<s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 5 topics, 17 evergreens, 8 sources</em></s> #### <s class="topic-title">[[Evolutionary Psychology]]</s> > [!wikipedia] [Evolutionary Psychology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary%20psychology) > > Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological structure from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations – that is, the functional products of [[natural selection]] in [[human evolution]]. > > For physiological mechanisms, such as the heart, lungs, and immune system, thinking about adaptation is common. > Evolutionary psychology is applying the same thinking to [[psychology]], arguing that the modularity of [[mind]] is similar to that of the [[body]] and with different modular adaptations serving different functions. > The argument is that much of [[human behavior]] is the output of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments. > This means that behaviors or traits that occur universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary psychology, > including the abilities to infer others' [[emotions]], discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, and cooperate with others. > > Criticism of evolutionary psychology involves questions of testability, cognitive and evolutionary assumptions (such as modular functioning of the brain, and large uncertainty about the ancestral environment), importance of non-genetic and non-adaptive explanations, as well as political and ethical issues due to interpretations of research results. > Like any other theory, Evolutionary Psychology needs to be used reasonably, as [[Experts are often far too confident in the effectiveness of their theories]]. This is reflected in [[Evolutionary Psychology is just a framework not a prescription of behavior]]. ##### ^dataviews > [!dataview]+ Related unlinked notes > > - [[Belief can motivate adaptation]] > - [[Biological processes can only give context to behavior not predict it]] > - [[Complex emotions are imperfect understandings of primal urges]] > - [[Gender segregation increases gendered play]] > - [[Humans are a product of evolution]] > - [[Humans are primarily irrational, illogical, emotional beings]] > - [[Humans love to group eachother]] > - [[Patriarchy convinces young men that they can and should be oppressors]] > [!dataview]- Other unlinked mentions > > - [[Darwin's Cathedral by David Sloan Wilson]] > - [[notes - Clinical vs Non-clinical depression]] > - [[notes - Solutions to depression]] > - [[10_Sources/Readwise/Books/books - Darwin's Cathedral|books - Darwin's Cathedral]] > - [[Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari]] > - [[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral|books - Darwin's Cathedral]] > - [[lecture - Behavioral Evolution]] > - [[textbook - Hyde&Elsequest_pyschology of women and gender]] > - [[topics]] > - [[Adrenaline]] > - [[Cortisol]] > - [[Evolution]] > - [[sociobiology]] > - [[47 Humanity]] > - [[Calvinism was successful because it's structure was highly functional]] > - [[Gender is a social construct]] > - [[Most problems cannot be significantly understood through a single framework]] > - [[Negative influences impact us more than positive influences]] > - [[Our brain will do anything it can to protect itself]] > - [[Religion externalizes social control mechanisms]]