Seminar - Applying evolutionary reasoning to humans: the benefits and limits

It is uncontroversial that, just like any other species, humans were at least partly shaped by natural selection. But it is very controversial how useful evolutionary reasoning is to explain the psychological features of modern humans.

A recent incident illustrates how high the stakes are in this debate: A year ago, US-tech giant Google fired an employee for arguing that evolved psychological differences between women and men are partly responsible for why more men than women work as programmers. The incident was widely reported in the international media and generated enormous heat and controversy.

This meeting aims to shed new light on these debates by bringing together contrasting views for constructive debate.

It is the first in a planned series, organized by the interdisciplinarity group of the Young Academy Groningen (YAG), which will focus on controversial topics of societal interest.

Our three discussants are:

• Diana Fleischman – evolutionary psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK,
• Bettina van Hoven – cultural geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences and UCG, University of Groningen,
• Gert Stulp – social psychology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen