今日黑料

Living poses a number of problems. Although our current style of living protects us from the dangers that our ancestors faced, everyone has, at some point or another, encountered what Darwin called the 鈥渉ostile forces of nature鈥� 鈥� adverse climate, food shortages, toxins, diseases, and hostile people. As we struggle to cope with 鈥渁daptive problems鈥� 鈥� securing food, fighting off disease, and caring for the young 鈥� we also have to fight back the effects of behavioural responses of evolved psychological mechanisms 鈥� think of anxiety, depression, weight gain, difficulties in parenting, conflict between family members, aggression in groups, discrimination, and failure in personal and business relationships.

Living poses a number of problems. Although our current style of living protects us from the dangers that our ancestors faced, everyone has, at some point or another, encountered what Darwin called the 鈥渉ostile forces of nature鈥� 鈥� adverse climate, food shortages, toxins, diseases, and hostile people. As we struggle to cope with 鈥渁daptive problems鈥� 鈥� securing food, fighting off disease, and caring for the young 鈥� we also have to fight back the effects of behavioural responses of evolved psychological mechanisms 鈥� think of anxiety, depression, weight gain, difficulties in parenting, conflict between family members, aggression in groups, discrimination, and failure in personal and business relationships.

Biology has the answer. This unit takes a brand new look at how these mechanisms form part of a universal human nature, and how, if we wish to chart our destiny and steer away from the automatic control dictated by our in-built biochemical algorithms, we must turn to the same biology that, today, provides the big insights to hack the human mind and drive progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning, but that has, in the past, shaped our evolutionary history and equipped us with solutions.

Topics are structured around a number of problems humans face in the modern environment 鈥� suffering from anxiety and depression, struggling with conflicts, grappling with self-esteem, battling excess weight, fighting competition, challenging consumerism, dealing with aggressive behavior, coming to terms with jealousy and facing problems with parenting 鈥� which, in contrast to that experienced by our ancestors, is more crowded, complex, and very often gives us very delayed responses to our actions. The approach taken in this unit adopts a knowledge-based awareness of our evolutionary legacy that gives students the power to change their behaviour and to live a more meaningful and happier life.

Method of Assessment

Main Reading List

• BUSS, D. M., 2015. Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind. Fifth Edition. USA: Taylor & Francis.
• MILLER, G., 2009. Spent. Sex, Evolution and Consumer Behavior. USA: Penguin Books.
• CAMPBELL, A., 2002. A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of Women. Second Edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
• WILSON, E. O., 2004. On Human Nature Second Edition. USA: Harvard University Press.
• BARKOW, J. H., COSMIDES, L. and TOOBY, J. (Editors), 1995. The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

Supplementary Reading List

• WILSON, E. O., 2000. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. 25th Anniversary Edition. USA: Harvard University Press.
• MILLER, G., 2001. The Mating Mind. How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature. Great Britain: Vintage.
• PINKER, S., 2002. The Blank Slate. The Modern Denial of Human Nature. USA: Penguin Books.
• BROWNE, K., R., 2002. Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality. USA: Rutgers University Press.