David C. Geary - The Evolution Of Sex Differences In The Brain & Vulnerability

Talking points: evolution, psychology, relationships, sexuality

The field of evolutionary psychology has been on my mind a lot lately, but it can be hard to separate the real science from the stuff with an agenda. To that end, I sat down with David C. Geary to dig into the basics, and how even a little knowledge about things like sexual dimorphism and intrasexual aggression can bring a better understanding to modern relationships.

Listen to this one if you want a solid intro to the existence and effects evolution might have on selecting a partner, friendships, overall culture, and more.

(00:00:00) - Intro, defining evolutionary psychology, and what it has to offer in the context of modern relationships

(00:04:59) - The main pillars of sexual selection

(00:09:01) - Describing human sexual dimorphism, brain differences, and possible evolutionary benefits

(00:21:07) - Why boys tend to be more interested in how objects work in space

(00:28:22) - Why would men have evolved a larger lung capacity?

(00:30:38) - We don’t compete for mates in the same ways anymore, but are attraction cues the same?

(00:35:06) - Defining intrasexual aggression

(00:44:28) - The evolutionary case for vulnerability

(00:49:28) - David’s take on modern dating

(00:56:29) - What an evolutionary vulnerability really means

(01:02:25) - How are dating and relationships going to shift in the future?

David C. Geary is a cognitive scientist and evolutionary psychologist with interests in mathematical cognition and learning as well as the biological bases of sex differences. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of California at Riverside, he held faculty positions at the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Missouri, first at the Rolla campus and then in Columbia. Dr. Geary is currently a Curators' Distinguished Professor and a Thomas Jefferson Fellow in the Department of Psychological Sciences and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program.

Dr. Geary has written four sole-authored books; Children's mathematical development (1994), Male, female: The evolution of human sex differences (1998, second edition, 2010, third edition 2021), The origin of mind: Evolution of brain, cognition, and general intelligence (2005), and Evolution of vulnerability: Implications for sex differences in health and development (2015), as well as one co-authored book, Sex differences: Summarizing more than a century of scientific research (Ellis et al., 2008).

Connect with David

-Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=bVcpj60AAAAJ

-Quillette: https://quillette.com/author/david-c-geary/

-Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/male-female

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