In this blog post, we will explore whether human psychological nature is innate or developed by the environment.
What kind of psychology do people have when they are born? They may have no psychology at all, like a blank piece of paper. As they grow up, they learn a lot from their surroundings and their parents, and their thoughts, or psychology, gradually fill up the paper. Or they may have already been written down by someone. Someone unknown has already pre-programmed basic psychology that is beneficial for living.
Such questions can lead to philosophical and scientific debates. The exploration of how human psychology and nature are formed has been the focus of discussions for thousands of years. Ancient philosophers debated whether humans are inherently good or evil, or whether they are born with a blank slate, and in modern times, psychology and neuroscience have begun to explore this more scientifically.
“Old Toolbox” is a book on evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology is a field that combines evolution and psychology. In other words, it studies how evolution affects psychology. Everyone knows what the theory of evolution is. The theory of evolution established by Darwin is based on natural selection. In other words, species with weak traits die out and species with strong traits survive, eventually evolving into species with strong traits that can survive. Psychology is a discipline that literally studies the human mind and behavior scientifically. Evolutionary psychology, which is based on the “old toolbox,” combines the above two and explains that human psychology has been changed by evolution. This book argues that humans not only adapt to their environment, but also understand and act in the world with psychological tools that have already been formed through the evolutionary process.
This theory is especially useful when explaining human instinctive reactions. For example, the fear or avoidance response that we feel immediately in a dangerous situation may be a basic psychological mechanism that humans have evolved over thousands of years to survive. When someone encounters a wild animal in the mountains, the act of running away is not simply learned, but can be seen as an evolutionary adaptation for survival.
The author of “The Old Toolbox” argues that the mind, which was blank when we were born, grows and evolves to a certain extent, rather than being changed by the surrounding environment, and that the way we think is already determined to some extent by evolution. In other words, human psychology has also evolved through natural selection.
Let’s take an example from the things around us. Korea is called the Land of Etiquette. It is probably because Koreans are a very polite people, respecting their superiors and treating their subordinates with humility. However, this does not mean that other countries do not have such politeness. Although there is a difference in the degree of attention paid to it, the awareness that politeness must be observed exists in every country. Let’s explain various moralities, including these, using evolutionary psychology. People help others who are weaker than themselves. According to Hamilton’s rule, the more the gain from helping others is greater than the loss from helping others, the more altruistic the behavior is. People help the weak because the gain from helping them is often greater. Also, if someone has helped me, I try to repay the favor. This is also the case. We create mutual benefits by repaying the favor we received. If we do not repay the favor, we will not want to help each other again, which is a loss for both parties. Also, if people think that someone is not repaying the favor, no one will want to help, which is also a huge loss. Therefore, people have evolved to have the mentality that it is natural to repay favors.
Also, people obey and treat their superiors politely. Usually, a superior is someone who is more capable than oneself and protects one. If one does not follow such a person and treats them impolitely, one will not be able to maintain a relationship with the other and is more likely to be in danger. Therefore, it can be said that we have evolved to be polite to our superiors.
In addition to these instinctive reactions, certain social behaviors are likely to have evolved for the survival of the group. For example, humans have increased the probability of the group’s survival by cooperating with each other. Cooperation was essential in situations where it was difficult to survive alone. Therefore, humans can be seen as having evolved to be naturally cooperative.
Of course, there are many people who oppose evolutionary psychology. They will probably try to explain the above cases as the surrounding environment and culture. From an early age, we are taught that we should help those who are weaker, whether they are our parents, our kindergarten or school, and that we should repay the favor if we receive help and respect our superiors. We also learn not only from what we learn, but also from what we see and feel around us. When we see others respecting their superiors, helping each other, and repaying favors, we will feel that we should do the same.
However, there are some things that cannot be explained by the environment and learning alone. For example, there is an instinctive aspect to a baby’s behavior of following their parents without being taught or taking care of and helping their siblings without being taught. This cannot be simply explained by the surrounding environment or learned from someone. It is likely that this is a psychological trait that we have from birth.
All human behavior can be explained by evolutionary psychology as behavior with a reason. Some may argue that explaining all behavior in this way is like explaining nothing. However, the reasons and motives behind human behavior clearly exist. Psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience have been exploring the causes, and evolutionary psychology only offers one of the answers. There is no human behavior that has no reason. No one would understand something that has no reason. Even if you don’t understand a simple math problem, you have to ask twice or thrice to understand it. Evolutionary psychology is the one that provides the reasons for the underlying psychology of humans.
Of course, I am not saying that evolutionary psychology is perfect or that it ignores the influence of the environment. There are certainly some things in human psychology that are difficult to explain, and it is just a discipline that explains various psychologies, including those things. I think it is necessary to accept it as another discipline and help to uncover the mysteries of human evolution and psychology, rather than dismissing it as nonsense and baseless.
