Evolution, Genes, and Behavior

The pseudoscience of evolutionary psychology purports to explain human behaviors by reference to an ancestral environment (essentially, a hunting-gathering way of life) in which we evolved. Contemporary human behaviors are allegedly governed directly by genes that reflect adaptation to this environm...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tattersall, Ian (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Open Library of Humanities$s2024- 2001
In: Zygon
Year: 2001, Volume: 36, Issue: 4, Pages: 657-666
Further subjects:B Human Behavior
B selfish genes
B Evolution
B Evolutionary Psychology
B Sociobiology
B evolutionary process
B human consciousness
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:The pseudoscience of evolutionary psychology purports to explain human behaviors by reference to an ancestral environment (essentially, a hunting-gathering way of life) in which we evolved. Contemporary human behaviors are allegedly governed directly by genes that reflect adaptation to this environment by natural selection. However, the evolutionary process is much more complex than this reductionist approach implies, and adaptation cannot involve the fine-tuning of structures or behaviors within individuals or species: natural selection can only affect entire organisms, not their components. Similarly, genetic processes are too complex to admit this simplistic view. Instead, our flexible, complex human behaviors probably represent an emergent acquisition.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/0591-2385.00389