Any book recommendations for a good intro to evolutionary psychology? I remember Eliezer suggested The Moral Animal, but I also vaguely remember some other people recommending against it. I’ll probably just go with TMA unless some other book gets suggested multiple times.
I found TMA was too full of just so stories. I also think it disturbingly rationalized a particular brand of sexism$ and overemphazised status which was very unexpected since I don’t think I’m squeamish at all on those fronts. I don’t think it helped me to predict human behavior better.
This said I’d be interested too if someone could recommend some other book.
$ rigid view of differences between the sexes, incompatible with my experience (which does suggest the sexes are different)
“Dont”. Intro over. Evo-Psyc is .. profoundly useless unless you want to use it as a case study of how pre-existing biases and social norms can utterly take over a field operating in a nigh-total vaccum of actual data. Now, I cant guarantee that the entire field is noise and fury signifying nothing, but every sample of it that I have encountered has been.
“Dont”. Intro over. Evo-Psyc is .. profoundly useless unless you want to use it as a case study of how pre-existing biases and social norms can utterly take over a field operating in a nigh-total vaccum of actual data. Now, I cant guarantee that the entire field is noise and fury signifying nothing, but every sample of it that I have encountered has been.
Pre-existing biases and social norms have utterly taken over something here, in a vacuum of actual data. They may also have applied to some degree to Evo-psych works.
Any book recommendations for a good intro to evolutionary psychology? I remember Eliezer suggested The Moral Animal, but I also vaguely remember some other people recommending against it. I’ll probably just go with TMA unless some other book gets suggested multiple times.
I found TMA was too full of just so stories. I also think it disturbingly rationalized a particular brand of sexism$ and overemphazised status which was very unexpected since I don’t think I’m squeamish at all on those fronts. I don’t think it helped me to predict human behavior better.
This said I’d be interested too if someone could recommend some other book.
$ rigid view of differences between the sexes, incompatible with my experience (which does suggest the sexes are different)
Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, by David Buss is a pretty good, mainstream, and accessible introduction to the field. I don’t regret reading it.
I second the recommendation. It was used as one of two textbooks for my evo-psyc class, and worked quite well.
I think “Evil” by Roy F Baumeister is a really good exploration that includes evo psych elements though is not primarily about evo psych.
This is not a book, but looks interesting.
“Dont”. Intro over. Evo-Psyc is .. profoundly useless unless you want to use it as a case study of how pre-existing biases and social norms can utterly take over a field operating in a nigh-total vaccum of actual data. Now, I cant guarantee that the entire field is noise and fury signifying nothing, but every sample of it that I have encountered has been.
Pre-existing biases and social norms have utterly taken over something here, in a vacuum of actual data. They may also have applied to some degree to Evo-psych works.