Lixing Sun is currently a Professor of Biology at Central Washington University. He studies, teaches, and writes about animal behavior, human nature, evolution, and behavioral economics.
Size matters in politics: America hasn’t seen a president shorter than 5’7” since William McKinley. A main culprit, unbeknownst to many, comes from voters’ cognitive biases—the work of evolution. And the conundrum took a theatrical turn early this year when Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential hopeful, was spotted wearing a pair of new boots. #bootgate
Besides racial prejudice, what else are there behind xenophobia? Among the evolved human instincts, we can find at least two for the anti-immigration sentiment: territoriality and the endowment effect.