Reverse engineering of the phenomenon of ideological suicide, “Kamikaze” in Japan and “Shahids” in radical Moslem cultures. From Evolutionary Psychology perspective. — There is a clear psychological difference between classic and ideological suicide. “(…) in the suicidal bombing, suicide is instrumental in the context of war, not in the context of psychopathology. Suicide bombing is instrumental in realizing fatalities, and it is only one of many weapons. The act of killing in…

What are the hidden and ancestral reasons for today’s Western world to become conservative, patriarchal and sexist? — It was just a matter of time, it was unavoidable to become (scientifically) aware that there must be something deeper in our political orientations, something more than a mere difference in beliefs and moral systems. Something fundamental, something biological must be there to differentiate between conservatives and liberals!

From Caligula and Messalina to Berlusconi and Donald Trump, immoral, reckless and ruthless conduct is among the most typical allegations of wealthy and powerful personalities. Hormones might explain the relationship between social status and licentious behaviour — But if power corrupts, why? Machiavelli describes ruthless and reckless actions and strategies. It would be unimaginable for most of us to perform anything similar. The Tuscan strategist seems to provide advice just for empathy-lacking toxic narcissists? We would never get to that point, wouldn’t we?!

From Minoans to Millennials: two moments in history that might shed light on mechanisms of human violence. — In my previous blog, I discussed an alternative explanation for the overall decline in violence. In his book, Harvard‘s Pinker invokes a set of cultural and social trends such as the “Civilising process”, the “Long Peace”, the “Rights revolution, etc. Supposedly, their emergence is derived from a series of human…

Our ape relatives (and some economists) might hold the key for understanding the overall decrease of violence across the history of Human kind. Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature” represent a cornerstone of every recent analysis of human violence. And if you have read that book, or even…