In this first section of a two part series Allen D. MacNeill covers the individual aspects of evolutionary psychology, The Modern Scholar: Evolutionary Psychology I: The Science of Human Nature. In the next set of lectures Evolutionary Psychology Part Two focuses on group interactions.
Professor MacNeill's theatrical background makes listening to his lectures entertaining. He often pauses struggling for appropriate euphemisms to describe topics that are not appropriate for dinner time conversation.
He pokes holes in the standard social science model that we are all blank slates that can be molded by the environment into the person you become. He favors the proposition that we are shaped by our genetic background and the environment that we occupy.
He compares the behavior of other animals and finds similarities. Some findings are disturbing. Infanticide or abuse is much higher with stepfathers with no genetic relation to the child. This is true with humans and in many other primate species. With apes if a new male displaces the top male the non related infants are killed so that the DNA of the new male can be passed along.
Professor MacNeill differentiates between lust, limerence (romantic love) and attachment. These different forms of love are also regulated by different hormones. Please see Science behind lust attraction companionship - Harvard U blog. Attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin) is achieved if you are calmed in the presence of the person you love. Limerence (dopamine and others) is the yearning to couple and is characterized by anxiousness and big mood swings. These feelings are reduced in direct proportion to the frequency of intimacy.
Evolutionary Psychology - 14 minutes
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