How has evolution shaped men's and women's minds? A new book tells an outdated story

Psychologist Steve Stewart-Williams recently published a book titled "A Billion Years of Sex Differences: How Evolution Shaped the Minds of Men and Women." The book primarily addresses three questions: the standard-issue psychological sex differences, the nature versus nurture debate, and the reason behind these sex differences. Stewart-Williams asserts that nature plays the dominant role, and the mind is a collection of drives and devices designed by natural selection to ensure survival and reproduction.

Stewart-Williams contrasts his position with other views, such as those who minimize sex differences and those who exaggerate them. However, his approach leans towards the extreme nature end of the scientific spectrum, emphasizing built-in content in the human mind more than many other scholars interested in the evolution of human minds and social life. He also disagrees with traditionalists who want to enforce outdated gender roles.

Although the book should not be considered a balanced guide, it does highlight similarities between women and men. However, Stewart-Williams assumes a more built-in content in the human mind than many other researchers in this field. He believes that cultural evolutionary perspectives, which emphasize unique human evolutionary products like social learning and cooperation, offer a more promising approach to understanding psychological sex differences, gender roles, and hierarchy.