Primer on Evolutionary Psychology

The evolutionary psychology theories of human behaviour are fascinating, as anyone who has read Matt Ridley’s acclaimed The Red Queen can attest. For those that haven’t, however, The Economist has created what may be the best primer on evolutionary psychology I’ve read.

No one is suggesting Darwinism has all the answers to social questions. Indeed, with some, such as the role of hierarchies, it suggests there is no definitive answer at all—itself an important conclusion. What is extraordinary, though, is how rarely an evolutionary analysis is part of the process of policymaking. To draw an analogy, it is like trying to fix a car without properly understanding how it works: not impossible, but as likely as not to result in a breakdown or a crash. Perhaps, after a century and a half, it is time not just to recognise but also to understand that human beings are evolved creatures. To know thyself is, after all, the beginning of wisdom.

via Seed