Not meaningless, but an arbitrary preference, as in the sexy son hypothesis. If women like it, it becomes a sure-fire success.https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1016341650023636992 …
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Science writer and book author in psychology, neuroscience and evolution
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Rolf Degen Retweeted Rolf Degen
Not meaningless, but an arbitrary preference, as in the sexy son hypothesis. If women like it, it becomes a sure-fire success.https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1016341650023636992 …
Rolf Degen added,
Meaningless in the sense that it is not "adaptive" for anything, just so, accidental. (In quotes because "adaptive" is an elusive concept as far as I can see. Not to say there are not also features that are pretty obviously an adaptation to something.)
The thing about sexy-son "adaptations" is that they tend to become counteradaptive to survival. Darwin recognized this, and it robbed him off his sleep. The lesson was later forgotten; good genes reduced sexual selection to natural selection. And failed, as we see now.
I would say it fails for logical reasons alone. Natural selection in the original sense is about chances of survival. Sexual selection about chances of finding a mate. There is no reason why the two would always have to align and one then collapses into the other.
Once you concede that they at least sometimes do not align (ie. chances of survival go up for a trait, but down for finding a mate or vice versa), it cannot be the same thing. Arguments that try to overcome this, must fail at some point.
Rolf Degen Retweeted Rolf Degen
Richard Prum has written an ingenious and enlightening book on the subject. Also a great 1 hour talk on youtube. The man has thought this through:https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/863454791283994627 …
Rolf Degen added,
Thanks a lot for the reference and engaging with my sloppy remarks. I have thought about this, but not really thought it through, more a hunch that something is wrong.
Just out of interest: Have you read David Stove's "Darwinian Fairytales"? And if so what's your take? I found it very thought-provoking. I don't think he gets it right, but he is on to something. (Title may look like "intelligent design," but that's not it, Stove was an atheist.)
Rolf Degen Retweeted Rolf Degen
Haven't read that one. Always after the latest stuff. In general terms, I do subscribe to evolutionary psychology. It is still the best part of psychology, which needs Darwin. And it it seems to be able to clear the dung out:https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/999280466577559552 …
Rolf Degen added,
As a follower I know that you subscribe to evolutionary psychology. I am extremely skeptical to put it mildly, but have to admit that I have only kind of a hunch so far. If Malthus is wrong, populations must behave in a very different way, which then pulls the rug under Darwin.
Rolf Degen Retweeted Rolf Degen
Sex differences in mate preferences, the most basic tenet of evolutionary psychology, are large and completely unbeaten: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1027821532071034880 … The tragedy of the male sex drive is WILDLY self-evident:https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/984440607094472704 …
Rolf Degen added,
The nature of evolution is not to satisfy us, but to cause us to seek satisfaction.
I would say you don't need evolutionary psychology for this, ie. a claim that it served some purpose in an "original environment" in the sense of higher chances of survival (directly or indirectly as "signs"). For example, accidental feedback loops are another candidate.
If you have accidental feedback loops (as a stark example): for weakness and strength, the former may really run into a problem sooner or later. But then you end up with the latter via survivorship bias. Does not have to mean anything beyond that.
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