Tweet We’ve been discussing human nature and the naturalistic fallacy a lot, and how proving that something is human nature is not the same as proving that it’s a desirable trait to have today in modern society. As I’ve said in the past, human nature just means it was something that was at one point [...]
Tweet As I’ve said in recent posts, proving that something is part of human nature is not the same as proving that it’s good. The belief that all human nature is desirable and should therefore be deliberately emulated is known as the naturalistic fallacy. As I said previously: Human nature is a collection of traits, [...]
Tweet Something that pops up often online when discussing human behavior is something called the naturalistic fallacy, which is when someone argues that because a behavior, trait, or instinct is natural, meaning that it’s human nature, that behavior, trait, or instinct must also therefore be considered desirable and good. This is also called “the is-ought [...]
Tweet We’ve already discussed the ways that collective psychology disciplines like group psychology and evolutionary psychology have parallel concepts to what one finds in individual psychology. I want to carry these comparisons further with a discussion of the concept of maladaptions. Maladaptations are an umbrella term for (1) maladaptive behavior, (2) maladaptive beliefs, and(3) [...]
Tweet I’ve been discussing the similarities between evolutionary psychology and “regular” psychology, and today I want to discuss a school of thought called Terror Management Theory. Psychology Today says: The terror refered to in terror management theory (TMT) is that which is brought on by the awareness of the inevitible death of the self. According [...]
Tweet [This post has been revised from the original that appeared only a few days ago. I felt there were some major flaws in my original examples. - T.] One of the more interesting tendencies I’ve noticed among online intellectuals is the glorification of evolutionary psychology, but coupled with a disdain of regular, personal [...]
Tweet [Note: This post was revised from the original published version. Hence some of the comments below may be responding to an earlier, slightly different draft.] I wanted to take some time to discuss stereotyping. The tendency to stereotype is a part of human nature, meaning at some point it must have traditionally gave people [...]
