Are there any takedowns of the evolutionary idea of sexual selection?

exit_sandman · 2015-08-19T10:22:18+00:00

So, I'm wondering - with such vehement opposition to ideas that are also promoted by well-respected and fairly uncontroversial members of the academic community, there must be some basis for the opposition?

40-50 years of 2nd feminism-tenets permeating the mainstream and becoming accepted "facts". I mean, look at the 77c per dollar-controvery, or the 1 in 5-controversy. Despite both of them being blatantly wrong and utter bullshit, they have been accepted as gospel in the upper eshelons of society and politics.

It isn't about facts, it's about what aligns best with the tenets of the current cultural narrative - and for that narrative, the idea that sexual selection does not work like Buss, Haselton, Gangestad etc. say is a central element.

Reginleifer · 2015-08-19T00:47:08+00:00

No, but it's not exactly scientific that RP theory and scientific sexual selection match up. Obviously I think it's true and obviously it works for TRPers but let's not bullshit about our epistemic foundations. "RP is science!" is a blue pill strawman, not something any red actually says.

nomdplume · 2015-08-19T02:38:45+00:00

TRP doesn't follow academic evolutionary psychology and extrapolates far beyond what Buss said. Just consider AF/BB. TRP doesn't believe that women are actually sexually attracted to provider characteristics in men.

ReddishBlack · 2015-08-19T03:07:33+00:00

We have inherited a bizarre dilemma from our evolutionary history. We have urges that tell us to select partners based on one set of criteria, but have the ability to examine and disagree with them. Just because we sexually select based on these urges, does not mean that it is necessarily in our best interests.

We have desires and projects that our sexual pursuits can come into conflict with. Say I want to surround myself with intelligent, professional people to gain knowledge and live a good life, but am attracted to sleezy drug addicts whose only ambition is to steal and inject heroine. If I were to obey my sexual urges, I would live a fleeting life that is incompatible with my other goals.

What this means is that just because I have an urge, even though it arises from my human nature, does not mean that it is an urge that is good for me. If we as humans have sexual preferences that were evolved to select mates that would survive in a cruel environment, but we no longer live in those conditions, we can say that those urges should not be thought of as good just because we are having them.

Often, our bodies and minds compel us to do things that are destructive to the goals we have logically determined to be better for our well being in the long term. Sexual urges are not immune to this effect, rather I think they are the most prone to suffering from this dilemma.

joseremarque · 2015-08-20T00:47:09+00:00

Yes, for instance black women are considered the least attractive with the most negative stereotypes of all women yet we are still here producing more offspring. Can someone explain that?

wazzup987 · 2015-08-19T04:18:41+00:00

behavioral economics explains as much evo psyche and is far more flexible theory which accounts for changes and culture due to technological development.

Maybe twerps haven't seen this but im sure have. but i have seen hypergamy receding in women and rising in men. Why? economic shift of women working with culture to reinforce it. Every claim rp makes i either haven't observed or have seen a flattening of the curve

ilikegiraffes123 · 2015-08-19T04:51:48+00:00

I have a background in biology and I fully subscribe to the concept of evolution and sexual dimorphisms. However, when it comes to evolutionary psychology I have my doubts. There is a lot of bullshitting and theory crafting going on in that field.

What people often overlook is that humans due to their superior mental capacities are the only animal species that have the possibility to completely change their social structure. A change in social structure also leads to a change in behavior. The most striking example of this is the shift of behavior that takes place in many bird species when males take over care of the children. Instead of males competing against each other, the females actively compete for males, thus resulting in a shift in mate preferences.

Surely there is an evolutionary core to our behavior that became manifest in genetics and anatomy. However, the adaptive capabilities of our brain and sheer complexity of human interactions largely overshadow these biological foundations to the point where predictions of human behavior become close to impossible.

For that reason, I also don't consider psychology a science. A science of human behavior should be able to formulate laws that are able to make predictions without having a myriad of exceptions to the rule. Until this is not possible, there is no point in drawing conclusions from psychological findings.

Title	Are there any takedowns of the evolutionary idea of sexual selection?
Author	nomdplume
Upvotes	2
Comments	49
Date	August 19, 2015 12:19 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/3hio73/are_there_any_takedowns_of_the_evolutionary_idea/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/are-there-any-takedowns-of-the-evolutionary-idea.280224 https://theredarchive.com/post/280224

Comments