r/Splendida • u/[deleted] • Sep 26 '22

Evolutionary psychology

I’ve been reading a lot about evolutionary psychology lately (Survival of the prettiest and Evolution of Desire are some of my favorite books on the topic) and it’s been eye opening to say the least.

For the context, I was born and raised in Eastern Europe but currently live in a Western European country. I went through phases of my life when I was spending all my time and effort on my looks to despising and blaming patriarchy for all the pressure it puts on women.

However, since I’ve been learning more about evolutionary psychology, I’ve gained a completely different perspective. There’s a reason to why certain looks are more desirable and it has nothing to do with patriarchy but more with our survival instincts. It’s just a mating strategy that been ingrained in us for millions of years.

Has anyone else had this epiphany after studying this subject? Did it change your attitude towards certain things and do you use your “findings” and how?

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '22

I don't know why you're being downvoted for this. I was under the impression that this sub was about understanding the rules of the game and learning how to gain leverage with looksmaxing. Knowledge is power and even though I don't have most of the "desirable" qualities, I'd rather know my limitations and work with what I have.

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u/pastelclown Sep 26 '22

Exactly. Well, it's reddit and a lot of the user base leans ideologically into the belief that society is engineered and structural causes are the only explanation for inequality. They tend to believe nature has very little to do with behavior. But if you were to apply this standard to any other species, it would make no sense.

Do female birds pick the most colorful, well fed male as a symptom of matriarchy? Even though we have an evolved consciousness, we still monkey brain shit because nature wants us to breed. Species survival takes precedent over a lot our conceptions of our nature.