Applied evolutionary anthropology: Darwinian approaches to contemporary world issues

Abstract

I appreciate the value of both evolutionary behavioural science and applied social research, and I see no better foundation for the latter than the former. I admit to being a bit wary, however, that some current enthusiasm for applied research stems from cynicism about the value of basic research. The editors of Applied Evolutionary Anthropology note that funding agencies demand increasingly that anthropologists “prove their worth” by demonstrating applied value (p. 4). I hope this doesn’t imply that these agencies define “worth” as “immediate short-term value.”