According to Alexander’s [Alexander, R. D. (1987). The biology of moral systems. New York: Aldine de Gruyter] theory of morality, human social groups became large as a result of between-group competition over preferred habitats and resources, but although larger social groups are more successful in competition, they also experience more pressures to fission. Morality unites a society by limitin...

IT WAS A GREAT HONOR to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Design Automation Conference with a keynote lecture intended to place in perspective the most relevant research results presented at DAC in all these years and to identify trends and challenges for the future of electronic design automation (EDA). Going through the DAC proceedings, hunting for relevant papers, was indeed a formidable...

Recent studies of the evolution of religion have revealed the cognitive underpinnings of belief in supernatural agents, the role of ritual in promoting cooperation, and the contribution of morally punishing high gods to the growth and stabilization of human society. The universality of religion across human society points to a deep evolutionary past. However, specific traits of nascent religios...

An infinity of gods collectively select a random natural number by each removing a finite number of balls from an urn in a reverse supertask. It is discussed whether this is an absurdity that indicates the impossibility of reverse supertasks.

One central feature of the God of Israel, highlighted in the holy Scriptures of the Jews, was that he had h)nq. The word means zeal, jealousy, and envy. In other words, Yahweh is a jealous God, envious of and zealous for all that belongs to him. He will give his glory to no other, “nor my praise to graven images”. 2 This God had now chosen Israel to be his people. The people, then, were to show...

Recent advances in archaeology, chronobiology, and history of science have made it possible to decipher hitherto obscure passages related to planets in the Indian books of the third millennium BC. A brief summary of this knowledge is presented. It is argued that the period of Mercury was obtained near the end of the Vedic age in India. This was celebrated in terms of the famous myth of Vishnu s...

The modern Vikings are academic researchers. They are to be found in the Universities of Uppsala, Stockholm, Linkoping, Gothenberg, etc. Their names are Jan Johanson, Häkan Häkansson, Lars-Gunnar Mattson et. al. Their gods are Relationships, Interaction and Networks. Their ideas, concepts and research frameworks have their origins in the same spirit of adventure as their forebears. Crucially, t...