Human nature

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What sex-difference science misses about the messy reality of sex

Men aren’t from Mars, women aren’t from Venus, and other persistent myths derived from debunked sex-difference science

by Jeffrey W Lockhart

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Our innate ideas prevent us seeing what is innate in human nature

We have a great deal of trouble telling what is innate and what is learned in human nature, whether ideas or emotions

by Iris Berent

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Are you sure you know what emotions are?

It’s tricky to define what an emotion is: is surprise one, or something else? Here are a few simple rules to get started

by Andrew Ortony

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What our use of animal-based slurs and endearments says about us

The image of the adorable kitten and the insult of calling someone a ‘pussy’ have more in common than you might realise

by David Egan

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The rise of the bystander as a complicit historical actor

‘The appalling silence of the good people’: how the bystander rose to prominence as a morally complicit actor in history

by Dennis Klein

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The radical aristocrat who put kindness on a scientific footing

Peter Kropotkin took on social Darwinism, casting evolution in a cooperative light and laying the groundwork for mutual aid

by Lydia Syson