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Cake day: June 18th, 2023

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  • Eh, I don’t necessarily disagree with your statement – and sure, I’d probably agree that evolutionary psychology has a problem in that it’s not super testable – then again, what does my word mean since I’m a lay person.

    It does fit into our understanding of evolution though, and it fits into how we analyze behaviors of other animals. Its clear that some portion of our psychology is genetic, and therefore evolutionary, and it only follows that there’s is going to be variability in each individual’s initial psychological makeup, even within geographically adjacent groups of individuals. . When you plop nurture on top, that variability becomes even wider. Idk, it seems kinda nonsensical to claim that one person can’t be more genetically predisposed to feeling anxiety than another, right?

    You can and should call out racists, but just because there are some racists who use evolutionary psychology to be racists, doesn’t mean it’s all bunk. Just like it doesn’t make Darwinism all bunk when it’s used by social darwinists to oppress others.

    Edit: obviously anyone who says “this race is more likely to act like this because of this” is whack. I guess I’m thinking of evolutionary psychology on more of a macro scale, where it could be used to explain (colloquial “explain,” scientific “hypothesize”), for example, why humans experience social anxiety, where feelings of shame or embarrassment come from, how we deal with rejection, or acceptance, etc. in a real scientifically grounded way.



  • How do you mean? A person can be genetically predisposed to be tall, but grow up to be short due to environmental circumstances (eg lack of nutrition during childhood)

    Edit: I figured this would go without saying, but maybe not: this idea, I think logically, extends to things like dopamine thresholds in the brain, and other, erhm, neurotransmittal (word?) aspects of the body. Really, all aspects of the body start with genetic predisposition and then do or do not undergo changes corresponding with the environment. To be completely clear, I am not a scientist. If the science doesnt support this, then Id happily stand corrected


  • Idk, I mean I’m not a fan of Pinker (his whole book on why violence has declined seems to ignore structural violence all around us, especially lower classes, and heavily supports capitalism) but evolutionary psychology seems pretty legit to me?

    Geographically isolated groups of a single species will show variations of behavior and psychology that is affected by their environment and genetic predispositions – that seems like a pretty reasonable take.

    Yeah, when people take that to racist extremes, its problematic. You can’t assume a person’s quality because, when it comes to individuals in a particular, geographically originated group, you don’t know where they landed on the spectrum re: genetic predisposition, and then you don’t know their current environment either. It all comes out in the wash. I don’t really think that means evolutionary psychology is total bunk, though. Its useful to put humans along with other animals when we think about their how their behavior and psychology are affected by evolution.


  • People love to make things into purity tests of sorts (is that the right word?)

    Few weeks ago, some person on here was disparaging the GTA series, saying they don’t enjoy it “because they’re not 12.”

    It’s like, dude, people do things for different reasons. Not everyone wants to spend hundreds of hours roleplaying a medieval peasant. It doesn’t make you more mature, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re more patient, and it doesn’t mean you have better taste. Disparaging other peoples tastes just tells me you do things to feel better than others.

    This is coming from someone who does enjoy spending hundreds of hours roleplaying a medieval peasant. I also happen to enjoy mindless multiplayer games, and, yes, GTA.

    It’s just so, so lame, the way some of these people talk about games





  • jwiggler@sh.itjust.workstoPolitical Memes@lemmy.worldCuz baby, I'm an anarchist
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    2 months ago

    Idk I feel like liberals are responsible for enabling people like trump by always trying to maintain the status quo of capitalist growth and the illusion that access to marketplaces = rights. In the case of women, of lgbtq folks, of brown people, etc. I feel like they are half the whole problem. They are also in service to capital, and perpetuate the myth that you can serve your community with integrity while also taking in loads of cash from large organization as a politician




  • For sure for sure. I definitely read it that way, in part, because I have to consciously remind myself that my taste is my own and I should try not to dismiss people who like their art to be more…palatable, i guess? Because I have the capacity to be that guy, unfortunately. So I try to watch a blockbuster every once in a while, so to speak.

    I think it was probably the comparison between GTA and Madden and CoD that threw me, because they have almost no similarities besides being AAA.

    Their comment kinda reminded me of how the Kingdom Come: Deliverance fandom can be. I mean, I fucking love KCD and KCD2, they’re two of the best games I’ve ever played. They can slow AF though, and frustrating at times. But whenever someone mentions that, or that they didn’t like it, someone else invariably comes along and completely dismisses their opinion, like “You just don’t understand it,” or “Maybe you just don’t have the attention span to really immerse yourself.” It’s like dude, you don’t need to make someone feel bad for not liking a game.



  • I get it’s a massive franchise, like Madden or Call of Duty… don’t buy those either.

    whew, I’m trying to understand your comment, but this is kinda coming off pretty…holier-than-thou? Which, I do get that because I can find myself like that with movies/tv, but still…we gotta let people like what they like.

    In this case though, I honestly think this is a pretty terrible comparison. Madden and CoD don’t have massive single player appeal that GTA or RDR have. They are total schlock in that regard (though, I hear CoD’s recent campaigns are actually good).

    GTA and RDR on the other hand very skillfully mix elements of RPG, immersive sim, and adventure game. They’re huge sandboxes for the player to explore and discover new things, within which are nestled very well written stories that critique modern life and touch upon themes that, yes, you could find them in various indie games if you look a bit, but are somewhat unique in the blockbuster gamescape. It’s difficult to find other single player games with the scope of Rockstar games, though I think it is getting easier.

    But comparing GTA to Madden or CoD is kinda whack unless you’re looking at GTA Online in isolation.