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hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
15. The woo spewed against evolutionary psych is insane
Mon Oct 29, 2012, 05:53 PM
Oct 2012

- I mean up there with the "I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens" guy and the playing-with-their-own-poop fundy numbskulls who blame bad weather on teh geyz. If this woo were true something truly remarkable would have happened - human beings, good old homo sapiens, the species who is wise, would be the one and only higher animal on the planet with no hardwired instincts and predispositions. Dogs bury bones, cats cover their poop, chimps climb trees, grazing animals band together in herds, but nope, one animal in the history of the evolution of life has no hardwired instincts - humans. The likelihood of this being true is on the Santa Claus/transubstantiation level of sheer ridiculousness and impossibility.

That this "concept" is absolutely barking-at-the-moon, batshit fking insane is so readily apparent to anyone who knows anything about natural selection that it barely merits refutation.

Science is bad because it might discover evil things, especially things that disagree with our already set-in-stone ideas of what the world is. For christ's sake don't confuse the issue with hard scientifically-tested, rigorously evaluated evidence!

Exactly the same types of fact-free rationalizations are heard from the young-earth creationist dimbulbs. The one core fact about science and the scientific method is that anything learned by its application is subject to revision in the light of more advanced knowledge. Otherwise it ain't science.

The postulations of evolutionary psych will either be found plausible and valid through the application of the scientific method or they won't. My money is that a surprising amount of the hypotheses will wind up scientifically valid.

Because it's madness- sheer madness!- to suggest there may be evolutionary or biological drivers in Warren DeMontague Oct 2012 #1
Gah! rrneck Oct 2012 #5
It does seem to be... opiate69 Oct 2012 #6
Yeah.. Upton Oct 2012 #7
The woo spewed against evolutionary psych is insane hifiguy Oct 2012 #15
"The one core fact about science and the scientific method . . . " 4th law of robotics Oct 2012 #25
You might say that. hifiguy Oct 2012 #28
*groan* iuzyp Oct 2012 #2
"chock up"? Warren DeMontague Oct 2012 #3
*snork*!!! Oh, and... Hi again, iverglas! opiate69 Oct 2012 #4
You can't win, Darth Major Nikon Oct 2012 #10
More like this: Warren DeMontague Oct 2012 #11
Same thing Major Nikon Oct 2012 #12
Another one bites the dust: hifiguy Oct 2012 #16
Can't tell if that rant is real or parody. caseymoz Oct 2012 #13
Fundamentalists of all stripes reject science 4th law of robotics Oct 2012 #8
Too true, 4thLaw.. too true opiate69 Oct 2012 #9
I think they don't like it . . . caseymoz Oct 2012 #14
evo psych (sociobiology) is mostly bullshit Mosby Oct 2012 #17
Oh, well.... Mosby sez so, so it must be trufax!!! opiate69 Oct 2012 #18
some links Mosby Oct 2012 #19
Hmm... ok.. opiate69 Oct 2012 #20
Yeah. I know for a fucking FACT that alcoholism has a genetic and physiological component. Warren DeMontague Oct 2012 #24
Why am I not surprised that an ax-grinder is at the base of this? hifiguy Oct 2012 #29
Are you suggesting that men don't have the capacity to understand it? lumberjack_jeff Oct 2012 #21
I'm posting from my phone Mosby Oct 2012 #22
There's plenty of social science concepts which can't be effectively tested Major Nikon Oct 2012 #23
Many disciplines can't be based on experimentation 4th law of robotics Oct 2012 #27
some things are very hard or nearly impossibe to test Mosby Oct 2012 #30
I think you are grievously misunderstanding what evo-psych 4th law of robotics Oct 2012 #35
I think it's safe to agree that psychology, evolutionary or otherwise, is a soft science. lumberjack_jeff Oct 2012 #31
Well said, jeff. hifiguy Oct 2012 #32
psychology does cover a lot of ground these days Mosby Oct 2012 #33
I think the analogies between psychology and environmental science are apt. lumberjack_jeff Oct 2012 #34
The genetic component would be neuro-science 4th law of robotics Nov 2012 #36
Claim: evo-psych is bullshit 4th law of robotics Oct 2012 #26
This is the stuff that makes people think it's okay to cover up or apologize for child abusers, huh? Warren DeMontague Nov 2012 #37
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