BBC - Professor of Genetics Steve Jones challenges evolutionary psychology

Interesting . . . . I have never been a huge fan of evolutionary psychology, yet there is some partial truth in what it has to offer. We should not dismiss the whole field because some people take it too far.

Aping Evolution

Episode One - Listen:

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Last broadcast on Mon, 2 Nov 2009, 21:00 on BBC Radio 4.

Synopsis

Professor of Genetics Steve Jones challenges evolutionary psychology, the controversial new science of how our brains and minds developed.

Girls like pink better because in Stone Age times they needed to be good at picking berries and women have better sex with rich men - or so some evolutionary psychologists would have us believe. Critics say this isn't science, but conjecture.

Evolutionary psychology seeks to explain human behaviour from the hunter-gatherers or our nearest relatives, the chimpanzee, and has some seductively simple theories. One argument is that we have Stone Age brains in 21st-century skulls, from which we can account for everything from the violence that men show to their stepchildren to why racism exists. Is evolutionary psychology a truly useful addition to the canon of ideas to come out of Darwinian evolution or a just-so science that can be adjusted to suit the researchers' prejudices?

Steve Jones examines the history of the new science, the methods used and asks if it can explain the human drive to language, religion and culture.

Episode 2 - Listen:

Listen now (30 minutes)

Availability:

Available to listen.

Last broadcast on Monday, 21:00 on BBC Radio 4.

Synopsis

Professor of Genetics Steve Jones challenges the controversial science of evolutionary psychology.

Evolutionary psychologists say human behaviour, such as who we marry, when we have children and even the quality of our sex lives, can be explained by having a Stone Age brain in a 21st century body.

Professor Jones examines the scientific evidence for such claims and asks if we should be worried if contentious theories escape the world of science and enter the arena of social policy.

Tags: Psychology, evolution, Aping Evolution, BBC, Genetics, Steve Jones, evolutionary psychology, brain, mind