The Evolutionary Psychology
FAQ
Last updated May 18, 2003.
This FAQ is written and maintained by Edward Hagen, formerly of
the Center for Evolutionary Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara,
and now at the Institute for Theoretical Biology in Berlin. The FAQ assumes a
basic knowledge of genes and natural selection. Its purpose is to outline the
foundations of evolutionary psychology. These foundations are extremely robust
(though not beyond criticism). The status of specific hypotheses (e.g., mate
selection preferences, cheater detection modules) is more debatable, and will
not be discussed in detail here. In addition, I address many of the common
misconceptions about evolutionary psychology. This FAQ draws upon the work of
many individuals. Comments and criticisms regarding it are welcome: e.hagen@biologie.hu-berlin.de
Frequently asked questions:
What is
evolutionary psychology?
What is the
EEA and why is it important? (general answer)
What is
the EEA? (detailed answer)
Isn't it
true that we can't know what happened in the distant past, so the EEA concept is
useless?
Why
is the EEA equated with the Pleistocene?
Why
couldn't humans have evolved during the last 10,000 years?
What
is an adaptation?
What
is a psychological adaptation?
What
about spandrels?
What is
domain specificity and why is it necessary?
What is
a module?
How can
we identify psychological adaptations?
Why are
adaptations not for the good of the species?
Why
are genes selfish?
Do
selfish genes mean selfish people?
Why is
the heritability of adaptations generally zero?
How can
evolutionary psychologists talk about adaptations without talking about specific
genes?
Are
there enough genes to build psychological adaptations?
What
about 'plasticity'?
What
about learning?
What about
gene-environment interactions?
Are
evolutionary psychologists primarily interested in what makes humans different
from other animals?
Is
evolutionary psychology just a politically correct version of sociobiology?
Is
evolutionary psychology another form of genetic determinism?
Is
evolutionary psychology racist?
Is
evolutionary psychology sexist?
Is
evolutionary psychology a form of Social Darwinism?
Is rape an
adaptation?
If my
'genes made me do it', am I still responsible?
Do
evolutionary psychologists think that everything is an adaptation?
Why do
some people hate evolutionary psychology?
More
thoughts on Evolutionary Psychology and political (in)correctness
What
are your politics? (Translation: Doesn't evolutionary psychology have a crypto
conservative political agenda?)
Does
evolutionary psychology have any problems?
References and
other reading
Click
here for the entire FAQ on one page
If you are interested in what I'm working on, here are some links:
Hagen EH (1999) The
functions of postpartum depression (pdf)
Hagen EH (2003) The
bargaining model of depression
Hagen EH (2002)
Depression as bargaining: the case postpartum
Hagen EH and Bryant GA
(2001) Music and dance as a coalition signaling system
Hess NC and Hagen EH
(2002) Informational warfare
Hagen EH, Price ME,
& Tooby J (2000) A UCSB Preliminary Report on Darkness in El Dorado
(pdf, 600k)
Sullivan RJ and Hagen EH
(2002) Psychotropic substance-seeking: evolutionary pathology or adaptation?
Human Evolution: The
fossil evidence in 3D
Copyright 1999-2002 Edward H.
Hagen