tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post110469806931565432..comments2024-01-28T00:20:40.933-08:00Comments on Agoraphilia: Boys and Their Large Fauna on WheelsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1104868496433633112005-01-04T11:54:00.000-08:002005-01-04T11:54:00.000-08:00I'll admit that I've not always been so careful in...I'll admit that I've not always been so careful in my usage, Tony. Listening to a (book on tape) biography of Issac Newton made me more aware of the difference between a mere conjecture (hypothesis) and a full-blown and well established system for explaining experimental phenomena. Evolutionary psychology perhaps qualifies as a theory, though like you I often wonder at the falsifiability of its claims. My musings about boys and toys surely does not qualify as such, however.Tom W. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790351458154066358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1104797821006604852005-01-03T16:17:00.000-08:002005-01-03T16:17:00.000-08:00I can't tell you how pleased I am to see this desc...I can't tell you how pleased I am to see this described as a "hypothesis" rather than a theory.<br /><br />Alas, the problem with evolutionary psychology isn't that it's wrong - it's almost certainly correct in the fundamentals, specifically the idea that our psyche is shaped by natural selection.<br /><br />The problem, rather, is that it is too fecund, and generates far too many plausible hypotheses. Most of them are probably wrong, and almost all of them are fiendishly difficult to test. Real progress in evolutionary psychology will come not with new hypotheses, but with clever ways of falsifying them.<br /><br />-TonyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com