When I was a junior in college, I discussed evolutionary psychology with my classmates when we were talking about gender roles on blind dates. When I explained that evolutionary psychology explains male and female traits in terms of genetics, the boys viewed it negatively. However, I believe that evolutionary psychology is a scientific framework for understanding human nature. It explains human psychological mechanisms as the interaction of genes and environment, and is useful for understanding universal human behavior. I think it’s important that evolutionary psychology is scientifically validated.
When I was a junior in college, I was talking with my friends about how men and women play different roles on blind dates, and one of them explained how evolutionary psychology views the different characteristics of men and women. Most of my friends in the room had a negative view of evolutionary psychology. The reason for their negative view of evolutionary psychology, all of whom were male, seemed to be due to other reasons, rather than because it was a fatal flaw in the science. Evolutionary psychology argues that masculinity is a trait that genes have evolved to adapt to the environment, rather than something that is glamorized in TV shows and movies. Evolutionary psychology explains that masculine behavior is observed in animals and insects as well as humans. While it may not feel good to say that masculinity is a genetic design rather than something they learn and acquire as they grow up, I think evolutionary psychology is definitely a scientific framework for interpreting human nature.
In the book, “The Old Toolbox,” Joong-Hwan Jeon explains that evolutionary psychology is a discipline that scientifically analyzes universal human nature in the framework of evolution. Evolutionary psychology explains human psychological mechanisms based on genes. However, this does not mean that evolutionary psychology tries to determine human nature based on genes alone. It emphasizes the interaction between genes and the environment, with the best genes being selected for adaptation to the environment according to Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Evolutionary psychology provides important insights into understanding how human psychological traits have been shaped and evolved. It’s also useful for explaining many of the behaviors and tendencies we see in modern society.
Some opponents of evolutionary psychology argue that human traits are the product of education and hard work. As in the case of the boys mentioned earlier, people refuse to admit that they are ruled by their genes. They want to believe that humans, unlike other animals, have reason and that this gives us unique traits. However, this view fails to account for the fact that there is a great deal of universality among human cultures. Given that people in all cultures live similar lifestyles and have similar ways of building civilizations, it seems a stretch to say that this is what the human mind was originally like without the intervention of genes. The specific manifestations of culture in each environment are different, such as the existence of art such as poetry, music, and painting, the use of written language, and even the fact that we eat three meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and that these words exist in other Western countries besides Korea, but the basic framework of human life is consistent with each other.
On the other hand, there are those who argue that evolutionary psychology cannot test its hypotheses, but only creates plausible stories to explain existing phenomena in the framework of evolution. They do not accept evolutionary psychology as a science. However, as you’ll see throughout the book, evolutionary psychologists use experiments and observations to test their hypotheses just like any other scientist. Because evolutionary psychology is more of a social science than a science, the process of experimentation and data collection may seem unfamiliar, but it does not deviate from the scientific research process of formulating hypotheses, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Especially since evolutionary psychology is a young field, the number of completed studies is still small and many of them are still in the hypothesis stage, but I believe that over time, it will be organized like other fields.
Others doubt the reliability of evolutionary psychology’s findings, given that there are many anomalies. However, in any scientific field, there is no formula that absolutely satisfies the experimental theory. There are many sources of error in the experimental process, and it’s impossible for humans to perform experiments perfectly. In Newton’s law of universal gravitation, a simple drop experiment to measure the acceleration of the Earth’s gravitational pull is impossible to obtain 9.8 m/s2 every time, as the theory states. Since there is air resistance during the falling process, it is said that we need to consider the resistance force equal to f=-kv (f: air resistance force, k: constant, v: falling velocity), but this equation is also a model to explain the phenomenon, and experiments show that experimental results and theory do not match exactly. The value of k in the equation is also an approximate constant based on experimental results, and it’s hard to define exactly what it means. The anomalies in evolutionary psychology experiments are similarly an error in the scientific process, a limitation of simplified experiments that attempt to demonstrate how humans have changed over time and in different environments.
However, an orthodox scientist might argue that, given strict conditions, the formulas of physics always hold and converge to a predetermined value, even with experimental error. For example, repeated experiments in a perfect vacuum, where gravity is the only force acting, ignoring all other forces, will converge to 9.8 m/s2. In contrast, orthodox scientists see experimental results in evolutionary psychology that do not fit their hypotheses and consider evolutionary psychology to be unscientific and without logic. However, the human world is a space where many conditions intertwine to influence human psychology. In other words, the exceptions in evolutionary psychology are not random errors that occur without any cause, but errors that occur due to variables that were not considered in the original hypothesis because the environment and culture where humans live are diverse. “In the text, when a universal psychological mechanism produces different results in response to different environmental conditions, it is referred to as “induced culture,” and induced culture is an example of evolutionary psychology finding a source of error.
In biology, it’s also hard to find absolute laws that apply to living phenomena. For example, in biology, the growth curve of E. coli is characterized by four phases: lag phase, logarithmic growth phase, stationary phase, and death phase. However, when you actually grow E. coli in the lab and measure its population, it’s hard to get a curve that matches the growth curve. Similarly, evolutionary psychology is a discipline based on biology, so the lack of absolute laws in evolutionary psychology is a characteristic of the science of evolutionary psychology, not a sign that it is unscientific.
Science is a theory that people have developed to systematically explain phenomena in the world, and evolutionary psychology is a theory that aims to explain the roots of human nature. Evolutionary psychology is a scientific explanation of the universal nature of human beings that helps people understand human psychological mechanisms and live better lives. Contrary to some people’s misconceptions, evolutionary psychology does not claim that people’s personalities and talents are unilaterally determined by their genes. It also has enough scientific validation to explain the mechanisms of human psychology. Morally, evolutionary psychology may be mistakenly thought to devalue human beings, but it can provide a framework for people to rationally look at their own psychology in a subjective and scientific way, rather than blindly believing that God designed them that way.
In this sense, evolutionary psychology plays an important role in deepening our understanding of human beings. For example, the study of the sexual attractiveness of men and women can explain why certain looks or behaviors are more attractive to the opposite sex. This is not simply the result of cultural learning, but may be an instinctive response shaped by millions of years of evolution. These insights can also be useful for understanding individual behavior and improving interpersonal relationships.
Finally, another important area where evolutionary psychology can contribute to modern society is health and well-being. An understanding of the way our bodies and minds evolved can help us deal with modern issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression. For example, the chronic stress that many people in the modern world experience is very different from the short-term survival threats that our ancestors faced. Evolutionary psychology can contribute to understanding these differences and finding ways to bridge the gap between our instincts and modern life.
Although it still faces many challenges, evolutionary psychology is an important field of study that offers deep insights into human nature. It has the potential to help us better understand our behavior, emotions, and interpersonal relationships, and to help us lead healthier and happier lives. It’s important to recognize the value of evolutionary psychology and take advantage of the wisdom it can offer.
