By Brianna N. Ruff & Rebecka K. Hahnel-Petters
Evolutionary psychology, a relatively new form of studying human behavior, is not necessarily a field of psychology but rather a perspective that can be applied to any subfield such as developmental, cognitive, social, etc. Our bodies were designed by natural selection over many, many (talking millions) of years, and evolutionary psychologists argue that the same forces also designed our minds. The same way some of our ancestors survived better because they were able to walk on two feet, some of our ancestors were also able to survive better if they developed a fear of heights that kept them away from danger. Below we have outlined what we believe to be five essential books for a better understanding of human behavior from an evolutionary psychology perspective. These books apply this perspective to understanding some of our most basic emotions--such as feelings of love, jealousy, and anxiety--and also explain how our minds have been designed to have an innately biased perspective of the world towards survival and reproduction. These books are not only meant for someone studying evolutionary psychology, or hell--psychology in general--but rather, are books for anyone who craves a deeper understanding of their own thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. 1. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins Highlights:
Although this list is not necessarily made to be read in chronological order, this book should definitely be your first read! The Selfish Gene is on many high ranking lists of “essential books to read before you graduate college” and was revolutionary for the study and understanding of human behavior. Dawkins laid out the foundation for understanding natural selection from a gene's eye view and did it in a way that is able to be understood at any level. Although we do not like to think of ourselves as selfish beings--and I am sure you can think of countless selfless acts you have done--Dawkins shows how our actions are biased to promote the survival of our genes. We are simply the vehicle that helps transport them from generation to generation. Whether it be someone saving their brother/sister from a speeding car (who shares half their genes), or someone else increasing their status by sharing a generous donation they made to a foundation on their Twitter, these actions still somehow indirectly benefit these individuals (and therefore their genes). Although this book created quite a controversy because people misinterpreted it as justifying selfish behavior, Dawkins’ goal was to understand how our minds were designed in order to overcome these biases to create more generous and altruistic behavior. As Dawkins has said, if we are puppets we can at least we can try to understand our strings. 2. Good Reasons for Bad Feelings by Randolph Nesse Highlights:
Mental illness does not seem like something very adaptive, yet millions of people suffer from it around the world. Why is that? Nesse uses his years of experience as a psychiatrist and perspectives from evolutionary biology to explain where bad feelings come from and why they are not all really that bad. He shows how natural selection has designed emotions for good reasons, such as how feeling moderate levels of stress helps individuals perform better on tests; however, when these emotions take over in excess, we see them turn bad. Nesse discusses various emotions and mental illnesses, such as panic disorder, anxiety, depression, and more. He breaks down how natural selection designed emotions for good reasons and where natural selection is flawed and how emotions can malfunction. This book offers great introspection and begs a deeper version of the question, “Why do I feel this way?” that does not just reflect the moment but the deep evolutionary history of moments just like it. (For a musical trailer of this book, listen to Baba Brinkman’s “Feelings for Reasons.”) 3. The Evolution of Desire by David Buss Highlights:
Love can be complicated, and desire has existed since nearly the beginning of internal fertilization (a really long-time). Love and desire have captivated artists, poets, and filmmakers for hundreds of years. For instance, at the time of this writing, a Google Search for “love poems” returned 284,000,000 results. Romantic relationships are of great interest to us; there are well over 200 individual films [1] highlighting behavior in romantic relationships. Interestingly, romantic relationships across the world don’t appear to be all that different. In The Evolution of Desire, Buss presented data from 10,000 individuals across 37 cultures to answer the book’s main questions about the universality of sexual desire, sexual conflict, and sexual strategies and how they were designed by evolution (e.g., natural and sexual selection). The material presents the reader with many comparisons of human behavior across cultures and between species in a digestible manner without technical jargon. The Evolution of Desire by David M. Buss made our list of recommended readings because it was the first book written for a popular audience that explored a comprehensive theory of sexual motivations. 4. How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker Highlights:
Pinker uses his experience as a cognitive and evolutionary scientist to take a deeper dive into examining how natural selection has shaped the mind. This book covers a wide array of human behavior and cognition by examining how the mind works in contexts such as morality, religion, and emotions. Pinker argues that the mind has developed specialized adaptations through natural selection to produce complex, specialized, and adaptive behavior to assist in survival and reproduction. Because this book discusses such a wide range of specialized adaptations, it is great for a psychology student trying to find the specific domain of human behavior that interests them most. Additionally, this book is also perfect for anyone with a curious mind interested in gaining a broader understanding of human behavior. 5. The Shape of Thought by Clark Barrett
Once again, although this is not meant to be in chronological order, this book should probably be the last one you read. Barrett takes on a conversational tone throughout this book that is thought-provoking for both author and reader. This book is not only meant to help you know more by the end of it, but also to leave you with more questions and curiosity after having read it. The main focus of The Shape of Thought is building the landscape of how psychological adaptations are formed and operate. Although psychological adaptations are frequently misunderstood as being hard-wired and frozen in the evolutionary past, The Shape of Thought shows the diversity and plasticity that these adaptations are selected to have. This is a great book for the reader who has a basic understanding of evolutionary psychology and wants to dive further into the unknown. References: [1] Ehrlich, D., Kohn, E., Erbland, K., Thompson, A., O’Falt, C., Sharf, Z., Dry, J., Lattanzio, R., Obsenson, T. & Brueggemann, T. (2020, February 14). The 50 greatest romantic comedies of all time: From “Bringing Up Baby” to “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and from the silent era to the streaming age, these are the best rom-coms ever [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.indiewire.com /gallery/best-romantic-comedies-funny-movies-love-rom-com/
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