It's the most "cutting edge" of all psychologies. The birth of Evolutionary Psychology is an unprecedented event signaling a complete paradigm shift for all of psychology from "soft" science to "hard" natural science. As such, it is defined as the first "natural science of the human mind". Powerfully put, it's not just another branch of the "tree" of psychology; it's a whole new "trunk"!
To better conceptualize the immensity of this event, it is analoguous to the historical transition of alchemy to the natural science of chemistry. Once the transition to a natural science is complete, no further transition will ever again be necessary. In the same way that nothing will ever come along and replace modern chemistry, it is likewise true that, when the transition to Evolutionary Psychology is complete throughout the psychological community, no further transition will ever again be necessary. "In the future, it won't be called Evolutionary Psychology. It will just be called psychology." (INTRODUCING EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY by Dylan Evans and Oscar Karate, 2000)
Evolutionary Psychology is now "here to stay". It will continue to grow in its sophistication, not only to the great benefit of those among us seeking relief from severe emotional pain, but also to the benefit of those seeking the optimal level of emotional happiness in this exceedingly challenging and complex world.
WHAT IS SO DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT ABOUT EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY?
All traditional psychologies swear allegiance to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) published through the American Psychological Association. However, the ultimate implication of Evolutionary Psychology is to reject this approach for a very fundamental reason. Focusing on the keywords in the book's title, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (i.e. the "DSM") is the Manual that makes its Diagnostic assessment of mental dysfunction in terms of Statistical deviation from the norms of society. In effect, it tells people that if they deviate too far from doing "what everyone else is doing" in modern society, there is something mentally wrong with you.
But does it really make sense to presume that "normal" modern social behaviors necessarily represent some ultimate standard of mental health? At a "gut level" we should all appreciate the wrongness of this premise at the foundation of all traditional psychologies. However, there is a problem with challenging it. There has, simply, never been any other standard of measurement available for replacing "normality'. Now, at last, there is! Evolutionary Psychology replaces the "normal" with what is "natural" to our species as the appropriate standard of mental health. Evolutionary Psychology, in fact, determines that many American normative behaviors are grossly unnatural, and thus "deviant" to our appropriate mental health.
BUT ISN'T THE IDEA OF WHAT'S "NATURAL" TO HUMAN BEINGS PRETTY VAGUE?
It was true for most of human history that the term "human nature" had no objective meaning. That is true no longer - and this is the most powerful insight of Evolutionary Psychology. What is "natural" for human beings, in terms of the style of living people might choose for themselves, in terms of how they might raise their children, in terms of how they might relate to the significant others in their lives, etc. is now, at last, more and more precisely understood.
BUT ISN'T "WHAT'S NATURAL" SOMETHING WE SHOULD ALREADY KNOW, INTUITIVELY,WITHOUT HAVING TO DEVOTE ANY SERIOUS THOUGHT TO IT?
Unfortunately this is not the case. We have all been "programmed" during our childhood to become adjusted to many things that are not good for us. Through media bombardment, most children, and the adults they will become, have been unnaturally accommodated to harmful environmental inputs (ex. "junk food") to their great physical detriment. But it is also true that we have been acclimated, during our childhoods, to much that continuously and insidiously undermines our optimal mental health. Bear the following in mind: The new objective, scientific standard of human nature is far from simplistic and often runs diametrically opposed to many cultural "sacred cows" that have remained unchallenged for centuries.
BUT IS EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY "POLITICALLY
CORRECT"?
Galileo shocked the conscience of Europe with his announcement that the earth revolves around the sun -- and not the other way around, as the politics of the day had dictated. Good science never takes its cue from political beliefs or trends. Evolutionary Psychology is the first natural science of the human mind and, as such, is not always "politically correct" -- in fact, it often declares American culture itself to be "incorrect" in its often convoluted attempts to satisfy the fundamental natural needs of our species. As such, some of the revelations of Evolutionary Psychology will come as a shock to our normal sense of things. Yet, at a "gut level”, they will always resonate within us, as somehow being deeply and naturally true after all---which, indeed, they are!
Again, as our "gut level" feelings will confirm, it turns out that by living more "naturally", our emotional dysfunctions gradually vanish one by one -- or, at least, they become reduced to manageable levels as one begins to fully understand their origin and how they can be controlled. Evolutionary Psychology confirms the perennial, adage, "THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE", since it is, in fact, objective scientific truth about the human condition. With its groundbreaking insights now, finally, made available to each one of us, the birth of Evolutionary Psychology will assure that, not only our individual lives, but the entire world in which we live will never again be the same!
Why is Evolutionary Psychology such an important new therapy?
