To what extent is our psychology determined by evolution from birth, or is it shaped by our environment and learning? Evolutionary psychology argues that our instinctive psychology and behaviour is the result of natural selection, with environmental factors also playing an important role.
But what kind of minds are we born with? We may be born with no mind at all, like a blank slate. As we grow up, we learn a lot from our environment and our parents, and we gradually fill in the pages of our minds. Or maybe someone has already written a lot of things down. Someone unknown has already entered the basic, survival-orientated psychology.
Questions like these can spark philosophical and scientific debate. The exploration of how human psychology and nature are formed has been at the centre of debate for thousands of years. Ancient philosophers debated whether humans are inherently good, evil, or born with a blank slate, and in modern times, psychology and neuroscience have begun to explore this more scientifically.
The Old Toolbox is a book about evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology is a field that combines evolution and psychology, meaning it studies how evolution affects the mind. We all know what evolutionary theory is. The theory of evolution, founded by Darwin, is based on natural selection: species with weak traits die out, while species with strong traits survive and eventually evolve into species with strong traits that can survive. Psychology is literally the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. Evolutionary psychology in the ‘old toolbox’ combines the two and explains that human psychology has been changed by evolution. It argues that we don’t just adapt to our environment, but that we understand and act in the world with psychological tools already formed through evolutionary processes.
This theory is particularly useful in explaining our instinctive reactions. For example, the immediate response of fear or avoidance in dangerous situations may be a basic psychological mechanism that humans have evolved over thousands of years to survive. The behaviour of running away when someone encounters a predator in the mountains isn’t just learned, it’s an evolutionary adaptation for survival.
The author of The Old Toolbox argues that the mind, which is a blank slate at birth, is not changed by the environment as we grow up, but is already somewhat determined by evolution in terms of how we think. In other words, our minds have been shaped by natural selection.
Let’s take an example from the world around us. Korea is called the land of eastern manners. This is probably because we are a very polite people who honour our elders and treat those below us with humility. However, other countries do not have such manners. There is an awareness of the need to be polite in every country, even if the degree to which we care about it varies. Evolutionary psychology explains this and other morals. When we see someone weaker than ourselves, we help them. According to Hamilton’s rule, people are more altruistic if the gain from helping others is greater than the loss from helping others. Since the gains from helping others are often greater, people are more likely to help when they see someone weaker. Also, if someone helps you, you want to return the favour. The same is true in this case. It’s a win-win situation: you give back as much as you receive. If you don’t return the favour, they’re unlikely to help you again, which is a loss to both of you. If you are perceived as an ungrateful person, no one will want to help you, which is also a great loss. Therefore, humans have evolved to feel that it is natural to return favours.
In addition, people are submissive and polite to their superiors. Usually, a superior is someone who is better than you and who protects you. If you disobeyed or disrespected someone like that, you wouldn’t be able to maintain the relationship and would likely put yourself in danger. Therefore, you evolved to be polite to your superiors.
In addition to these instinctive responses, certain social behaviours have likely evolved to help us survive in groups. For example, humans have increased the group’s chances of survival by cooperating with each other. Cooperation was essential in a situation where it was difficult to survive alone, so humans evolved to be naturally cooperative.
Of course, there are many people who disagree with evolutionary psychology. They’ll probably try to explain it away with our environment and culture. Certainly, from a young age, we are taught by our parents, kindergartens, and schools to help those who are weak, to return the favour, and to be respectful to those in authority. We are not only taught, but we also see and feel it around us. When you see other people respecting their elders, helping each other, and repaying favours, you will feel that you should do the same.
However, there are some things that cannot be explained by environment and learning alone. For example, when a baby is born and follows its parents without anyone teaching it, or when a child has a younger sibling, it may be instinctive to take care of and help its sibling without anyone teaching it. These behaviours are not simply the result of our surroundings or learned from someone else. It’s more likely that it’s something we’re born with.
All of these behaviours can be explained by evolutionary psychology as rational behaviour. Some might argue that an evolutionary explanation for all behaviour is the same as an explanation for nothing. But there are certainly reasons and motivations behind human behaviour. Psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience have explored them, and evolutionary psychology is just one of the answers. Nothing we do is without reason. No one will ever understand something that doesn’t make sense. If we don’t understand a simple maths problem, we have to ask twice or thrice to get it right. Evolutionary psychology provides an explanation for the underlying psychology of human behaviour.
This is not to say that evolutionary psychology is perfect or that it ignores the influence of the environment. It’s just a theory that explains a lot of human psychology, including some that are hard to explain. Instead of rejecting it as nonsense or unfounded, I think we should embrace it as a discipline and let it help us unravel the mysteries of human evolution and psychology.
