Episode 8
The Evolution of "Just-So" Stories
May 4th, 2019
48 mins 38 secs
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About this Episode
Evolutionary Psychology has been criticized as simply generating "just-so" stories—plausible explanations that lack evidence. In this episode, Smith and Monroe question whether evolutionary psychology is useful for generating predictions rather than simply generating post-hoc stories. Chris—the evolutionary psychology expert in the group—defends his area and articulates the instances where evo psych can help inform people's predictions. We also get a bit sidetracked talking about sperm competition theory.
Marginally Significant is hosted by:
Andrew Smith @andrewrsmith
Twila Wingrove @twilawingrove
Andrew Monroe @monroeandrew
Chris Holden @profcjholden
You can contact Marginally Significant on Twitter (@marginallysig), through email ([email protected]), or on the web (marginallysignificant.fireside.fm/contact).