Genes for suicide. That seems like a ridiculous notion. But the evolutionary mathematics can work perfectly. In The Selfish Gene (1976), his magisterial introduction to evolutionary theory, Richard Dawkins considers a nest of baby birds that all carry hypothetical suicide-genes. If one of the babies is a runt and going to die anyway, it’s harming... Read More

With the recent spate of mass shootings, (at least four high-profile incidents occurring in the U.S. and Canada in the last two weeks), the issues of guns and violence inevitably come up. Naturally, the politically correct wisdom, which is founded on the blank slate (or at least, a bare slate), wants to blame these events... Read More

I have recently updated two key posts, my post More Behavioral Genetic Facts and More Maps of the American Nations. In More Behavioral Genetic Facts, I have expanded on an analysis on the meta-analysis of the heritability of criminality. This meta-analysis, a seminal work, represents the single best treatment of what we know of the... Read More

Post updated, 6/10/14. See below! As we saw previously (see My Most Read Posts), my post Maps of the American Nations is the single most popular post so far here on my blog. Americans all over are supremely interested in both their origins and the reasons for the cultural quirks of the different American regions.... Read More

My earlier post, Mapping the Road to American Disunion, discussed the apparent high likelihood of increased social and political unrest in America in the coming years – a process which, with the ongoing partisan stand-off in Washington, might well be under way. This was based on the work of Peter Turchin and his field cliodynamics.... Read More

Canadian suicide rates (per 100,000 people): Inuit, First Nations, all Canadians. Source From Alaska to Greenland, young Inuit have unusually high rates of suicide, attempted suicide, and suicidal ideation. According to a 1972 survey of Inuit 15 to 24 years old from northern Quebec, 28% of the males and 25% of the females had attempted... Read More