This weekend the New York Times published a strong piece dismantling some widely accepted Darwinist explanations for gendered mating behavior. Dan Slater doesn’t actually prove, as his title suggests, that Darwin and his followers were definitely incorrect, but does challenge the “teleological status” of evolutionary psychology, particularly worrisome in light of its historical use for terrible political ends.

…The fact that some gender differences can be manipulated, if not eliminated, by controlling for cultural norms suggests that the explanatory power of evolution can’t sustain itself when applied to mating behavior. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve pushed these theories too far. How many stereotypical racial and ethnic differences, once declared evolutionarily determined under the banner of science, have been revealed ...