… of this paper by Ara Norenzayan, a psychologist at University of British Columbia, Canada “Explaining Human Behavioral Diversity,” in Science (27 May 2011)
People have been captivated and puzzled by human diversity since ancient times. In today’s globalized world, many of the key challenges facing humanity, such as reversing climate change, coordinating economic policies, and averting war, entail unprecedented cooperation between cultural groups on a global scale. Success depends on bridging cultural divides over social norms, habits of thinking, deeply held beliefs, and values deemed sacred. If we ignore, underestimate, or misunderstand behavioral differences, we do so at everyone’s peril.
What is this paper doing in a science journal? How does one “co-operate” with people who honestly do not believe in human dignity, and there are many of those? And always have been.
Must all scientists be smushheads?
File under: Not all psychology is stupid, but beware anything that smacks of moral non-realism.