers from different cultural backgrounds really entails Presents a theory that is also applicable to youth culture and the split in modern society between underclass, modal class, and the elite Contains an original approach to the persistence of religion, and relates religious thought to the cognitive capacity of generic belief.
At some point everyone finds themselves wondering...
Why do I keep falling into the same patterns that leave me feeling broken?
Will I ever move past the pain and experience healing?
Is there something wrong with me?
In Breaking the Patterns That Break You, bestselling author Tori Hope Petersen shares the profound ways she finally found relief and healing from the pain of her past, and how you can too. Tori gently shows you why it's important to recognize the destructive personal, relational, and generational patterns in your life so you can finally find freedom. As Tori weaves together vulnerable storytelling, therapeutic insights, and biblical teaching, you will feel as though she's sitting across from you, holding your hands, and inviting you into a journey that changed her life and can change yours.
Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior by Sandra Matz, 2025
A fascinating exploration of how algorithms penetrate the most intimate aspects of our psychology—from the pioneering expert on psychological targeting.
There are more pieces of digital data than there are stars in the universe. This data helps us monitor our planet, decipher our genetic code, and take a deep dive into our psychology.
As algorithms become increasingly adept at accessing the human mind, they also become more and more powerful at controlling it, enticing us to buy a certain product or vote for a certain political candidate. Some of us say this technological trend is no big deal. Others consider it one of the greatest threats to humanity. But what if the truth is more nuanced and mind-bending than that?
In Mindmasters, Columbia Business School professor Sandra Matz reveals in fascinating detail how big data offers insights into the most intimate aspects of our psyches and how these insights empower an external influence over our behavior.
The Darwinian Trap: The Hidden Evolutionary Forces That Explain Our World (and Threaten Our Future) by Kristian Rönn, 2024
A provocative exploration of how humans are wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term survival—an evolutionary “glitch” that explains everything from toxic workplaces to climate change.
“Essential reading . . . a lively, ultimately hopeful examination of how incentivizing the wrong values and actions has led to some of our most intractable problems.”—Eric Ries, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup
When people talk about today’s biggest challenges—pollution, misinformation, artificial intelligence, inept CEOs, and politicians—they tend to frame the conversation around “bad people” doing “bad things.” But is there more to the story?
Humans, it turns out, are intrinsically wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term prosperity.
@appassionatobookstodon group I'm intrigued just by the brilliance of the illustration on the front cover, showing the irony that the primitive ape would have no trouble leaping into the tree to get the apple rather than risking the fall off the cliff-edge as the modern human being is wont to do.
It is actually the religion of Darwinism that has led to general, short-sighted mass malaise. Survival of the fittest is the mantra of the political, religious, and financial oligarchs.
"... humans are wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term survival ..."
Humans are forced to think this way because of intimidation and violence from religion and state, and economic extortion of the powers-that-be. It has absolutely nothing to do with biology or 'evolution'. Most people who make long-term plans get stomped on or crushed by the state in one way or another, and they learn that planning long-term is a risky proposition. Abolishing the income tax on wages and the property tax on homesteads would create an entirely new political and economic paradigm and outlook.
It is impossible to explain this to people who worship the state and academia. They will not be brought to realize that the institutions and ideologies and tax schemes that they support are the poison wreaking havoc on the human mind. They have too much invested to reverse course.
Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts by Terry Burnham, 2024
Short, sassy, and bold, Mean Genes uses a Darwinian lens to examine the issues that most deeply affect our lives: body image, money, addiction, violence, and the endless search for happiness, love, and fidelity.
But Burnham and Phelan don't simply describe the connections between our genes and our behavior; they also outline steps that we can take to tame our primal instincts and so improve the quality of our lives.Why do we want (and do) so many things that are bad for us? We vow to lose those extra five pounds, put more money in the bank, and mend neglected relationships, but our attempts often end in failure. Mean Genes reveals that struggles for self-improvement are, in fact, battles against our own genes--genes that helped our cavewoman and caveman ancestors flourish but that are selfish and out of place in the modern world. Why do we like junk food more than fruit? Why is the road to romance so rocky? Why is happiness so elusive? What drives us into debt? An investigation into the biological nature of temptation and the struggle for control, Mean Genes answers these and other fundamental questions about human nature while giving us an edge to lead more satisfying lives.
Burnham and Phelan divide life issues into 10 categories (debt, fat, drugs, risk, greed, gender, beauty, infidelity, family, and friends and foes), and then offer up a two-step guide to better living: "Step 1 is to understand our animal nature, particularly those desires that get us into trouble and can lead to unhappiness. Step 2 is to harness this knowledge so that we can tame our primal instincts."