David Smith’s books and discussions covered by several international media
David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy and religious studies, has been prominent in the international media the past few weeks.
The El Economista (Mexico) on Nov. 15, covered a discussion Smith participated in as one of the speakers at La Ciudad de las Ideas - described as a "festival of brilliant minds" - in Puebla, Mexico. The three participants looked at the issue of violence through comparisons between the behavior of primates (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, etc.).
Smith was also noted in the Nov. 13 issue of El Universal (Mexico) as a participant of La Ciudad de las Ideas, which gathered 25 world-renowned personalities - including Paul Krugman, Nobel-winning economist and New York Times columnist; Oliver Stone, Academy Award-winning filmmaker; Steven Levitt, economist and co-author of Freakonomics; and Morgan Spurlock, documentary filmmaker best known for his Academy Award-nominated "Super Size Me." View to a video with a Spanish translation of one of Smith’s presentations at this conference or view a video overview of the festival.
Smith, the author of Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind, was interviewed by Revista Nueva (Argentina) on Nov. 16th on the subject of lying as an evolutionary question.
In addition, the Nov. 8th edition of Odkrywcy (Poland) reviewed the recently published Polish translation of Smith's 2007 book, The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War,
The Most Dangerous Animal, published originally by St. Martins, explores the evolutionary and psychological roots of war and genocide, with a view towards identifying what it is about human nature that makes it possible for us to treat our fellow human beings with such extraordinary brutality.