Is evolution Phycology really value free?
While most people may be familiar with the evolution of species, few individuals may not know the new branch of physiology, which is known as evolutionary physiology (EP). Evolutionary biology deals with adaptation of physical parts such as limbs, tail, and organs. On one hand, evolutionary physiology deals with the evolution of human thought, behavior, and language. The subject has been faced by severe critics where people against EP believe that it has no value but entirely relies on social and cultural behaviors of human. The author of this paper champions that, EP, unlike to the biological evolution; rely on social and cultural behaviors around the person and not genetic make-up and natural selection.
Physiologists of evolution believe that, thinking and behavior of the human being is influenced by natural selection in Darwin’s theory. Conversely, Heidegger (570) opposes this by mentioning that, human are born in a language-based world from which they cannot they will forever stay. Paul Griffs (297) says EP owes theoretical debts to ethology and sociology: human character is not a direct product and origin of natural selection but it is the main product of physiological mechanism. Therefore, development of mind and behaviors largely depend on social science and the environment around somebody.
Many have argued that, mental and behaviors processes, which are believed by these psychologists to be evolutionary in nature, are not EP, rather, they are social-cultural in nature. For example, Markus (601) gives the reason women tend to go for older and financially stable men. He explains that, females do not go for these successful men because of evolutionary advantage but because of the culture. He says that, women do not have a chance to adequately provide for themselves financially, and if the society and culture can give them this opportunity, there preference would not be for old and financially successful men.
Markus explained in his research that in societies and culture where women and men have total equity in opportunities, women show preference to young males who are physically handsome and attractive unlike to the societies where women lack these opportunities. In other terms they argued that, it is societal obstacles and poor social status in most of the cultures that inhibit these successful women and in turn devalue their physical attractiveness to stay with a man who lacks the substantially characteristics to match her. Therefore, it is not evolutionary physiology, but social-cultural characteristics that make other men preferred by women to others.
As much as the evolutionary psychology may have value, it is a field that has been embroiled in numerous controversies putting man in confusion whether the physiologist gives the correct result or faking evidence. This was observed in Harvard University when the student sued his teacher for presenting work, which was based on pure lies. The lecture later agreed to have committed such allegation. Some of the physiologists still deny the fact that there is little information about the EP if culture and society are not involved. Moreover, they stress that the mechanism focused on are distributed universally to put to too much variation. They say that EP is adaptation processes, which involve natural selection of survival for the fittest. but they do not give the evidences.
Some critics just like in this article have suggested that genes of the human being cannot hold the information that should be encoded to the brain. The human brain has not developed powerful social indicts as animals through Darwin’s natural selection hence; this hypothesis of evolutionary psychologist are just stories.
References
Bianchi, J., & Strang, E. (2013). Is evolutionary psychology really value-free? A reconsideration. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 7(4), 304-310.
