Beat Your Genes

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD and social scientist, Jen Howk, PhD discuss listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld

Today’s question: 

Is psychology doomed to remain a pseudoscience based on the crowd of people who self select to go into psychology? Im a university student and it from what i can tell, the vast majority of my peers and lecturers have no interest questions like why are we this way, how did we get here? Could it have happened any other way? Instead they are mainly just interested in having self serving theory that make them feel comfortable. With one of my lecturers, i was having a conversation about Norway’s adoption studies showing that adopted children had their income, criminality and income correlated with their biological parents and not their adoptive parents. My lecturer said to me “i wouldn’t want to live in a world where genes are all that matter”. It feels to me that the major obstacle to psychology is the 90% of psychologists who think this way, and that no matter how solid the arguments from the other side will be, they will just keep thinking what makes them comfortable and call it a “scientific consensus”.

Follow us:

YT: @beatyourgenes

X: @beatyourgenes

Insta: @Beatyourgenespodcast

Web: http://www.beatyourgenes.org

Doug Lisle, PhD http://www.esteemdynamics.com

Jen Howk, PhD http://www.jenhowk.com

Nathan Gershfeld, DC http://www.fastingescape.com

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones • Ferenc Hegedus Licensed for use

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD & social scientist, Jen Howk, PhD  discuss the following situation with host, Nathan Gershfeld:

I cheated on my husband three years ago while traveling for work.  It was a one-night stand and we didn’t exchange numbers or keep in contact.  I don’t even know his last name.  Until last month, I’ve never told anyone about this event.  At the time I cheated, I didn’t really care because my marriage was rocky and I felt unappreciated.  But my huusband and I reconnected during quarantine and I started to feel extremely guilty.  Last month, I thought I would try going to confession with my parish priest. He said I need to tell my husband as part of my penance.  I wasn’t really sure how to do that, so I’ve sat on it.  Last weekend, I came home to my husband throwing all of my stuff out of the bedroom and trying to kick me out of the hoouse. He knows everything. Apparently, the priest followed up to see if I’d told my husband, and when my husband said he didn’t understand what the priest was talking about, he told my husband about the affair.  My whole world is exploding because I thought confession was supposed to be private. Does the priest have any kind of liability or responsibility? What can I do?

Copyright Beat Your Genes Podcast

Watch this episode on Youtube!   @BeatYourGenes

Host: Nathan Gershfeld                              

Interviewee: Doug Lisle, Ph.D. and Jen Howk, Ph.D.

Podcast website:  http://www.BeatYourGenes.org

True to Life seminars with Dr. Lisle and Dr. Howk : http://www.TrueToLife.us

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones · Ferenc Hegedus

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD and social scientist, Jen Howk, PhD discuss listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld:

1. Help! My son just turned 8. He has acquired part of his personality from my mother- he can be loud and will overreact or get really angry about things. This includes being told he needs to stop an activity because we are leaving the house, etc. I am trying to help him manage these outbursts because kids are starting to make fun of him at school for them. Do you have any specific strategies that would help or should I focus more on his diet and sleep? He is normally a sweet boy and these outbursts have improved with age but I feel he needs more support.

2. Is there anything that is the opposite of the ego trap when you have been repeatedly told negative things like that you are worthless and will never amount to anything? If the ego trap is demotivating, is hearing the opposite motivating? If so, can’t it also be extremely demotivating as well, especially if your mind is doing a CB analysis of the possibility of success and whether the energy output is worth it, but the people around you are saying that you won’t succeed?

3. I have an aunt who is so solipsistic, doesn’t enquire about anyone else and is disagreeable. Sitting across the table from her, it’s difficult to understand how someone can be so blind to the life of others and narcissistic. She’s was divorced by 2 prior husbands. Is disagreeable behavior like this related to the “theory of mind” module and if so can you describe the various demarks on the “theory of mind” bell curve?

Follow us:

YT: @beatyourgenes

X: @beatyourgenes

Insta:

@Beatyourgenespodcast

Web: http://www.beatyourgenes.org

Doug Lisle, PhD http://www.esteemdynamics.com

Jen Howk, PhD http://www.jenhowk.com

Nathan Gershfeld, DC http://www.fastingescape.com

Intro & outro song: City of Happy Ones • Ferenc Hegedus Licensed for use