List of anti-evolutionary psychology arguments
From EvoWiki
Evolutionary psychology, the field that proposes much of our current thinking and behavior derives from ancestrally determined traits is quite contentious in several circles, and many arguments against evolutionary psychology have been put forward.
This is an attempt to list some of them:
Contents |
Theory
- Evolutionary psychology is not as rigorous as the rest of evolutionary biology
- Evolutionary psychology is far more willing to accept natural selection as the mechanism responsible for a trait as opposed to other factors
- Evolutionary psychology claims are more speculative than more standard science
- Evolutionary psychology is nothing more than just-so storytelling
Politics
- Evolutionary psychology is a plot to give scientific justification for right- or left-wing policies
- Evolutionary psychology is eugenics in disguise
- Evolutionary psychology is racist
- Evolutionary psychology is used to justify rape
- Evolutionary psychology is used to justify violence
- Evolutionary psychology is used to justify inequality
- Evolutionary psychology is sexist
Other
- Evolutionary psychology has less evidence backing it up, so more speculative interpretations are available
- Evolutionary psychology can easily be used to supplement a nihilistic perspective
Alternative hypotheses
- The brain is a spandrel
- Social constructionism
- Most behavior traits are so pliable, it's impossible to trace direct genetic influence
- Genetic drift
