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February 2022

February 28, 2022

So Long, Pax Americana

War has returned to Europe after a long, dreamy sabbatical. Russia’s troops and tanks are...

July 2021

July 31, 2021

The Catholic Latin Mass is a Strong Credibility-Enhancing Display

Pope Francis recently restricted the Catholic Tridentine Latin mass. The resulting firestorm of controversy may...

May 2021

May 20, 2021

The Myth of the Egalitarian Noble Savage

Are hunter-gatherer societies really the original egalitarian society? One anthropologist argues against the myth of...

March 2021

March 31, 2021

The End of the Conflict Between Religion and Science

Religion and science used to be at each other's throats, especially in the heady days...

February 2021

February 10, 2021

Is Academia a Failed Initiation Rite?

Now that I’m (mostly) outside the world of American higher education, I’ve been looking in...

August 2020

August 27, 2020

The Human Need for Culture

Some interesting battle lines have formed in the past few months.* We Americans had gotten...

May 2020

May 30, 2020

When the Social Order Has Legitimacy – Or Not

It might not seem like it at this exact moment, but despite the coronavirus lockdowns...

October 2019

October 25, 2019

Conservatives Have Smaller Moral Circles than Progressives

A new study has found fascinating evidence that conservatives care about to smaller, tighter moral...

August 2019

August 12, 2019

The Future of Religion: What Follows the Decline of “Big Gods?”

A recent article at the BBC argues that the future of religion might be found...

July 2019

July 16, 2019

Free energy, the brain, and religion

Karl Friston, one of today's foremost neuroscientists, thinks that all brain processing boils down to...

June 2019

June 13, 2019

Tradition and Innovation as Worldviews: Is Research into Religion a Fool’s Errand?

Tradition and religion are a poor fit in the innovation-driven economy that professionals inhabit. Is...

May 2019

May 10, 2019

Is Ritual a Tool for Resilience?

In complex systems, too much efficiency can lead to a loss of resilience. Ritual and...

April 2019

April 04, 2019

Catholic Marriage Rules May Explain Why Western Societies are So WEIRD

Residents of Western Europe and North America are WEIRD – individualistic, analytically minded, and impersonally...

February 2019

February 22, 2019

Religion, Postmodernism, and Science™: Frenemies

Religion, science, and postmodernism are usually seen as enemies. But each of these ideologies holds...

July 2018

July 31, 2018

A Theory of Why Academics and Educated People Are (Getting More and More) Liberal

A curious thing has happened over the past few decades in American higher education. The...

June 2018

June 12, 2018

Suicide, Modern Life, and Being In Control

I want to talk about suicide. It’s topical. In the past week and a half,...

December 2017

December 13, 2017

Elitism Is a Problem. Being Elite Is the Solution.

It’s almost 2018. We survived the past year, but it was a stormy one. Global politics...

July 2017

July 03, 2017

In the 21st Century, Should We Be Patriotic?

Why be patriotic, since countries are often unfair, unjust, and warlike? Because humans need groups...

February 2017

February 14, 2017

Why colleges need (a few) more conservative professors

Liberals can teach students about the bad side of hierarchy – oppression. Conservatives can teach...

February 04, 2017

Is college too liberal?

A recent article in Boston Magazine argues that colleges are too liberal. This is true,...

January 2017

January 14, 2017

Trump shows why Rationalia would fail

Some think we should live in Rationalia. But Donald Trump shows us what a world...

December 2016

December 21, 2016

Social media is toxic. Religious studies tells us why.

Why does social media bring out the worst in us? Religious studies tells us that...

November 2016

November 15, 2016

Why Donald Trump happened

Connor Wood On Election Tuesday last week, I flew from Boston to Norfolk, Virginia, for...

June 2016

June 28, 2016

The Brexit, the farmer, and the forager

Psychologists say authoritarianism is to blame for the Brexit and Donald Trump. But there's another...

April 2016

April 18, 2016

Why the world needs liberals

Cultural liberalism is valuable. More than that: it’s something to feel patriotic towards. I’m lucky...

February 2016

February 18, 2016

Why symbols matter for homo sapiens

You want lots of collective investment in the tribe? Then you need a tight and...

April 2015

April 28, 2015

Anthropology, not demagoguery, is the way to understand ISIS

Blaming ISIS on generic religious irrationality makes us completely blind to the social processes that...

December 2014

December 24, 2014

The age of extreme opinions

Agreeable, conscientious people are more likely to obey orders to harm other people. What does...

December 09, 2014

The great divide: Why activism needs tradition to work

Activism and tradition need each other. Lacking any prophets, the comfortable establishment just sinks deeper...

October 2014

October 15, 2014

Religion surrounds us

There is real good and real bad to be found in religious culture. It crafts...