What is Evolutionary Psychology?

Darwinian Evolution

This is arguably the single most powerful explanatory scientific idea in human history. Evolution by natural selection explains why every living thing on the planet seems so well designed but not perfectly designed.

Eyes are a good example. Their design is wonderful but they have a blind spot, easily detached retinas because they are, in fact, "inside out"; and frequently need to be supplemented by glasses. Beautiful but hardly perfectly designed.

Evolution by natural selection works because tiny changes in organisms gradually accumulate in non-random ways throughout the species as their descendents grow to fit their environment more and more effectively. Those that are best fitted to the environment have more offspring.

How does this apply to us?

For something like six million years our hominid ancestors were gradually evolving on the savannah plains of Africa, living as hunter-gatherers. For only 20000 years (or less) have we been farming foods, writing and living in cities. That means that we have been civilised for only about 1/300 of our hominid history and since evolutionary change is so slow that "civilised time" will have had little effect on our genome. In many ways we are stone-agers who have slipped into the "fast lane".

Mismatch

Many of our modern problems centre on the fact that we have evolved to fit an environment that we no longer experience. This is not to say that modern medicine, plumbing and so on are not great advances! Only a fool would want to turn the clock back to a time when violence and disease were far more common.

Having said this it is true to say that sometimes our reflexes, defences and instincts do not serve us so well in the modern era as they once did.

Our predilection for foods that were valuable and rare in our ancestral environment is a problem when sugar, salt and fat are so easily available now. Our readiness to acquire phobias about ancient threats like snakes, spiders and the dark is less valuable than if we could so rapidly learn to fear tobacco, cars or fatty foods.

Evolutionary Psychiatry

A number of eminent researchers have begun to apply evolutionary thinking to an understanding of psychological abnormalities. Evolutionary understandings of phobias and food addictions have already been mentioned. Other conditions like manic-depression, post-natal depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem and even schizophrenia seem to all have solid evolutionary bases.

In short, evolutionary psychiatry looks for the underlying function of a condition- whether it is malfunctioning or whether it is functioning fine but just not in a way that is helpful now .

Some "diseases" are actually defences that may well just be too finely tuned. A person's crippling agoraphobia following a trauma is "protecting" them, but too well!

How does this help?

Firstly, knowledge banishes fear. To realise that there are well-understood underlying mechanisms for one's behaviour helps put one in the driving seat.

Secondly, it almost always helps to find that one is not alone and that one's problems are not "stupid" or "freaky".

Thirdly, without wanting to endorse any specific psycho-analytic ideas about the "unconscious", it is certainly true that awareness of the real motives for one's behaviour (the conscious mind is often the last to know) is crucial in taking charge of that behaviour. For example, knowledge of how certain drugs (nicotine, cocaine, heroin for example) mimic certain brain chemicals and how this results in your unconscious trying to trick you into taking them can help you to distance yourself from your cravings.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is about taking charge of one's conscious mental life rationally and understanding mechanisms aids in this.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool for taking charge of one's unconscious motives, bringing them under conscious control.

Genetic Determinism

Does this all imply that we are helpless puppets at the mercy of our genes?

No, not unless we ignore them!

Since we are the product of a complicated interaction between our genes and our environment then to ignore the genetic factors that go into making us what we are is to do the equivalent of sticking our fingers in our ears and chanting "Nah, nah, I'm not listening!"

If we want to change our behaviour we need to understand its origins. Knowing that I am made of 75% water does not commit me to "hydrous determinism"; it's just part of being a grown-up who acknowledges science!

Inspirational Sources and Links

Evolutionary psychiatry is not a new or alternative therapy. Evolutionary theory seeks to understand all of life within one rational framework.

Evolutionary psychiatry seeks to bring together all of the disparate therapies into one coherent whole. The aim is not just to cherry pick from different therapies but to unite them into one rational framework.

These ideas are not unique to me (although they are uncommon in this country at present) and there are a number of scientists, academics and therapists who are seeking to do this.

The following is a (short) list of those who I have read, studied, corresponded with, met and argued with. No endorsement of me by them is implied by their presence here and neither should it be taken that I necessarily agree with everything they say either! They are researchers, scientists, therapists and academics who are using evolutionary theory as a tool for understanding the human condition and all are well worth a look.

Randolf Nesse

Paul Gilbert

Daniel Nettle

Jay Belsky

Simon Baron-Cohen

Dorothy Tennov

Some useful articles