Thread by @SteveStuWill

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #1: Evolutionary psychology aims to justify traditional gender roles, societal inequalities, etc. From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #2: Evolutionary psychology provides an excuse for bad behavior – in particular, for the kinds of bad behavior that men specialize in. From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #3: Evolutionary psychology implies that certain undesirable phenomena – old-fashioned sex roles, xenophobia, war and aggression – are ultimately ineradicable. From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #4: Evolutionary psychology is the latest incarnation of a disturbing trend in Western thought: genetic determinism. From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

"Why, though, do people think that, according to evolutionary psychologists, everything is down to genes?" #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

https://twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1144199655770607617

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #5: Hypotheses in evolutionary psychology are unfalsifiable. amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

"First point: If you argue that evolutionary explanations are unfalsifiable, you can't also argue that they're false..."

"But is it actually the case that evolutionary explanations are unfalsifiable? This claim is itself falsifiable – and has been repeatedly, resoundingly falsified." From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

"There's no magic-bullet study that can single-handedly establish that a given trait is an adaptation – or that it's not. The best we can ever do is to look at the preponderance of evidence and see which way it points." #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #6: Evolutionary psychology is just a collection of just-so stories. From #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #7: Evolutionary psychologists only test their theories on undergraduate students from WEIRD nations. #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Misguided Criticisms of Evolutionary Psychology #8: Evolutionary psychologists argue that everything is an adaptation. They're guilty, in other words, of what’s sometimes called "panadaptationism." #TheApeThatUnderstoodTheUniverse amazon.com/Ape-that-Under…

Critics who rail against status quo bolstering, genetic determinism and just-so storytelling are like the crazy person in the bus shelter, fighting with a sparring partner who isn't really there: They've invented their own evolutionary psychology and are arguing loudly with that.