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Bonobo

(29,257 posts)

8. I think a descent into absurdities does not invalidate the approach.

Wed Oct 2, 2013, 08:20 PM

Oct 2013

Yes, anything can be misused.

But evolution has a clear aim. Natural selection favors animals who can raise more children to maturity so that their genes are passed on. This is a fact.

As such, certain behaviors are favored. I am sure you don't deny this.

The question is not whether evolution has resulted in certain behavioral and cognitive differences, the question is only "how much".

Which behavior has the greater evolutionary advantage? Those are the behaviors that are selected -and if you accept that there is a link between brain structure and behavior, then you must accept that evolution has played a part in our behavior.

The ONLY argument is one of degree.

BTW, NONE of what I said is meant to deny the role of socialization in all of this.

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EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY IS HERE TO STAY: A RESPONSE TO BULLER [View all] Bonobo Oct 2013 OP

While I don't doubt all Evo-psych, I hate when it's used to describe certain things it shouldn't. Dash87 Oct 2013 #1

Excess in anything is bad. Bonobo Oct 2013 #2

Evolutionary psychology, for the most part, is no more falsifiable than blank slate theories. Gravitycollapse Oct 2013 #3

Instincts. Bonobo Oct 2013 #4

That you have so nonchalantly confined sexuality so tightly is extremely problematic. Gravitycollapse Oct 2013 #5

Yes, it is a complex and multi-layered matter to be sure. Bonobo Oct 2013 #6

Maybe Jews are just naturally more greedy. Maybe black people naturally have a lower average IQ. Gravitycollapse Oct 2013 #7

I think a descent into absurdities does not invalidate the approach. Bonobo Oct 2013 #8

There are in fact clearly environmental effects that alter the physicality of an animal... Gravitycollapse Oct 2013 #9

No doubt. Bonobo Oct 2013 #10

So thus we have shifted away from "how much" to "when." Which is an important distinction. Gravitycollapse Oct 2013 #11

I don't know anyone here who said it was ALWAYS in play, but Bonobo Oct 2013 #12