Whenever I’ve considered Evolution, I’ve tended to head for the bright lights of the physical aspects. Thus my knowledge of emotional evolution is somewhat wanting.
I’ve always assumed it has much to do with the success (or otherwise) of particular chemical balances in, and influencing different regions of, the brain. But I don’t really have a clue.
So I’m not looking for a debate here, just starting points and context.
My question is quite narrow:
Can anyone point me towards acknowledged experts in this particular field and/or identify any other information (re)sources that would be useful in becoming better informed about current theory ?
Tooby and Cosmides Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer. Great stuff, although they overplay their hand a little in the way they portray the social sciences. Appears similar to the first chapter in their book J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (ed.) (1992) The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (NY, OUP). Comes with a reading guide.
“How the Mind Works” by Stephen Pinker devotes several chapters to the evolution of emotions.
http://www.mit.edu/~pinker/
Yep, those look like the people. Both great links to lots of quality material and further links - Damn! This is fascinating stuff. Thank you.
(If anyone’s interested, I’d suggest opening any links from Pinker’s web page via right click > open in new window - and then wait 5 minutes. It happens, eventually)