^TagEvolutionary psychology

eurpean siblings brother and sister quarelling

^{Type
post

Author
J.R. Miller
Date
May 2, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics

Tagged
E. O. Wilson, Evolutionary psychology, Featured}

Why AI Can’t Save Us From Ourselves — If Evolution Is Any Guide

_{Famous evolutionary theorist E. O. Wilson’s reflections help us understand} _{J.R. Miller

May 2, 2022

5

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics}

The late E. O. Wilson (1929–2021) received more than one hundred awards for his research and writing, including two Pulitzer Prizes. As a professor at Harvard University, Wilson influenced generations with his ideas about human evolution and ethics. In his 2012 New York Times essay “Evolution and Our Inner Conflict,” Wilson asked two key question regarding the problem of evil in our world: Are human beings intrinsically good but corruptible by the forces of evil, or the reverse, innately sinful yet redeemable by the forces of good? Are we built to pledge our lives to a group, even to the risk of death, or the opposite, built to place ourselves and our families above all else? Wilson believed that humans Read More ›

Prehistoric hand paintings at the Cave of the Hands (Spanish: Cueva de Las Manos ) in Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The art in the cave dates from 13,000 to 9,000 years ago.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 2, 2021

Categorized
Biology, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Casey Luskin, Denyse O'Leary (on evolutionary psychology), Evolutionary psychology, Human evolution (and psychology), ID the Future (on evolutionary psychology), Psychology (and human evolution), Subrena E. Smith}

Evolutionary Psychology: When We Looked In, No One Was There…

_{Evo psych likely got started when psychologists wanted to get in on illuminating findings in evolution, like the Cambrian Explosion} _{Denyse O'Leary

December 2, 2021

3

Biology, Philosophy of Mind}

In a recent episode of ID: The Future, Casey Luskin and I discussed my chapter on evolutionary psychology in The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith: Exploring the Ultimate Questions About Life and the Cosmos (2021). Evolutionary psychologists claim to find the basis of human psychology in what enabled our remote ancestors to survive — that is, in prehuman or prehistoric behavior. A conceptual problem has always bothered me. Reading University of New Hampshire philosopher Subrena Smith helped clarify my thoughts: There is no such thing as a fossil mind. If our behavior is said to stem from our prehistoric or prehuman past, not from our known human circumstances, evolutionary psychology is a discipline without a subject. Also, any human Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 24, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Relationships

Tagged
Altruism (concept replacing compassion), Compassion (evolutionary psychology view), Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith (book), Denis Noble, Evolutionary psychology, Jerry Coyne, Jonathan Haidt, Religion (evolutionary psychology view), William Hamilton}

Compassion and Religion: Darwin’s Unscratchable Itches

_{If one’s research is in a hole as deep as evolutionary psychology is when accounting for compassion, why not stop digging?} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 24, 2021

7

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Relationships}

Last Sunday, I pointed to a chapter I wrote in The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith: Exploring the Ultimate Questions About Life and the Cosmos (2021) on evolutionary psychology, best understood as the psychology we have derived from our not-quite-human ancestors. “Not-quite-human ancestors”? Well, if you believe in conventional evolution theory at all, you must suppose that we have not-quite-human ancestors. Thus, to understand the origin of traits like giving to the Heart & Stroke Fund or subscribing to popular science magazines, we must get back to a point before any such institutions could have existed but there was some sort of dim potential. But we can’t really do that because, as noted last Sunday, there is no such Read More ›

The Altamira Caves. Spanish rock art. It is the highest representation of cave painting in Spain

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 17, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Brain (theoretical evo psych modules), Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith (book), Evolutionary psychology, Subrena E. Smith}

There Is No Such Thing as a Fossil Mind

_{A chapter on evolutionary psychology in Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith (2021) looks at the curious discipline of evolutionary psychology} _{Denyse O'Leary

October 17, 2021

5

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

This month, the The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith: Exploring the Ultimate Questions About Life and the Cosmos (Harvest House 2021) appeared. The basic theme of the handbook, as described by editors design theorist William Dembski and Joseph Holden is “Science and Christianity are often presented as opposites, when in fact the order of the universe and the complexity of life powerfully testify to intelligent design.” I wrote one of the chapters, “What is evolutionary psychology?”. It concerns the effort to understand human psychology by appealing to a prehuman (“evolutionary”) past. As such, it explains a large variety of human behaviours as the unconscious enactment of a Darwinian survival scenario among not-quite humans that is wired into modules in Read More ›

pregnant woman holding her tummy while standing near garden shed

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 26, 2020

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Arianne Shavisi, Evolutionary psychology, Lynn Hankinson Nelson, Nesting behavior, Pregnancy, Subrena E. Smith}

Ethics Prof Slams Claims About Why Pregnant Women “Nest”

_{Evolutionary psychology is among the “scienciest” of the sciences; implicit belief does not require serious evidence} _{News

July 26, 2020

6

Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Evolutionary psychology continues to take a beating, as more people reflect on its central claim: Aspects of our psychology, which we think are the products of reason and emotion applied to personal and historical experience, really stem from the survival and reproduction mechanisms of human and other ancestors of whom we have no historical record. Arianne Shahvisi (above right), senior lecturer in ethics at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, joins philosopher Subrena E. Smith in critiquing of such vast claims. Her focus in a recent article at Psyche is claims about why expectant mothers “nest,” that is, spend a lot of time housecleaning and stocking up. Now, if you are not an evolutionary psychologist, you might hazard a guess that Read More ›

Sad wife holding wedding ring on coronavirus confinement

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 3, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
COVID-19, David Papineau, Evolutionary psychology, Gorillas, Infidelity, Martin Graff, Stone Age, Subpersonal, Subrena E. Smith}

^TagEvolutionary psychology

Why AI Can’t Save Us From Ourselves — If Evolution Is Any Guide

Evolutionary Psychology: When We Looked In, No One Was There…

Compassion and Religion: Darwin’s Unscratchable Itches

There Is No Such Thing as a Fossil Mind

Ethics Prof Slams Claims About Why Pregnant Women “Nest”

Does COVID-19 Lead Women to Cheat?

Fatherhood Is Not “Subpersonal”

Philosopher Flattens Evolutionary Psychology