All biological and ecological systems are a product of evolution. The mind is a result of the information processing of the human body; therefore, the human mind is a product of evolution. This is a simple logical syllogism (formula or valid argument) that proves the relationship despite it seeming to be such a controversial topic in the social sciences. This has been obvious to evolutionary psychologists for a long time, and they have argued for evolutionary theory as a meta-theory for all of psychology. They suggest that we use evolutionary theory as a lens at which to look at other psychological theories in hopes of unify the field of psychology as a whole. This is a lofty goal that I support, but I think this is not necessary, might be premature, and has proven to be as polarizing as a hot button political issue.
Due to this polarization in the field, I want my 1st blog post to recognize that evolutionary psychology (EP) is a young field, and we should focus on it's utility as a research program and explore its practical applications (i.e. counseling, education, public policy, etc.), but it is not necessary to argue for it as a unifying paradigm. That line of argument often has the effect of ostracizing peers in the field and opens evolutionary psychology up to criticism, because too much is still unknown. There are many non-evolutionary theories that are perfectly valid and useful without an evolutionary perspective.
Having recognized EP's limits I believe that it is the best starting place for thinking about the mind, due to the idea of consilience (unity of knowledge) in the sciences. As we descend human epistemology: 1) all things are subject to the laws of physics 2) the laws of chemistry must not violate the laws of physics 3) as all biology is made up of chemicals, so biology must not violate the laws of chemistry 4) as the mind is the product of biological systems, psychology must not violate the laws of biology. Considering Evolution is the basis of biological knowledge, the law of consilience shows that it ought to be applied to the human mind. It is therefore our best starting point when forming new scientific hypotheses and can be instrumental when trying to clarify our thinking about human psychology.
This is not to say that non-evolutionary models are inferior or wrong. Any model that is backed up with significant peer reviewed and replicated data, is an important addition to scientific knowledge. Furthermore, just because something is a universal feature of our psychology, it does not necessarily mean that it is or was adaptive (helpful in survival and reproduction). Although it does necessarily mean that feature has persisted through the the evolutionary process because if it exists universally among the spices it is not a product of culture but of biology, which is a starting place in of itself when trying to understand universal human psychology.
Evolutionary theory is elegant and has transformed how we think about the world and our place in it. This blog and website is dedicated to how evolutionary thinking can apply to our lives and our understanding of ourselves so that we can live a happier healthier life.
Further Reading
1. Rethinking Evolutionary Psychology By Andrew Goldfinch
2. Consilience by Edward O. Wilson