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The way you do evolutionary psychology scientifically is that you think about which physiological traits ought to have been produced by selective pressure and t
by Symmetry 8y ago
The way you do evolutionary psychology scientifically is that you think about which physiological traits ought to have been produced by selective pressure and then check your predictions. Coming up with a post hoc justification after the evidence is in just isn't science.
- weberc2 8y agoSo the distinction is post hoc reasoning, not evolutionary explanations? I interpreted the OP’s comment as condemning the latter.
- Symmetry 8y agoThe vast majority of people making evolutionary psychology arguments in Hacker News threads or newspaper op-eds or such are also doing the later so the bad associations are understandable, even if they're not really the fault of evolutionary psychology the academic field.
- presscast 8y agoMy point (albeit awkwardly stated) was that evolutionary psychology is fraught with post hoc reasoning. The post to which I was replying is one such example. The result is that neighboring academic fields are (rightly, IMHO) skeptical of EP theories.