Letter to the editor

Don't blame Freud

Paul Quinnett Jan. 18, 1999 From the print edition
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  Dear HCN,


I am unaware of any science that can demonstrate hunters are "subconsciously killing other male humans because of competition for females." In my reading of the literature, killing and bringing in high-level protein packages in the shape of fish and game gets you more access to females, not less. More access means greater reproductive success (HCN, 11/23/98). Killing and bringing in other guys won't even get you a date.


Anytime the word "subconscious' shows up in an explanation of human behavior these days, beware! Someone's been reading Freud. Freud could explain everything but predict nothing, so "subconscious' explanations are not only sub par, they are uniformly gratuitous and never supported by evidence-based research.





Paul Quinnett


Cheney, Washington





The writer is a clinical psychologist and author of Darwin's Bass, among other books.








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