Very Bad Wizards8 Syys 2014

Episode 53: The Psychology People Love to Hate (Evolutionary Psychology Pt.1)

Dave and Tamler take a shot at answering the question: what is an evolutionary psychologist? Is it just a psychologist who believes in evolution? (No.) Is it a psychologist who embraces a computational, modular theory of the mind? (No. Well, maybe…we're not sure.) Are they psychologists who are part of a cult that fanatically endorse evolutionary explanations for every aspect of human judgment and behavior? (No! Well, most of them aren't, anyway.) So what are they? And why do they generate so much hostility?

Plus, we go back to Genesis (the real story of how we evolved) to offer another thought experiment: what is it like to be Adam and Eve before eating the forbidden fruit? What is it like not to know good and evil? And we give our aspiring playwright listeners a perfect idea for a one-act play: Abraham and Isaac walking down the mountain after the aborted sacrifice.

Links

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil [wikipedia.org]
The Leviathan [wikipedia.org]
E.O. Wilson [wikipedia.org]
Sociobiology [wikipedia.org]
Burke, D. (2014). Why isn't everyone an evolutionary psychologist? Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience, 5, 910.
Making birds gay with science!: Adkins-Regan, E. (2011). Neuroendocrine contributions to sexual partner preference in birds. Frontiers in neuroendocrinology, 32(2), 155-163.
Just-so stories [wikipedia.org]
Waist-hip ratio [wikipedia.org]
"A natural history of rape: Biological bases of sexual coercion" by Thornhill and Palmer [wikipedia.org]
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological science, 3, 251-255.
Satoshi Kanazawa [wikipedia.org]

Support Very Bad Wizards

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(357)

Episode 342: A Boy's Best Friend (Hitchcock's "Psycho")

David and Tamler steal some of Laurie Santos' podcast money (she'll never miss it), drive to LA, and pull over in the rain to spend the night in the Bates Motel. That lanky young man in the office see...

6 Loka 1h 53min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 10: Like-Minded [unlocked]

Tamler and Dave devote a full episode to Book 19 of The Odyssey. In what is one of the most emotionally intense chapters of the story so far, Odysseus continues his Cretan lies, has a long tête-à-tête...

1 Loka 1h 3min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 9: An Ode to Argos [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey books 17 & 18, in which Telemachus and Odysseus, back at home, continue their deception and put everyone to the test. Everyone except for Argos, that is, because A...

24 Syys 49min

Episode 341: Psychology Ranked (With Paul Bloom)

David and Tamler welcome Paul Bloom back to the show for a definitive ranking of classic psychology experiments. Will the shocking results of the Milgram studies earn him a posthumous 'S' ranking? How...

22 Syys 1h 37min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 8: Home and Homelessness [unlocked]

In this episode, Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey Books 15 & 16, in which father and son (and father figure and son) are reunited, and in which the Odysseus and Telemachus start planning their rev...

17 Syys 1h 2min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 7: Lying Odysseus [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss Books 13 & 14 of The Odyssey. Odysseus finally makes it to Ithaca and meets up with Athena, gets a disguise, and has a chat with his most loyal slave Eumaeus.

10 Syys 55min

Episode 340: The Sublime Folly of Hope

Why do baseball players have so many superstitious rituals compared to athletes in other sports? How does this relate to the magic rituals of the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia? We dive into Bronisł...

8 Syys 1h 15min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 6: Psyches [unlocked]

David and Tamler discuss The Odyssey's iconic books 11 & 12, in which our hero visits the ghosts of the dead, hears the call of the sirens, and survives a no-win situation.

3 Syys 58min