This View of Life
Blog

Together with commentaries by authors with diverse perspectives on field research, we hope to catalyze the formation of field sites for the study of cultural evolution around the world.

The following synopsis will provide useful background for the commentaries.

Apocalyptic ideas motivate much of the most virulent political violence in the world, stirring what can be called the “fundamentalist mindset.”

Commentary 3

Spirituality often seems like the opposite of action, but some of the most committed forms of activism come from spiritual leaders.

This process of “acting like” is a critically important mechanism in cultural evolution since it leads to social conformity and the homogenization of group behavior.

My hope for this essay is to endow the social enterprise, not only with a sense of necessity, but also with a sense of beauty.