What is Evolutionary Psychology?

Ever wonder what evolutionary psychology is? I did so I decided to do some research. Here are my findings and thoughts on the topic.

I was watching this show called “Warrior” the other day (well, I was actually re-watching it because it’s that dope). It’s based on this story that Bruce Lee created.

Anyway, this show has a lot of martial arts and fighting in it. This is one of the reasons why I like it so much.

As an example, in the very first scene, the main character gets into a fight with two racist immigrant officials. He uses his martial arts to beat them up and as I was watching this, I felt this aggression run through me.

And this feeling happened every time I watched a fight scene in this show (which is often). In one of the last scenes of the season finale, there was this big fight scene. And as soon as I finished watching it, I just had to hit something.

So the next day, I dusted off my old punching and hung up. I went 3 rounds with it and I felt great (I felt great in that I got to release all the aggression. Physically, I felt horrible).

But why did I feel this way? Why did my body shoot an injection of testosterone into me?

I was genuinely curious.

I remember that Joe Rogan said something about this on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. So, I went back to explore the episode.

He said that humans have raw, primal emotions ingrained in us from when we were barbarians, fighting in wars on a regular basis. Or from when we were cavemen, just running around all day to hunt and to get away from predators.

Now, Rogan is an intelligent person. But he isn’t a credible source when it comes to evolution or anthropology.

So I decided to do some research and came across a theory called evolutionary psychology.

What is Evolutionary Psychology?

So here’s what it is and how it relates hunter mentality to evolution:

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, evolutionary psychologists believe that human behaviours are rooted in and influenced by psychological and physical behaviours that our ancestors used to survive.

Okay, that was a mouthful. But do you get it?

This theory was developed by Charles Darwin, the father of “survival of the fittest” (or natural selection), in the late 1800s. Darwin, via his observations, believed that emotional, facial expressions evolved the same way physical features did.

And through this analysis, it laid the groundwork for future evolutionary psychological research.

Here’s an example, our ancestors (many, many years ago) had to use aggression regularly to hunt for food or to ward off enemies and predators.

And even though we, today, don’t have to hunt for our meals or fight off enemies, these instincts are still part of us. It’s there because we haven’t evolved out of it yet.

And that is (probably) why I feel an urge to hit my punching bag every time I watch an awesome fight scene.

Or it’s just because I’m an aggressive meathead who likes to be forceful and physical. And someone who loves watching martial arts.

What is Evolutionary Psychology?

READ MORE: What is Anthropology?

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