Bubbles in the Stream

• Welcome to the BOL Forum on Evolutionary Psychology by John Grohol, 3/19/97
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    • Looking for a little help by Matthew J. Milewski, 11/26/97
      
      

Greetings Matthew,

I read your (overly apologetic) note with considerable interest. You certainly are NOT invading! As I see the issues of evolutionary psychology we can gain insights (and occasional confusions) from fields as diverse as human mythology and neuroscience. Our everyday minds are probably somewhere in between!

One difficulty I find (as a scientist) is the balance we all seek between guarding our intuitions and accepting new knowledge (after critical appraisal). We defend our intuitions with often spectacular vigor. That applies to me at least, and its risky.

My INTUITION (only!) is that we are but "bubbles in the stream" of life: we grow, we shimmer for a while, and we burst....to make way for new bubbles. And that's it. In 100 years I suspect I shall be (not be) essentially where I was 100 years ago, which I do not remember as being a bad state. (It was, "no state", at least in a form that I can relate to my present state.)

Darwinism deals with the mechanics of evolutionary change. It is important to distinguish "facts" of evolution from theories of evolution, and attempts to generalize (say to the human case) from those "facts". Evolutionary psychologists are seeking deeper roots of human existence and experience. It "makes sense", to many of us, to see our current states as derivative of earlier life-states - not quite the same, but certainly related. And we can push this back through the species parade of our ancestors. BUT...in doing this extrapolation we need every trick we can get so that we do not simply establish another "faith", or "anti-faith". If only those in science join the conversation we shall be impoverished in our own searches. I believe that very strongly.

Beethoven and Mozart tell us about the human condition, but in their own special language. What is it that makes music, or art, or indeed science so captivating? I got into this business indirectly, through reading Carl Jung on archetypes. I still find his writings fascinating. They are not "science", but they are (in my view) insightful. You might find it fun to look at some of his ideas. I find it helpful to read him along with Darwin and the others.

Anyway.....I am not saying much. But I am certain that others will join me in welcoming you to our conversations. Its fun. And the result, for our own individual lives, may be a deeper "intuition" that things are making sense.

Enjoy! John Fentress

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