[FRIAM] the pseudoscience of evolutionary psychology?

[uǝlƃ ☣]

On 02/20/2018 02:14 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:
> Well, the reason we don't talk about oxytocin, or dopamine, or even testosterone, much, is that they aren't behaviors.

Yes, they are behaviors.  When we talk about something like a hormone, we're not really talking about the molecule, are we?  Yes, the molecule is part of the conversation.  But the real conversation is about the *interaction* of that molecule with other structures in the body.  (E.g. hormones behave differently from neurotransmitters ... what makes them different is *that* they behave differently, not so much that their structures are different.)

To boot, when we talk about psychiatric interventions like SRIs, we're talking about the behaviors "X reuptake inhibition".  So, that they are behaviors isn't even (merely) relegated to physiology.  They're straight up psychiatry.

> I really don't give a damn about your testosterone levels so long as you don't punch me in the nose.  
> 
> By the way, we have a friend back east who is constantly looking for new drugs to increase her energy and well-being, and so she decided to try testosterone.  After a month on testosterone supplements, she said:  "I am surprised you guys behave as well as you do!"
> 
> Testosterone IS a poison.  

Heh, the dose is the poison!

-- 
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