Is evolutionary psychology even a thing?

Inareskai · 2023-02-14T11:45:58+00:00

There is a field of study called evolutionary psychology. It has been highly criticised for relying on untestable hypotheses, unfalsifiable claims, and leaning on often contradictory 'ultimate explanations' to name but a few issues. It also leans hard into genetic determinism (which is why Pills tend to like it) and willingly lends itself to malevolent political or moral ideas.

The main thing is that there are probably some things we can learn from evolutionary psychology. At the very least, there are ideas that might be worth exploring to see where we get to and broaden our understanding of human behaviour even if we then discard the ideas at the end - it's all much more hypothetical than people make it out to be. But the problem comes when people start taking it as truth, as ScienceTM, as showing that genetic determinism is 'real' when that is a highly, highly debated discussion.

Additionally, whilst there may be real work somewhere in there, the dudes using it for pills etc are usually taking a headline and then filling in the blanks themselves with random theories they've taken from high school biology classes about evolution. They might claim 'evolutionary psychology' when what they mean is 'a reactionary/purposefully inflammatory and vague science headline that I will now apply my basic understanding of evolution and genetics to and claim it as fact'. Because the study of genetics is wild and varied, and the guys using it for pill nonsense and some evolutionary psychology 'practitioners' seem to ignore that and go with whatever notion of genetics supports them using it to argue for determinism and some of those 'malevolent political or moral ideas'.

Sad_Apple_1911 · 2023-02-14T15:55:27+00:00

I’m studying to become a psychologist and evolutionary psychology, but honestly everything regarding evolution, is not scientific in the sense that these people belive (that doesn't mean that I support creationism) - nor is it supposed to be used in the way they use it (I think they don’t understand the difference between a hypothesis, theory, law etc.)

RedPillDetox · 2023-02-14T17:02:13+00:00

There is Evolutionary Psychology, a controversial yet still scientific field that is often criticized due to certain methodological shortcomings, and then there's this bullshit that TRPers make up and label it "Evolitonary Psychology", which is different than real Evolutionary Psychology

ManWazo · 2023-02-14T12:03:54+00:00

Everything "eviolutionary" isn't scientific. Evolutionary claims cannot be falsified empirically and for every plausible evolutionary claim there is an equally plausible evolutionary claim that contradicts it.

PutsWomenOnPedestal · 2023-02-14T13:22:22+00:00

Yes. Although from the way you phrased your question, in a sub that is hostile to evo psych, it is obvious you are just looking for confirmation of your views. Your skepticism is valid, there is a LOT of nonsense being spewed by proponents of evo paych. The same could be said of psychology in general. Half of psychology experiments can’t be reproduced but that doesn’t mean the field is entirely useless. Basically if a field can make testable predictions better than random chance, it is science. Most of evo psych and psychology claims don’t pass this test, but some do

beansmuch · 2023-02-14T14:05:59+00:00

Very few scientific disciplines are very "cut and dry". Chemistry, physics... that's about it.

Every other discipline has a lot of variation, noise, extrapolation, hypothesizing, narrative building, etc. How aggressive are lions towards humans? That depends on the lion, but there are tendencies. How well does a human being absorb iron from spinach? Well, that depends a whole lot on the individual human being. How well does this medicine work for treating high blood pressure? It probably works decently for some people, harms some other people and does nothing for some others.

Not everything is like physics... "I'm going to drop this thing that weights x amount of grams from y height and then it's going to reach terminal velocity in z seconds.". It's great that physics and chemistry are very cut and dry because it means we don't have to rely on uncontrollable factors when we build bridges. But the same isn't true for medicine. One medication works well for you but it destroy the kidney of someone else.

Psychology in general is one of the least cut and dry disciplines there is. Most psychological concepts are pretty subjective. Like people like to talk about the Dunning-Kruger effect like it's some objective truth about human beings when in reality it's just a cognitive bias that some people seem to exhibit but even then its existence or importance is highly criticized.

So is evolutionary psychology even a thing? Well, it's like any other theoretical approach in a social science or humanity. So there is a lot to be criticized within it. It should not be accepted blindly, but it is also not just a bunch of junk that people pull out of their ass. As mentioned before... there's a lot of narrative building and extrapolation. But you know what else has that? Archaeology. Maybe someone will disabuse me of this view but the arguments you used against evolutionary psychology would also be a strong case against archaeology, since it's a lot of narrative building and extrapolation. It doesn't mean it's wrong, but there is a lot of noise and a lot of assumptions one has to make.

TREVONTHEDRAGON · 2023-02-14T18:30:36+00:00

If you don’t believe in evolutionary psychology the fact the men and women evolved to have very different mindsets then your can’t believe in evolutionary biology which simply the same thing but about the physical things about men and women. And there purpose. Logic man and emotional woman is apart of evolutionary biology and psychology because of the purpose all animals have it. Lion come into the world believing they have to fight for mates of instinct. They do not come in and pretty please for mates and they all do it.

AwareHabit6916 · 2023-02-14T10:16:51+00:00

WWhiMM · 2023-02-14T20:52:01+00:00

I think of it as a theoretical framework for psychology.
Are there any psychological phenomena where an evolutionary framework has explanatory power? Sure, given the behavioral similarities between humans and other primates compared to the behavioral dissimilarity between humans and reptiles, I'd be willing to argue evolution has shaped our psychology to some degree. Does that mean we should try explain all of psychology primarily through an evolutionary lens? No!
Like,you can explain a lot of geological formations through the lens of simple natural processes, but if you try to explain Mount Rushmore as wind erosion, you look like an absolute fool.
For adaptable species like us, it's necessary to consider the interplay between our extensive (but finite) psychological capacities and the social/material conditions we navigate; it's necessary to consider the web of feedback loops within the complex system of: individual psychology, social structures/politics, social psychology, economics, ecology, AND evolution of our species.

carritotaquito · 2023-02-23T00:24:53+00:00

Evo psych, IMO, is pseudoscience at best and fringe mumbo-jumbo at worst.

Amazing_Ad1404 · 2023-04-26T15:04:28+00:00

So how bout how our desire to believe in magic.. gambling.. why we care about leveling up on stupid phone games.. religion .. being scared of the dark.. tribalism..superstition ..war?

All are examples of vestigial leftovers from being less intelligent animals. We are mammals that somehow figured out space. Label it what you want but it's a product of surviving over billions of years.

Scientific understanding evolves too.. ever receding waters

Title	Is evolutionary psychology even a thing?
Author	domitori3
Upvotes	6
Comments	37
Date	February 14, 2023 9:56 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/ExRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/exredpill/comments/1120ef6/is_evolutionary_psychology_even_a_thing/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/ExRedPill/is-evolutionary-psychology-even-a-thing.1152746 https://theredarchive.com/post/1152746

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