Has evolutionary psychology got any application or use for modern dating and relationships?

tired_hillbilly · 2022-12-20T06:58:49+00:00

Evopsych determines our desires, our tastes. But we're not compelled to act on them.

Gravel_Roads · 2022-12-20T06:17:43+00:00

Psychology can help understand some behaviors. It won’t, however, give you the self control, humility, or empathy you will need to use it.

It’s kinda the difference between reading about where muscles are on your body vs actually exercising.

HighestTierMaslow · 2022-12-20T15:27:25+00:00

"Some people say they provide a good general description of human behaviour but today we are able to overcome those desires from humanity's past. And that they are no excuse for behaving a certain way."

Im one of these people. People use evolutionary psychology/biology to cherry pick in ways that can justify their own selfish behavior. The average man on this forum accepts these principles only when it shows men have evolved to act in selfish ways, however when it shows a woman does it, suddenly its not true or its not a legitimate excuse.

The modern world is way too different than the world 99% of humans have lived through- we have adapted and are not controlled by those urges anymore.

I feel the same way about the Bible btw.

MuchMethod7039 · 2022-12-20T05:15:05+00:00

The main issue with evolutionary psychology is that it cannot be confirmed or falsified. Most of the field isn't testable in any way-- making me seriously doubt its validity. I haven't read the Evolution of Desire, however, so I cannot comment on it.

TaxNegative161 · 2022-12-20T04:50:10+00:00

Evo psych might be the most unscientific field that is still under the umbrella of 'academia'. It should be treated as nothing more than a curiosity that could get a good debate going. It should never, ever be used to support your position or attack another's*.

*obviously this is only if you care about good faith discussion and the pursuit of actual truth. If you don't give a fuck about any of that you should use evo psych exclusively because it can mean whatever you want it to.

januaryphilosopher · 2022-12-20T09:54:10+00:00

Normal psychology absolutely. I'd recommend looking at it for literally any interaction. Evopsych is full of bad science and untestable claims, so it isn't what you want to base any life choices on. It also doesn't even claim to help with knowing how people may actually act now.

Superannuatedpunk · 2022-12-20T05:08:52+00:00

Eco psych is unscientific gibberish. It’s just-so stories wearing a labcoat. Anyone treating it like it’s actually science is a deeply unserious person and should not be listened to.

RealCaramelli · 2022-12-21T00:57:44+00:00

I don’t know what parts of evolutionary psychology are true or false, but I think it’s foolish to think that our motivations are in line with contemporary society.

throwaway164_3 · 2022-12-20T04:20:04+00:00

You should read proper evolutionary biology, not evo psych

Reasonable-Software2 · 2022-12-20T04:03:25+00:00

I’ve seen a couple of David Buss interviews. There’s nothing he’s said that stuck with me, so I suppose his views isn’t particularly helpful/ novel. I suppose he really isn’t giving advice only sharing how humans acted way back when.

WilliamWyattD · 2022-12-20T08:47:51+00:00

It should be intuitively obvious that the answers to many of our questions are, at the very least, greatly informed by our evolutionary past. It is a bit of a strawman to hold evolutionary psychology or biology up to the standards of certainty of the hard sciences. Everyone informed knows that it is not such a science.

I have my issues with psychology and most of the social sciences. That said, evolutionary thinking of some sort, whatever name you want to give it, is without a doubt critical to trying to understand certain phenomena. This type of thinking should naturally be done with humility and acceptance of the uncertainty that is often inherent to it. Nor does psychology, evolutionary or otherwise, replace or supersede all other sources of wisdom about human nature and the human condition, from religion to literature. It is simply another well to draw upon.

But dismissing the whole field is silly. We have no perfect certainty about virtually anything having to do with human nature and behavior. There is conjecture at the heart of all of it. Such is life. We do our best.

lacuti3 · 2022-12-20T04:04:53+00:00

I always cringe when guys argue we’re in control of our instincts. If that were true then guys wouldn’t need sexual variety, they wouldn’t check out other girls when they’re in a relationship, they wouldn’t automatically imagine fucking most of the girls they see. It’s instinctual for women to be hypergamous and gold digging. Accept it

spicyelgato · 2022-12-20T05:17:41+00:00

EP is pseudoscience used by males trying to excuse cheating and being manipulative. You can use EP to justify literally anything.

siletntium · 2022-12-20T14:43:30+00:00

Evo psych is more scientific than any other form of psychology but less scientific than actual hard sciences. So of course many women hate it as it implies humans don't make decisions based on magic.

Safinated · 2022-12-20T15:58:52+00:00

It shows who is in it for mating and biology

PMmeareasontolive · 2022-12-20T16:41:28+00:00

Evo Psyche is the tldr of human behavior.

I think it provides a good groundwork. But the problem as seen in this sub especially is that many people can't tolerate ambiguity. So rather than say you were conditioned to do something or want something by culture or advertising, you deny those kinds of conditioning exist, or come up with somewhat weak explanations after the fact. Like you have PTSD because you're trying to protect your genetic lineage, etc. That's the annoying thing about EP, it's lack of falsifiability. So basically, did you co-operate? That's the genes doing that. Did you compete? that's the genes competing. There may be truth in it but where's the value when it explains everything and it's exact opposite in the same way (by anthropomorphizing one's genes)?

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TheRedPillRipper · 2022-12-20T08:43:52+00:00

got any application or use for modern dating

Definitely. It, like any other discipline, helps provide context. Even hypothetically. Not just for your own worldview, but even more importantly, to better understand the worldview of others.

That said whilst Evolutionary Psychology can be substantiated, is an ongoing process. Like The Drake Equation. Aspects are hypothetical, but usually that’s where the search of answers start.

Godspeed and good luck!

Laytheblameonluck · 2022-12-20T20:37:50+00:00

Problem is the evo psych faculty write some papers, the gender studies faculty riles up the student union about it as being misogynistic, and budgets are cut, so they write different papers.

We've seen this recently in that evo psych research has stood still for over a decade now.

Peacesquad · 2022-12-20T21:41:12+00:00

Plenty

Warm_Gur8832 · 2022-12-21T00:41:34+00:00

Not if you’re going to hide behind it.

JumboJetz · 2022-12-22T23:56:40+00:00

It’s so full of bullshit I feel like even if there are useful lessons in evo psych it’s too buried in mounds of bullshit to ever be extracted right now.

Title	Has evolutionary psychology got any application or use for modern dating and relationships?
Author	chancetolive
Upvotes	24
Comments	87
Date	December 20, 2022 3:37 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/zqd74z/has_evolutionary_psychology_got_any_application/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/has-evolutionary-psychology-got-any-application-or.1208022 https://theredarchive.com/post/1208022

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