Scott reviews a book applying evolutionary psychology to psychiatry, finding the approach intriguing but hard to verify and potentially open to misuse. Longer summary

Scott reviews 'Evolutionary Psychopathology: A Unified Approach' by Marco del Giudice. The book applies evolutionary psychology to psychiatry, using life history theory to explain mental disorders. It proposes that humans adopt different life strategies (fast vs. slow) based on their environment and genetics, which influence personality traits and potentially psychiatric conditions. Scott finds the theory intriguing but notes it requires subdividing existing psychiatric categories in ways that make it hard to verify. He discusses potential social and political implications of the theory, including how it might explain effects of early childhood interventions and romantic success patterns. While seeing promise in the approach, Scott cautions that the theory could be used to justify problematic social views. Shorter summary