I have often complained about unscientific categories holding back science, for example the idiotic categorization of planets by the IAU and the continued failure to properly use SI units.

Now, I want to tackle a bad legacy in archaeology: the term “Stone Age.” We break up early human prehistory into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic (or the Epipaleothic in some circles), and Neolithic based on the use of stone tools—and, later, farming. But, this is a poor system based on an observational bias called the Streetlight Effect.

The Streetlight Effect is named for an old joke about a guy found searching for his keys at night under a street light. The person finding him asks where he last knew he had the keys. The guy says, “Over there on the other side of the street, but the light is better over here.”

The term “Stone Age” is derived from the fact that stone tools survive better than tools created from other materials. If some creature makes a tool from plant fibers or bone, these tools are far less likely to present in the fossil record than stone tools. It’s on the “dark side” of the archeological street.

Continue reading →

The world is entering an era of instability. For many years, people have complained of a crisis of leadership in the world.

There is no crisis of leadership in the world, because there really is no such thing as leadership. What we have is a crisis of followership.

Continue reading →

You can say one thing for HBO’s epic fantasy adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, the ever-controversial Game of Thrones. It certainly has spurred political debate about gender roles.

I’ve addressed how insidious gender stereotypes can be, particularly in regard to how the Damsel Bias has corrupted so much debate about fiction like Game of Thrones. Since I’ve griped about sexist bias in the criticism of the show, I feel I should congratulate the show on how the final episode of season six portrayed complementary male and female power.

Continue reading →