Parasites and infections are really important in evolution
That I know perfectly well. That wasn’t the problem. What I needed more preparation for was the notion that they are important in the evolution of psychological traits—which (for me at least) does not follow at all immediately from the premise of their being important in the evolution of “physical” characteristics (such as those shared by organisms that don’t even have brains, e.g. sex).
Nothing; in fact the grandparent specifically assumes it isn’t, since I referred to
the evolution of psychological traits[.]
The point was that I expect psychological traits to have different kinds of evolutionary explanations than “physical” traits. I expect evolutionary-psychological explanations to take place on a different level of abstraction, involving environments with other psychological agents. In particular, I don’t expect them to directly involve phenomena that also apply to organisms that don’t even have a psychology.
Keep in mind that I’m talking about my expectations going in. I’m not complaining about how the universe works (if it turns out to work in a certain way); this is simply a matter of exposition: the post felt jarring. This could have been alleviated quite simply by an acknowledgement that something counterintuitive was being claimed.
That I know perfectly well. That wasn’t the problem. What I needed more preparation for was the notion that they are important in the evolution of psychological traits—which (for me at least) does not follow at all immediately from the premise of their being important in the evolution of “physical” characteristics (such as those shared by organisms that don’t even have brains, e.g. sex).
Why would you expect them to not be? What makes psychology exempt from evolution? (First two words of the article: ‘Evolutionary psychologist...’)
Nothing; in fact the grandparent specifically assumes it isn’t, since I referred to
The point was that I expect psychological traits to have different kinds of evolutionary explanations than “physical” traits. I expect evolutionary-psychological explanations to take place on a different level of abstraction, involving environments with other psychological agents. In particular, I don’t expect them to directly involve phenomena that also apply to organisms that don’t even have a psychology.
Keep in mind that I’m talking about my expectations going in. I’m not complaining about how the universe works (if it turns out to work in a certain way); this is simply a matter of exposition: the post felt jarring. This could have been alleviated quite simply by an acknowledgement that something counterintuitive was being claimed.