Evolutionary Psychology Is Distinctly Nonracist

Human_Universals

Several years ago, I was invited to give two talks at the University of Michigan at forums hosted by the psychology and marketing departments respectively. During my talk at the Ross School of Business, one of the audience members interrupted me with the following paraphrased comment: "You evolutionary psychologists are obsessed with identifying human universals. Marketing scholars care about behavioral heterogeneity and not phenomena that are the same across people."

This personal anecdote is the perfect set-up to address the latest mess that has arisen as a result of Satoshi Kanazawa's most recent and highly controversial post (which I must admit did make me wince). Evolutionary psychologists are oftentimes criticized for being too focused on cataloging human universals, and in so doing ignoring differences between individuals or groups. At the same time, other (the same?) EP critics accuse evolutionary psychologists of being Nazis, eugenicists, supporters of slavery, sexist patriarchal pigs, in the singular pursuit of a hidden racist agenda. Clearly, evolutionary psychologists can't be both dogged and singular pursuers of human universals whilst also being deeply concerned about cataloging racial differences. As a side note, I was once accused of being a Nazi given my evolutionary-based research. I responded that this was quite an extraordinary accusation in light of the fact that I am Jewish. Upon recovering from this surprising revelation, the accuser felt that I must "hate women" then. In other words, it was impossible for me to study human behavior from an evolutionary perspective void of a hidden agenda of hatred. Nice.

The reality is that evolutionary psychologists come in many sizes, shapes, and colors (forgive the pun). Some focus on cataloging human universals while others seek to provide adaptive explanations for cross-cultural differences. Generally speaking though, evolutionary psychologists have indeed focused more on identifying human universals. It is difficult to imagine a less racist scientific stance. In other words, evolutionary psychology proposes that underneath the endless racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural differences that humans exhibit, there are evolutionary-based commonalities that unite us under the rubric of a shared biological heritage. Viewed from this perspective, the number of issues that unites people of different races (and hence defines a common humanity) is substantially more important than those that separate them. Humans succumb to sexual jealousy in predictable ways irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin. Humans experience parental love in similar ways. Humans respond to facial symmetry in similar ways. The triggers of disgust (e.g., body fluids, decaying foods) are the same whether you are a fair-skinned, blonde Swedish woman, or a dark-skinned Ugandan man. Halle Berry and Amanda Seyfried are both stunningly beautiful women for reasons that are ultimately rooted in evolutionary principles. Little boys and girls exhibit sex-specific toy preferences irrespective of their racial or cultural background. I could offer an additional 10,000 examples that demonstrate the similarities between individuals of different races, with the great majority of examples having been uncovered by evolutionary psychologists.

Of note, I opened my recent TED talk (see here) by highlighting the common base that unites individuals who otherwise originate from radically different ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds. It is difficult to imagine a less racist stance than that which inherently argues for a shared biological-based human nature.

Bottom line: EPists (my new term for folks who display ignorant hatred, bias, and bigotry toward evolutionary psychologists) might choose to huff and puff that all evolutionary psychologists are racists. Other than the fact that this is probably defamatory and libelous (few people including evolutionary psychologists enjoy being called racists), EPists are succumbing to the exact same distorted forms of prejudice, as those they claim to abhor the most: racists. Hence, perhaps EPists are engaging in some twisted form of projection. They are ultimately the "racists" who project their bigotry onto a scapegoat group (evolutionary psychologists). Who knew that psychoanalytic theories could come in handy!? ☺

Dr. Kanazawa raised many issues in his last post that should be criticized, questioned, and debated. However, it is unclear how the musings of a single blogger (as unsavory as these might be) could cast a shadow on a whole field of inquiry. Well, that's just plain racist...I mean EPist. If such logic were true then should one conclude, in light of the recent arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (the head of the International Monetary Fund) on charges of sexual assault, that all French men are sexual batterers? Dr. Kanazawa is an individual. Evolutionary psychology is a field of inquiry. It requires breathtakingly bigoted and flawed logic to derogate every single evolutionary researcher based on the writings of a single member of that group.

To end on a lighter note, I recently submitted my rap clip for a video by the evolutionary rapper Baba Brinkman. Incidentally, the winning name for my rap alter ego is The GadFather (many thanks to Chris, the co-owner of the local Second Cup cafe from which I often work for having suggested it). The title of the song is "I am a African." Perhaps the EPists could read the song's lyrics (see here) and get back to me about the inherent racism of evolutionary psychologists.

Source for Image:
http://bit.ly/loOkLs