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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Life Sciences

Western Kentucky University

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Natural selection

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Twelve Wallace Myths, Charles H. Smith Nov 2023

Twelve Wallace Myths, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace’s (1823-1913) bicentennial year is a good time to take stock. In this presentation I discuss twelve Wallace-related issues that I feel have been poorly taken up. These range from the biological to the biographical, including subjects such as social criticism, human evolution, autobiographical memory, natural selection, national affinities, spiritualism, and wokeism.


Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 19: Social Evolution's Useful Idiots, Charles H. Smith Feb 2022

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 19: Social Evolution's Useful Idiots, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

In today’s world liberals look at conservatives as the villains, and vice versa. How did this come to pass? In this essay a model of the biological roots of liberalism and conservatism is advanced; this is followed by a discussion of why cognitive dissonance may represent the key process in our social evolution. Alfred Russel Wallace’s experience with cognitive dissonance is then detailed, including how he dealt with it.