Evolutionary psychology is the idea that humans evolved certain psychological traits - the fight or flight response, for example - that served a primitive need for survival and which persist to this day. This article features an interview with Subrena Smith who in her recent paper (paywalled, but there are some quotes here) questions the idea. The problem with evolutionary psychology is pretty straightforward: "we don't have the relevant evidence about how our ancestors behaved to make any substantiative claims." We think ancient humans evaded predators, but "Did our ancestors avoid predation because they were good at hiding in bushes or because they were running?" Evolutionary psychology is at issue today because it's used to explain and defend supposedly 'natural' behaviours. "If you say evolution made us so, then... we won't use our resources to make you do stuff you can't do." Good article.
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