Patrik Lindenfors

I am a researcher in biological and cultural evolution at the Institute for Future Studies, also associated with the Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution & the Department of Zoology at Stockholm University, and to V-Dem Institute at Gothenburg University.

Besides research, I write books and articles. My fifth book, with the title The Cultural Animal, recieved rave reviews. There are links to my latest articles to the right, both science and opinion pieces.

I am a former board member of Humanists Sweden, vice presiden for the European Humanist Federation, former chairperson of the Swedish Arts Council's evaluation committee for non-fiction literature, and the National Committee for Biology at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. I am also publisher for Humanisten.

    Books


  • Kristendom
    Kristendom. Christianity is the world's largest religion and its holy book, the Bible, the world's most influential book. Even people those who do not share the Christian worldview must relate to it. (In Swedish)
  • For Whose Benefit
    Det kulturella djuret – Om människans evolution och tänkandets utveckling. About three evolutionary processes that have shaped our brains and minds: biological evolution, associative learning and cultural evolution. (In Swedish)
  • For Whose Benefit
    For Whose Benefit? The Biological and Cultural Evolution of Human Cooperation. We are all made of parts - genes, cells, neurons, but also ideas (`memes'). Our societies too are made of parts - humans. Is all this cooperation the same process?
  • Sekulär Humanism
    Sekulär humanism (Secular Humanism) is written together with Christer Sturmark. The book explains humanism as a life stance in an easy to understand manner. (In Swedish)
  • Samarbete
    Samarbete (cooperation) takes the reader on a journey, navigating the enigmatic aspects of cooperation; a journey that starts inside the body and continues via our thoughts to the human super-organism. (In Swedish)
  • Gud finns nog inte
    God probably doesn't exist introduces atheism to children and youth. The book has so far been translated into eight languages. (Anyone keen on translating it into Arabic or French? In that case, please send me an e-mail .)

Cultural Evolution

At present, my main focus lies in investigating the evolution of democracy. For this reason, I am one of several project managers for the V-Dem-project at the Department of Political Science in Gothenburg.

I also do research on the evolution of religion, where my aim is to bring order in the relationships between evolutionary factors, psychological factors and religious phenomena. Further, I investigate how health effects of religious practices come about through religious regulations and placebo effects, and how these health effects in turn have affected the evolution of religion.

Biological Evolution

In my biological research, I investigate how species and sex differences in mammal brains are related to sex differences in behaviour. The results so far indicate that behavioral differences between the sexes has hade some influence on primate brain architecture, but also that these relationships are far from clear.

My other biological research focuses mostly on the use and development of phylogenetic methods, especially through analyses of the evolution of sex differences. Besides that, I have long nurtured a special interest for social evolution and in particular the evolution of cooperation.

During my post-doc at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville I investigated what factors that influence parasite diversity. The data I helped gather is available at the Global Mammal Parasite Database.

Science

  • My five latest articles:
  • Wilson MC, Maerz SF, Lindenfors P, Edgell AB, Boese V & Lindberg SI 2022 Episodes of liberalization in autocracies: a new approach to quantitatively studying democratization. Political Science Research and Methods (Published online 15 June).
  • Edgell AB, Boese VA, Maerz SF, Lindenfors P & Lindberg SI 2021 The institutional order of liberalization. British Journal of Political Science (Published online 17 August 2021).
  • Lindenfors P, Wartel A & Lind J 2021 Dunbar’s number deconstructed. Biology Letters 17: 20210158.
  • Lindenfors P, Wilson MC & Lindberg SI 2020 The Matthew effect in political science: head start and key reforms important for democratization. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 7: 106.
  • Leroi AM, Lambert B, Mauch M, Papadopoulou M, Ananiadou S, Lindberg SI & Lindenfors P 2020 On revolutions. Palgrave Communications 6: article number 4.

Opinion & Popular Science

  • My five latest articles:
  • Lindenfors P 2022 Det är skillnad på kritiskt tänkande och önsketänkande. Dagen 2 juni.
  • Lindenfors P, Lind J & Wartel A 2021 Why we dispute ‘Dunbar’s number’–the claim humans can only maintain 150 friendships. The Conversation June 23.
  • Lindenfors P & Svensson J 2021 Evolutionary explanations for religion: An interdisciplinary critical review. Research Ideas and Outcomes 7: p.e66132.
  • Lindenfors P, Rönnegard D & Gustafsson U 2021 Våra fyra reformförslag skulle stärka religions- och övertygelsefriheten. (DN Debatt) Dagens Nyheter !1th January.
  • Lindenfors P, Rönnegard D & Gustafsson U 2021 Religiösa värderingar ska inte styra praxis vid livets slut. (DN Debatt) Dagens Nyheter 3rd January.