this and that

From the weekend's reading...

--A piece from the Wilson Quarterly about the potential relationship between genetic diversity of human populations and economic prosperity. In short: too much diversity and you don't get enough cooperation. But too little, and there is no dynamism. The sweet spot is in the middle somewhere. (Also, Ethiopia is the most genetically diverse country on earth. I did not know that.)

--A profile of the unfortunately-named Jan Assmann and his controversial ideas about how the introduction of monotheism fomented a level of conflict previously unseen among the previously polytheistic societies of what we would now call the Middle East. (Astute readers will note that this was essentially the premise of the Battlestar Galactica spin-off/prequel Caprica.)

--Porn star/model/aerialist/writer Stoya on casinos, megachurches, and what both have to do with human evolution.