The Approval Complex and Darwinian Monoculture -- Further Reflections on the Royal Society Meeting

As important as parenting is, it should be a temporary undertaking. The end result is well worth the effort... when it does come to an end, that is. We've all seen regrettable cases where it doesn't -- fully grown adults who retain an unhealthy need for parental approval and aging parents who foster that kind of lingering dependence.

I left the recent Royal Society meeting in London, "New Trends in Evolutionary Biology," with the distinct impression that I had witnessed a professional versio...