Beat Your Genes Podcast

Our caller just got a new job and his new supervisor insists on micromanaging everything he does.  

Question we will try to get to: 1. Is the concept of self limiting beliefs the same as ego traps in evo psych? Why do these occur? 2.  My boyfriend and I are very nice people (very agreeable). Frustrating and funny at the same time. We have a problem figuring out what we want, since our first reaction is to please other people. But because we are not alone in the world, what happens a lot is that our decisions are made by others... We decided to try to have a baby. There is simply so much written and said on how to raise a child and even what’s best for pregnant women. I’m panicking even just by looking down this hole. Since we are both highly conscientious  as well, I’m afraid of falling into “read everything, talk to everyone, worry about advice that don’t go well together and try to find the perfect solution”.  Your last  shows sort of comforted me. If almost everything is in the genes, then I don’t have to worry as much about bringing up a small child. So my two questions would be: Do you have any special advice for the first time parents?  Do you have any sort of suggestions for dealing with relatives, friends, acquaintances for two agreeable parents like us? 3. How does Evo Psych examine dictators, group compliance & control, etc. through an evolutionary lens? Figures like Stalin, Hitler, Jim Jones, Chares Manson come to mind to name a few. Also, how would something like the door-in-the-face technique be explained through Ev. Psych?  4. In my circle of friends and family, it seems to me that those who identify as “Dog” people are skewed on the disagreeable side of the bell curve. While “Cat” people, are heavily skewed on the agreeable side of the curve. Is there any truth to this Cat/Dog person comparison, or is it a gross generalization?      

Listener questions we will try to get to for today: 1. For a successful first date, Dr. Lisle said the goal is to not get ruled out.  I'm using online dating and it seems like every time that I've met a girl that meets my standards physically, we'll have a pretty good first date, but then when I try to set up another date I usually hear from them that they didn't feel a connection.  Based on what you guys talk about in your podcast it leads me to believe that what they're saying is an inoffensive way of saying I wasn't physically attractive enough myself.  But I remember Dr. Lisle mentioning in his advice for guys that we want to take advantage of the repeat exposure effect.  How do I take advantage of this effect when I'm consistently told there's no connection from the woman after we've only gone out on one date.  And as a side question, has online dating ruined the repeat exposure effect since people feel obligated to judge others for romantic potential very quickly. 2.  Why does so much anger exist from groups like Black Lives Matter? What is the evolutionary psychology foundation for political correctness & why is it so pervasive? Why is it so difficult for people to accept political in-correctness without feeling angry or insulted? Is there a way to make someone less sensitive to political in-correctness? 3.  What are men and women trying to signal with tattoos?  What are women trying to signal by getting tattoos in non conspicuous locations, for example hidden behind the ear, or on the ankle. 4. Is the concept of self limiting beliefs the same as ego traps in evolutionary psychology? Why do these occur? 5. In his session with Olivia, Dr. Lisle alluded to the next phase dealing with disagreeable personalities, but he didn't get into the meat of it. I need the meat. Any chance you could expound?

Marxism, Affairs, Video Games, Tattoo signaling

What if your mate rival drives a Porsche, Succeeding at job interviews

How different do we act when we're being watched? 

-Do men appear more desirable when seen with attractive women? What does the science say?   -Stanley Milgram's famous study demonstrated people's capacity for obedience to an authority figure in the name of the common good. Recently, Milgram's work was replicated.  The results may surprise you. -One transgender athlete has made it to the spotlight in competitive lifting.  Listen to what happened.  -In honor of Darwin, we present a Darwin Award whereby someone unwittingly takes themselves out of the gene pool in an unbelievably silly manner.  Runner-up award may be given to those who only injured themselves. 

57: Listener emails

How to deal with flakes part 2

Vicious cycles, listener questions

Olivia is having some trouble at home so she calls in and has a session with Dr. Lisle.   

A conversation with Dr. Lisle about flakes.  We take a caller with a few excellent questions. 

Listener questions, emails, and comments

How to feel good, how to succceed at life improvement

We will review how to assess your own personality characteristics by going over the BF-10/Ten Item PersonalityIndex survey.  You can download it here:  http://gosling.psy.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/tipi.pdf