The

The Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

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Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Michael McCullough.

Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego,

where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior Laboratory.

He studies the functions of human behavior and emotion using the conceptual tools of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science.

He's conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude,

empathy, religion, and morality. He's the author of Beyond Revenge, the Evolution of the

Forgiveness Instinct, and the kindness of strangers, how a selfish ape invented a new moral code,

which is the focus of today's conversation. Michael and I talk about the field of evolutionary psychology and why it's considered

controversial. We talk about Richard Dawkins and the selfish gene revolution. We discuss

the evolutionary roots of altruism towards strangers. We talk about the criticism that evolutionary

psych is a collection of just-so stories rather than actual science. We talk about the criticism that evolutionary psych is a collection of just so stories rather than actual science.

We talk about the evolution of welfare spending over the past few centuries.

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