{"id":2744,"date":"2004-02-18T14:16:14","date_gmt":"2004-02-18T13:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/?p=2744"},"modified":"2020-09-26T21:55:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T19:55:25","slug":"the-great-evolutionary-psychologist-dr-david-buss-is-interviewed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/the-great-evolutionary-psychologist-dr-david-buss-is-interviewed\/","title":{"rendered":"The great Evolutionary Psychologist Dr. David Buss is interviewed…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courage, Not Denial<\/a>: An Interview with Dr. David Buss<\/p>\n

BC: Why does evolutionary psychology evoke such strong reactions in people? I\u2019ve noted that when I discuss basic principles with those who have never heard of it before I am met with either enthusiasm or anger. There seems to be little in between. Why might this be so? You are the perfect person to ask.<\/p>\n

DDB: I think the strength of reactions is caused by several factors. One is religious, since evolutionary psychology threatens beliefs about divine creation. A second comes from political ideologies–people have agendas for making the world a better place, and evolutionary psychology is erroneously believed to be at odds with social change.<\/p>\n

People think “if things like violence or infidelity are rooted in evolved adaptations, then we are doomed to have violence and infidelity because they are an unalterable part of human nature. On the other hand, if violence and infidelity are caused by the ills of society, by media, by bad parenting, then we can fix these things and make a better world.”<\/p>\n

It’s what I call the “romantic fallacy”: I don’t want people to be like that, therefore they are not like that <\/b>[interviewer\u2019s emphasis]. The thinking is wrong-headed, of course. Knowledge of our evolved psychological mechanisms gives us more power to change, if change is desired, not less power.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courage, Not Denial: An Interview with Dr. David Buss BC: Why does evolutionary psychology evoke such strong reactions in people? I\u2019ve noted that when I discuss basic principles with those who have never heard of it before I am met with either enthusiasm or anger. There seems to be little in between. Why might this … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,12,42],"tags":[300,296],"class_list":["post-2744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthropology","category-news","category-psychology","tag-processed","tag-published"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prY0k-Ig","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31937,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/moral-foundations-theory\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":0},"title":"Moral Foundations Theory","author":"Limbic","date":"December 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was just reminded of Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory, something I first encountered in The Righteous Mind. Moral Foundations Theory was created by a group of social and cultural psychologists to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Business Psychology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/business\/business-psychology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17531,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/michael-mauboussin\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":1},"title":"Michael Mauboussin","author":"Limbic","date":"March 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Just heard an interview with Michael Mauboussin on The Knowledge Project podcast (a Farnum Street blog production) and he was super interesting. A few quotes form the podcast. These are paraphrased: \"An expert is someone who has a predictive model that works.\" \"When it comes to decision making, Daniel Kahneman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37593,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/dark-triad-wikipedia\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":2},"title":"Dark triad – Wikipedia","author":"Limbic","date":"April 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The dark triad is a subject in psychology that focuses on three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy Use of the term \"dark\" implies that people possessing these traits have malevolent qualities","rel":"","context":"In "psychology evil security self-defence psychopaths"","block_context":{"text":"psychology evil security self-defence psychopaths","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/psychology-evil-security-self-defence-psychopaths\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2729,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/prejudice-from-thin-air-eureka-alert\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":3},"title":"Prejudice from thin air","author":"Limbic","date":"February 10, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Wonder why people in all the these internet clips are such bigots? Anger brings it out of people.\u00a0 BOSTON, Mass. \u2013 You may be more prejudiced than you think, especially if you're angry and approached by someone of a different race, religion or creed. A study slated for publication in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5786,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/david-sloan-wilson-and-howard-bloom\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":4},"title":"David Sloan Wilson and Howard Bloom on cults","author":"Limbic","date":"December 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"[Continuing the series where I post the backlog from my drafts folder. This one is from June 2009 ] David Sloan Wilson & Howard Bloom both argue cults can be good including Scientology. \"A religion that makes Hollywood starts sober up and send thank you notes cannot be all that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/VeM2f99Tx7k\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25582,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/skills-for-the-21st-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":2744,"position":5},"title":"Skills for the 21st Century","author":"Limbic","date":"April 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From 2011, but good. 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