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Replies

Ruben C. Arslan @ruben.the100.ci · 03/02/2026

In fact, since they chose our non-replications of the good genes ovulatory shift hypothesis as an exemplar: I think one of the strongest critiques of the adaptive explanation here is that the individual differences are so large compared to the average shift, that a "vestige" explanation fits better.

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Ruben C. Arslan @ruben.the100.ci · 03/02/2026

So unless I've missed something in his book, they seem to incorrectly cite Rutherford as saying it's not verifiable in principle. He says we should look to genomics, but EP as a field has barely engaged with genomics with few exceptions.

Since its inception, the eld
of evolutionary psychology has been accused of such lack of
rigor by critics who often assert that evolutionary psycho-
logical hypotheses cannot, in principle, be tested empirically
(e.g., Gould & Lewontin, 1979; Rutherford, 2020). In this

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Ruben C. Arslan @ruben.the100.ci · 03/02/2026

One such exception is Brendan Zietsch, who is also a frequent critic of the adaptationist default. He might actually be the closest thing the field has to a loyal opposition. Personally, my experiences doing replications in EP made me switch fields.

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