Cosmides and Tooby Evolutionary Adaptations Paper

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Reasons that Cause People to Hold on to their Beliefs

Thesis statement: Factors like religiosity and learned behavior explain why individuals defend and come up with reasons to justify their beliefs.

1. Introduction
2. The Impact of Religiosity on Self-beliefs

• The Impact of Learned Behavior

1. Conclusion

 

Introduction

Psychology of survival is about the development of mental aspects in times of disaster and crisis for survival reasons. When people are exposed to threats, the way they react influences their survival. Whereas the default reaction is often evacuating to safety, people sometimes fail to move, and they end up perishing or getting injured. In Darwin’s theory of evolution, psychological survival is responsible for the survival of the fittest concept that has been used to justify the evolution of living organisms. While marking formulating the theory of evolution, Darwin applied psychological survival to protect his theory from the opposition.

The Importance of Psychological Survival

Psychological survival was crucial in helping Darwin develop the theory of evolution. In the nineteenth century, heresies and opinions that suggested other forms of evolution apart from creation were unacceptable. With the knowledge that his ideas will probably be rejected, Darwin delayed releasing them until when the masses were ready to hear them. The effects of fear played a crucial role in the delay since it allowed Darwin to conduct additional studies. Fear is a form of psychological survival that can ensure the success or failure of a person. For Darwin, fear was a survival tactic that gives that his career was still developing and could not risk it by introducing aspects of heresy that differed with the conventional norms of the time. At 29 years, Darwin got the Malthusian insight that informed his theory of evolution. At the time, Darwin was a developing scientist. He had won the admiration of other members of the Beagle, and introducing ideas with heretic inclination that he was unable to prove could have ended his career. Earlier, A friend of Darwin was embarrassed for introducing ideas that conflicted with the religious views of the time. W.A. Browne had introduced ideas on materialistic view of life that was later deleted from the records of the Plinian Society after much debate. Wanting to save himself of the embarrassment, Darwin delayed the publication of his ideas until he developed an adequate proof of his ideas.

In the survival of the fittest, those who survive are those possessing the desired traits. The desired traits that are desired vary according to the circumstances faced by the organism. According to Carlson, Buskist, & Martin (2013), people react differently to the issues they face according to the problems they face in their immediate environment. In the case of a woman who was killed when many people were watching, Carlson, Buskist, & Martin (2013) say that people are likely to help when many people are many witnesses. When witnesses are few, people are likely to help the victim or the affected people. This aspect of psychological survival shows that people act differently depending on their environment and how they affect their survival.

Psychological survival was also essential in protecting the relationship between Darwin and the Captain of the ship. Darwin, a person from a noble family, went on the voyage because the Captain of the ship wanted a companion of a noble family like himself. Even though their views on various aspects differed, their differences did not kill their companionship because they did not focus on their differences. As Captain, Fitzroy was a secluded person since he rarely interacted with other men on the ship. Interactions were limited to technical matters that affected the ship, which kept the Captain a lonely man. As a nobleman, the Captain could not eat with other men on the ship because of their low social class. Fitzroy wanted someone to keep him company to avoid the loneliness that killed past captains and have relatives who captained ships and later died because of the stress that emanated from the isolation. In one instance, Fitzroy lauded slaveholders for their benevolence, something that Darwin had issues with since the slaves were under pressure and had little choice. The argument strained the relationship after Darwin differed with Fitzroy over the issue, but Fitzroy later apologized to mend the strained relationship. Fitzroy applied the psychological survival aspect of the fear of negatively affecting his relationship with Darwin to ensure that it survives.

The Adaptive Significance of the Traits Involved

The traits that are acquired in psychological survival are essential in the survival of an individual. For Darwin, the trait of fear for survival enabled him to save his budding career and release the ideas on evolution after conducting adequate research on the issue. According to Lilienfeld et al. (2010), psychological survival skills enable a person to survive in challenging situations, as evidenced by the cases of Darwin and his findings. The fear that his findings might be trashed enabled Darwin to concentrate on his research interests and develop adequate proof to convince others about his ideas on evolution. Resilience is a crucial skill that results from psychological survival that enables people to have good relationships and succeed in their work, as shown in Darwin’s case.

Conclusion

Darwin’s experiences on his quest to prove the theory of evolution demonstrate the use of psychological survival skills in ensuring that his ideas are released when the public is ready to hear them. Darwin delayed the release of his ideas on evolution for about 20 years to give more research and release when people were open to other ideas apart from those supported by religions. Fear is the psychological survival skill that enabled Darwin to delay the release since his friend was embarrassed earlier because he fronted ideas that could not be proven.

 

References

Carlson, N. R., Buskist, W., & Martin, G. N. (1997). Psychology: The science of behavior.

Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., & Woolf, N. J. (2010). Psychology: A framework for everyday thinking.