Dr. Steve Stewart-Williams is Associate Professor of Psychology at Nottingham University Malaysia Campus. His research revolves around the idea that theories from evolutionary biology can shed light on human psychology. In particular, he’s interested in the evolutionary origins of altruistic behavior and human sex differences. He also has a long-standing interest in the philosophical implications of evolutionary theory. He’s also the author of the books Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life (2010) and The Ape That Understood the Universe (2018).

In this episode, our conversation centers on some of the main topics of Dr. Stewart-Williams’ most recent book, The Ape That Understood the Universe. We first go through some of the basics of modern evolutionary theory and evolutionary biology, like units and levels of selection, and sexual selection, and also establish the relationship between biology and culture at the same time. Then, we discuss the origins of sex differences, and psychological traits as part of our phenotype. We also refer to the problem with using the term “gender” in science. We then talk about the model MMC (Mutual Mate Choice) in human sexual selection, and if there is any preferred mating system in human societies, like monogamy or polygamy. Toward the end, we talk about the evolutionary mismatch between our ancestral environments and our modern industrialized scientific societies, and how to approach the study of religion from a biological/evolutionary standpoint.

Time Links:

00:55 Units and levels of selection in evolution

09:39 Biological and cultural evolution

13:09 How to think about culture

23:19 Sexual selection

27:29 Where to start off from to understand the origins of sex differences

34:59 The problem with the term “gender”

42:30 The flaws with pure sociological or sociocultural approaches to psychological sex differences

45:17 Cultures do not vary randomly

48:05 About the MCFC (Males Compete Females Choose) and MMC (Mutual Mate Choice) models of sexual selection

52:14 Is there any preferred mating system in human societies (monogamy, polygamy)?

55:55 Evolutionary mismatch between our ancestral environments and the modern ones

1:00:35 How to properly study religion as a human phenomenon

1:09:31 “Culture might influence our behavior a bit, but it never conjures things up, nor is the origin of them”

1:11:05 Follow Dr. Stewart-Williams’ work!

Follow Dr. Stewart-Williams’ work:

Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/yda

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