Rob Kurzban
American evolutionary psychologist and author of All the Feels
Rob Kurzban (American evolutionary psychologist and author of All the Feels) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Evolutionary psychology, Envy, Gratitude.
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Evolutionary psychology
Kurzban calls the just-so story critique a misunderstanding of how science and evolutionary psychology work.
“I think it's a misunderstanding of the way science works and what is happening in the field of evolutionary psychology”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:28:35
Kurzban argues emotions show hallmarks of evolved adaptations rather than social construction.
“they look excruciatingly well-designed to execute their functions. Many of them have all the hallmarks of adaptations”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:18:22
Kurzban argues emotions measure adaptively relevant states inside or outside the body and then motivate behavior.
“emotions measure something in the body or outside the world, which is going to be adaptively relevant, and then get you to do something”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 3:50
Kurzban suggests conscious feeling serves as a common currency for comparing competing motivations like hunger and fear.
“And so I think consciousness, this experience we have is that common currency”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 3:25
Envy
Kurzban advises accepting that feelings arise involuntarily and focusing on what one does with them.
“you're going to feel what you're going to feel. And that's almost out of your hands”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 2:21:58
Kurzban argues that social media exposure to successful people sends the envy system into overdrive.
“So your envy system is like an overdrive, being fooled into thinking that, you know, it would be a good idea”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 6:43
Other remarks
Kurzban argues embarrassment and blushing signal that a norm violation was accidental.
“You want to make sure other people know for sure that you normally would violate the norm and it was an accident”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 2:01:14
Kurzban cites research finding that warmer, wetter, parasite-rich places use more spices in their food.
“places that were warmer and wetter, so they had more parasites, used more spices in their food”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 53:25
Gratitude
Kurzban credits clinical psychology's finding that adding gratitude makes people happier.
“adding gratitude to your life really does, at least my read of this literature, holding aside, replicate, whatever. It seems like this does make people happier”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:43:08
Kurzban explains that expressing gratitude reinforces cycles of reciprocal benefit and alliance.
“you're reinforcing the cycle of reciprocal benefits and potentially alliance”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:38:30
Moral condemnation
Kurzban believes suppressing research on touchy topics is harmful to society.
“I do genuinely believe that kind of suppressing people's study of these things that we don't like, I think that's a very bad thing for society to do”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:24:48
Kurzban considers the appetite for moral attacks, amplified by social platforms, among the most toxic features of modern life.
“that's one of the most toxic, unpleasant aspects of the modern world is that, yeah, no matter what platform you go on”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:06:55
Anxiety
Kurzban explains that anxiety is not maximized because of opportunity costs.
“the answer to why not always for almost every single case is my favorite economic concept, which is opportunity cost”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 34:58
Kurzban characterizes anxiety as fear directed at anticipated future dangers.
“anxiety is basically this, I think of it as fear for the future”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 32:38
Trust
Kurzban argues trust is a fulcrum for societies and its absence suppresses mutually beneficial transactions.
“the trust is a fulcrum. I mean, look at societies that don't have trust in them”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 2:17:14
Depression
Kurzban describes a bargaining hypothesis in which depression signals withdrawal to elicit more investment from others.
“it's basically saying, I'm going to do the things that kind of look like I might kill myself or take myself out of the social world”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:52:32
Psychotherapy
Kurzban is skeptical of clinical psychology, saying its training has become politicized.
“I'm skeptical about clinical psychology, particularly now because as far as I can tell, the training has been politicized, right?”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:50:40
Replication crisis
Kurzban says research on stereotype threat and implicit association had fallen apart decades later.
“And then here we are, you know, 25, 30 years later, and that stuff has completely fallen apart”
Modern Wisdom: 35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169 (Oct 29, 2026) · Listen from 1:31:49
Appearances
35 Emotions Explained By Evolutionary Psychology - Rob Kurzban - #1169Modern Wisdom · Oct 29, 2026 · 2 h 28 min
Chris Williamson and evolutionary psychologist Rob Kurzban explain dozens of emotions, from itchiness and disgust to envy, depression, and gratitude, through evolutionary function.
Often appears with
- Chris Williamson · 1 shared episode