WEB FOCUS
Being human
In this focus
Why do we behave in the way that we do? This series of Essays reveals how the latest research is altering our understanding of what it is to be human. Whether
in relation to religion or to our collective behaviour in cities, experts explore the potential impact on society, now and in the future, of discoveries in
psychology, anthropology, genetics, neuroscience, game theory and network engineering.
Discuss here.
Image: Greg Becker
Editorial
A look within
A series of Essays examines what science has to say about being human.
Nature 455, 1007 (23 October 2008) doi:10.1038/4551007b
Essay
Religion: Bound to believe?
Atheism will always be a harder sell than religion, Pascal Boyer explains, because a slew of cognitive traits predispose us to faith.
Nature 455, 1038 (23 October 2008) doi:10.1038/4551038a
Essay
Language: a social history of words
Language evolved as part of a uniquely human group of traits, the interdependence of which calls for an integrated approach to the study of brain function, argue Eörs Szathmáry and Szabolcs Számadó.
Nature 456, 40 (6 November 2008) doi:10.1038/456040a
Essay
Conflict: Altruism's midwife
Generosity and solidarity towards one's own may have emerged only in combination with hostility towards outsiders, says Samuel Bowles.
Nature 456, 326 (20 November 2008) doi:10.1038/456326a
Essay
Generosity: A winner's advice
Mathematical models can reveal how prosocial human behaviour - and even social intelligence and language - have evolved, argues Martin A. Nowak.
Nature 456, 579 (4 December 2008) doi:10.1038/456579a
Essay
Migration: An engine for social change
The movement of people into societies that offer a better way of life is a more powerful driver of cultural evolution than conflict and conquest, say Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd.
Nature 456, 877 (18 December 2008) doi:10.1038/456877a
Essay
Love: Neuroscience reveals all
Poetry it is not. Nor is it particularly romantic. But reducing love to its component parts helps us to understand human sexuality, and may lead to drugs that enhance or diminish our love for another, says Larry J. Young.
Nature 457, 148 (8 January 2009) doi:10.1038/457148a
Essay
Kinship: Race relations
Our notions of family, population and race may need revising in the age of personal genomics, argues Aravinda Chakravarti.
Nature 457, 380 (22 January 2009) doi:10.1038/457380a
Essay
Engineering: Worldwide ebb
In the last in our series on being human, Melanie Moses gets to grips with humanity's greatest challenge: how to reduce the demand for energy in increasingly complex, networked and energy-dependent societies.
Nature 457, 660 (5 February 2009) doi:10.1038/457660a
