Dr. Robert Kurzban is a former professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and an evolutionary psychologist. Dr. Kurzban was mentored and trained by Dr. John Tooby and Dr. Leda Cosmides, both founders of the field of modern evolutionary psychology.

In this episode, I converse with Dr. Kurzban about evolutionary psychology, the science of self-discipline, and the theory of the modular mind. We look at the now-debunked resource view of willpower (ego depletion) and a better theory of self-discipline, as well as what science tells us we can do to be more disciplined. Through an evolutionary lens, Dr. Kurzban and I examine a handful of other topics such as self-esteem, self-deception, the evolutionary psychology of morality, and whether men overperceive sexual interest (the so-called "sexual overperception bias").

0:00 Intro

1:42 One of Science's Greatest Ideas for Understanding the Mind

7:12 Science Advances at a Crawl

7:49 The Strong Correlation Between Parental Grief and Reproductive Value

15:11 You Are Not a "Self," You Are A Committee

17:47 Why it Feels Like We Have One Conscious Experience; Consciousness Can Be Split

23:50 What Is a Module?

26:03 Psychological Organs

29:52 Is There Specific Evidence for the Mind Being Modular?

31:35 Evolutionary Ideas ARE Testable

32:51 An Example of Modularity From Neuroscience

37:02 A Brief Overview of the Science of Self-Control

39:05 A Better Theory of Self-Control

42:24 Willpower-As-Resource is a Debunked Theory

50:37 How Do Different Modules Take Charge of "You?"

59:41 Various Techniques to Use This Theory to Be More Self-Disciplined

1:01:48 The Self-Discipline Equation, & How to Tweak It for Better Results

1:03:48 Altering Human Biology for More Self-Discipline

1:07:45 Artificial Friends

1:10:35 A Better Theory of Self-Esteem and Self-Evaluation

1:13:38 The Most Effective Way of Building Self-Esteem/Confidence

1:17:32 A Better Theory of Self-Deception

1:20:27 Why Does Self-Deception Exist?

1:27:40 The Evolutionary Origins of Morality

1:31:32 What Would Dr. Kurzban Change About His Book?

1:33:11 Do Men Overperceive Sexual Interest?

1:36:56 Where to Find Dr. Kurzban

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

"Human Grief: Is Its Intensity Related to the Reproductive Value of the Deceased?" (Crawford et al.) – https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/1989-crawford.pdf

Folly of Fools by Robert Trivers – https://amzn.to/4q7OodTKurzban & Perilloux's paper on sexual overperception bias – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25413875/

Kurzban & Perilloux's paper on sexual overperception bias in non-Americans – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-015-0017-5

Martie Haselton & Bill von Hippel's paper on sexual overperception bias – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28056212/

Kurzban & Perilloux's reply to Haselton & von Hippel – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28056211/

FIND DR. KURZBAN

Dr. Kurzban's Substack – https://thelivingfossils.substack.com/

Dr. Kurzban on X – https://x.com/rkurzban

Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite (book) – https://amzn.to/3MCD4rw

The Hidden Agenda of the Political Mind: How Self-Interest Shapes Our Opinions and Why We Won't Admit It (book) – https://amzn.to/4pASM5g

EPISODES LIKE THIS

Your Brain Is Designed to Lie to You | Dr. David Pinsof – https://youtu.be/JYb9k391HBg

Professor: The Hidden Motives Behind Everything You Do | Dr. Robin Hanson – https://youtu.be/8ziMZDlNMcE

Psychology Professor: The 8 Most Common Thinking Errors | Dr. Alexander Swan – https://youtu.be/96HCK0HKz_0

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Iln5FSC44X4