David P Barash
Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of Washington
David P Barash is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle. His most recent books are Peace and Conflict Studies, 5th ed (2022, Oxford Univ Press), and Threats: Intimidation and its Discontents (2020, OUP) and Through a Glass Brightly: Using Science to See Our Species as We Really Are (2018, OUP), plus with his wife, the psychiatrist Judith Eve Lipton, Strength Through Peace: How Demilitarization Led to Peace and Happiness in Costa Rica, and What the Rest of the World Can Learn from a Tiny, Tropical Nation (2018, OUP).
Written by David P Barash
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Consciousness and altered states
Stuck with the soul
The idea of the soul is obviously a nonsense, yet its immaterial mysterious nature has deep hooks in the human psyche
David P Barash
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Evolution
Life is tough
Human life is fragile but tardigrades and other extremophiles show that life itself is in little danger of disappearing
David P Barash
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Cosmology
Anthropic arrogance
Claims that the Universe is designed for humans raise far more troubling questions than they can possibly answer
David P Barash
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War and peace
The deterrence myth
Nuclear deterrence continues to dominate international relations. Yet there is no proof it ever worked, nor that it ever will
David P Barash
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Religion
Is God a silverback?
Protective, omnipotent, scary and very territorial. The monotheistic God is modelled on a harem-keeping alpha male
David P Barash
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Biology
Paradigms lost
Science is not a ‘body of knowledge’ – it’s a dynamic, ongoing reconfiguration of knowledge and must be free to change
David P Barash
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Animals and humans
Animal magnetism
Humans are fascinated by our fellow animals – is that just an evolutionary hangover or something more profound?
David P Barash
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Evolution
Is there a war instinct?
Many evolutionists believe that humans have a drive for waging war. But they are wrong and the idea is dangerous
David P Barash
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Consciousness and altered states
Mind readers
Human awareness of our own minds and others’ is unlike that of any other animal. But why did consciousness evolve?
David P Barash
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Ecology and environmental sciences
Only connect
Buddhism and ecology both refuse to separate the human and natural worlds – and demand that we act accordingly
David P Barash