Chapter 37 Near the end...

Well, we're almost done walking through the landscape of human behavior with Darwin.Now I'm going to take you to the end.Hopefully, what I expected in the preface has come true, and you've been able to get a better look at human behavior through a Darwinian lens and see where to think, without requiring a lot of basic knowledge. There are many well-written books on evolution, humans, and human behavior.Many scientists have also analyzed our behavior and written their conclusions in highly instructive academic works.This point is not only very important for science, but also for human beings' understanding of themselves; it takes a lot of research to achieve accurate understanding.The more people who are interested in it, the more beneficial it will be.However, this type of book has two flaws.First, they were mostly born in the hands of scientists, and ordinary people were not noticed on the reader's side.While readers have the necessary knowledge "luggage", they also need to master a lot of psychological or biological knowledge.Not everyone has the same "luggage" or basic knowledge, so for the vast majority, the door to these books remains closed.Second, the impression given by these works is that to explore the behavioral elements described in the books, one has to go on a very difficult journey, one has to sneak into the laboratory to discover important characteristics of human behavior; The observer, preferably with a pair of round Harry Potter glasses on his nose.In other words, it takes a long time to observe before finding those academic theories in real life.

In this book, I try to work around these pitfalls by requiring you to carry no intellectual "baggage" and requiring little expertise.That doesn't mean I don't think you're capable, no, I don't want this book to be a onerous task for you.All you need is a light-hearted way to learn about yourself by reading a short, easy-to-understand science article every night, without breaking a sweat.Next, and my most important intention, is to shatter the conceited notion in the scientific community that people need expensive experimental equipment or sophisticated observation techniques to see, hear, and smell the evolution of human behavior.In fact, if you think about it, you can see countless behavioral traits left over from the past everywhere.On the street, on TV, in open-air cafes, in supermarkets, on buses, in restaurants, in waiting rooms, everywhere we go in our daily lives, people are busy with various things, as if they want to portray A handbook on the biology of human behavior.Behavioral fossils can be found in our spoken and written language.Listen to what and how people talk, read what they write, and pay attention to what they are up to and what questions they are asking.If you still feel like you need a lab to observe the phenomena of behavioral biology and evolutionary psychology research, go get anyone within sight.Young and old, women and men, elderly and children.Throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, we are the best example of behavioral biology.

Is there a benefit to all this?What does it mean for humans to see ourselves through the lens of evolution?Is it just a fun smart gadget for you to have a little fun at the party?Or just as a relaxing read before bed?If this is enough for you, I will give it to you as a gift.However, I think there is much more to it than that.I deliberately put the article "Darwinism Makes You Happy" at the end, which can be regarded as a kind of concluding epilogue.For many, this serves as the answer to the question "What is the benefit of having some knowledge about ourselves?"The answer is that it can be a huge help in finding inner peace.I'm just talking about myself here.After studying human behavior and evolution for decades, I got a feeling.This experience is a little bit close to happiness.The reason for saying this is to not make Darwinism too much like a drug, so that Marx has the opportunity to describe it as "the opium of the masses" as he described religion.However, once you have knowledge about human beings, you can drive away fears, especially doubts.And these fears and questions are all aroused by the journey of exploration to pursue the meaning of life through supernatural power.Faith may be fun, but understanding is the key.In this regard, Darwinism provides us with an extremely powerful lever to grasp the basic knowledge of human beings, to understand the origin and foundation of human beings.In this regard, everyone has the right to dig; every man, woman, and even child can come and try to accumulate wealth.

It is not superfluous to have a basic knowledge of human behavior, and I would like to give an argument against this fact.In the near future, that knowledge may be put to practical use, but as of today, behavioral biology and evolutionary psychology are purely scientific theories.Researchers analyze and publish in the name of sacred science, but there is still a long way to go for these disciplines to actually contribute to improving or healing human behavior.Yes, it is healing.Now, we have to think of psychiatry.Today, the discipline is seeking new perspectives to better heal mental illness.

Today's psychiatrists are not satisfied with the psychiatry of the last century.After Freud proposed and dominated the way of thinking in psychiatry in the early twentieth century, many other models appeared in the world, but none of them reached a generally satisfactory level.Speaking of which, you don't have to worry about all the psychiatrists getting mad at me for saying the above, because they told me that themselves.Of course, there will still be one or two who fanatically follow Freud and those who came before, but most psychiatrists are looking for a new perspective, such as the evolutionary research method.I have hinted in several articles in this book that, in the near future, evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology will tie the knot with psychiatry, and then both academia and medicine will be interesting!It will also be good for men and women who are afflicted by mental illness with no hope of healing in sight.

Could having basic prehistoric knowledge influence our behavior to prevent misbehavior?Obviously, the human beings who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago had the behaviors they have today because they constantly adapted to the environment; at the same time, our environment, technology and society are far away from the distant past, and earth-shaking changes have taken place. Variety.Because of that imbalance, we do things that are not only crazy, but sometimes dangerous and ugly, like floods of rage, sexual violence, oppression, selfish attitudes, etc.It would be great if we could turn these pathologies around.Philosophy, religion, political trends and social beliefs try to make people better, but unfortunately, the changes are not great.After all the efforts, we are still the same as we were hundreds of years ago, and the track is right, from discrimination to rape to war.Still, I'm going to dream that with Darwinian knowledge about human beings, we can go one step further in our quest for a better world.Don't get me wrong, I'm not so naive as to think that Darwin could improve human beings and make suffering disappear from the world, it's not like that.But I'm sure Darwinism can help, and I'll leave it to the future to tell how much.The only thing needed (and I say this with a self-deprecating attitude) is more research on human evolution, plus three things: education, education, education.As I said, science is interesting, useful and noble, but if scientific knowledge does not flow to the general public, then it can only be a beautiful decoration on the mantelpiece.Over time, the need to spread as far as possible academic knowledge in various fields has grown, but the foundation is still academic.It pains me to keep pointing out that scientists cannot and do not want to teach science to the general public.Also, journalists always make mistakes due to lack of relevant knowledge.Therefore, here I would like to call for two points: one point is for all scientists colleagues, quickly pick up the pen of popular science; the other point is for newspapers and other media, write some professional articles on scientific research and train some professional reporters, That way they can spread knowledge, not sentiment.There is still a long way to go!

Look, here comes the exit, and I sincerely appreciate your company on this journey, and your interest and inspiration.That's right, it was inspiration, your questions and suggestions that led to my article.I watch you think, wonder, smile, get angry, lift things up, amazed at your own actions.After every class or speech, such feedback makes me happy.For more than forty years, I have used this method with students and audiences. Now, nodding your head in question and agreement, and finishing the book with "oh, that's it" and "oops, no," I'm just as happy.If thinking about humans and their behavior through an evolutionary approach impresses you even a little, I would ask for nothing more.Then I will put down my pen, shake hands with you, and close the book with satisfaction.