Positive Evolutionary Psychology - Glenn Geher | Modern Wisdom Podcast 439

TL;DR

Paleo psychology offers a new perspective by applying evolutionary thinking to the study of mental and emotional well-being, which has been largely overlooked by the positive psychology movement.

Transcript

once you start thinking from an evolutionary perspective if there's some feature of the organism that is species typical if humans across the world have tendencies toward anxiety especially under the same kinds of conditions then instead of saying oh anxiety feels bad let's get rid of it well why don't we step back and say what is this what's the f... Read More

Key Insights

• 🤔 Paleo psychology applies evolutionary thinking to understand emotional and social functioning in humans.
• 🖤 Positive psychology and paleo psychology have parallels but positive psychology lacks evolutionary perspective.
• 🙂 Evolutionary psychology can shed light on the purpose and function of anxiety and depression.
• 😮 Evolutionary mismatches, such as modern education systems and the rise of social media, contribute to mental health issues.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the main difference between positive psychology and paleo psychology?

The main difference is that positive psychology primarily focuses on improving people's lives by studying positive features, while paleo psychology incorporates an evolutionary perspective to understand and improve emotional and social functioning.

Q: How does paleo psychology shed light on the evolutionary function of anxiety and depression?

Paleo psychology suggests that anxiety and depression may have evolved as adaptive responses to certain situations. For example, anxiety may have alerted our ancestors to potential dangers, while depression may have encouraged introspection and learning from past mistakes.

Q: What are some examples of evolutionary mismatches in the modern world?

Evolutionary mismatches include modern education systems that do not align with ancestral learning methods, the prevalence of strangers and anonymous communication, and the reliance on social media for social interactions.

Q: How does kindness play a role in evolutionary psychology?

Kindness is seen as an adaptive trait because it fosters trust and cooperation within a community. Mate selection studies have shown that kindness is highly valued in both men and women across cultures.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Paleo psychology is an evolutionary approach to understanding and improving emotional and social functioning in humans, similar to the paleo movement in nutrition.

• Positive psychology emerged as a field focused on improving people's lives, but it lacks the evolutionary perspective found in paleo psychology.

• Evolutionary psychology and positive psychology both started in the 90s and have parallels, but positive psychology lacks the incorporation of evolutionary thinking.

• Paleopsychology aims to integrate evolutionary psychology and positive psychology to provide a more comprehensive understanding of human behavior and well-being.