Why Evolutionary Psychology Pisses You Off (And Why Maybe It Shouldn't)
Friday, March 2, 2012 - 22:30
in Psychology & Sociology
If you want to irritate a lot of people at once, write an article about evolutionary psychology. Publishing such an article will invariably provoke a firestorm of denunciations and criticisms. Given the vehemence of these attacks, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking that the scientific basis for evolutionary psychology (or “evpsy” as it is sometimes abbreviated) was akin to tarot cards or bloodletting. Yet the basic premise of evpsy—that some aspects of the human brain and behavior were subject to evolutionary pressures—seems to be scientifically sound. So what is it about this subject that makes it a napalm bomb for the inciting of flame wars? read more