Emerging in the late 1980s, evolutionary psychology is a revolutionary theoretical framework that utilizes concepts embedded within evolutionary biology by which psychologists study the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of individuals (Kenrick, 2019). Areas of focus include mating strategies, reactive and proactive aggression, social interactions, and cognitive processes, among others (Buss, 2020; Buss & Shackleford, 1997; Heyes, 2012; Kenrick et al., 2015). Evolutionary psychology has had significant implications for the study of human behavior and social dynamics since its inoculation into the psychological domain as it has provided a conceptual framework that perceives such behaviors and dynamics as resulting from millions of years of influence and interactions rather than just by current consequences. Furthermore, by studying and perceiving human behavior and social dynamics in such a way helps provide psychologists with a fundamental comprehension of why humans act and interact in particular ways and thus helps disclose ways by which these behaviors can be modified, if necessary, beginning at the most fundamental level of the individual (Durisko et al., 2016).
History and Background
Evolutionary psychology, of course, has its roots embedded within the framework of evolutionary theory that was first proposed and theorized by Charles Darwin in the mid-19th century. Later, William James found inspiration from Darwin’s theory of evolution when authoring his major literary work, The Principles of Psychology, that was published in the 1890s. This text included the term evolutionary psychology, and it is here that James promoted the idea of instincts as being a primary, underlying drive of human behavior that was evolutionarily influenced. However, Darwin’s influence within the confines of psychology waned early in the 20th century wherein behaviorism emerged as victor until the 1970s which brought about the cognitive revolution (Buss, 2020).
Both behaviorism and cognitive psychology sought to describe the workings of the mind and its resulting behavior: behaviorism determined that the workings of the mind were simple and could thus be easily influenced to direct behavior, while cognitive psychology conceptualized the mind as a complex entity that, although it could be influenced, could only be done so with much work and over the course of an extended period of time (Benjamin, 2019). Albeit, both theories did not provide a comprehensive framework that helped describe the functional aspects of the mind and the consequential behavior. Evolutionary psychology emerged in the 1980s as an attempted rectifying framework (Buss, 2020).
Evolutionary psychology sought to capitalize on this unfortunate lack of comprehensibility by focusing on multiple factors rather than simply one aspect that was predominant within the confines of behaviorism and cognitive psychology. These multiple factors include social and cultural influences on both behavior and cognitive processes; biological and developmental aspects; and neuroanatomical evolution and processes (Buss, 2020; Elimari & Lafargue, 2020; Kenrick et al., 2015). Moreover, these factors are not only momentarily oriented but are also perceived in a manner that incorporates the extended evolutionary influences such as natural selection and sexual selection that spans a time of millions of years (Buss, 2020).
Societal Influences
As mentioned previously, the field of psychology was in need of a more unified theoretical framework that encompassed the previous theories of behaviorism and cognitive psychology, that which evolutionary psychology sought to accomplish (Buss, 2020). Furthermore, according to Douglas T. Kenrick and colleagues (2015), this demand for a unified comprehension of the human psyche and its resulting behavior was not only crucial within the field of psychology, but it was also a necessary component in understanding human thought, behavior and interactions both on the individual and societal level. In understanding societal functionality, it was important to understand human behavior and motivation which could be best understood through the underlying mechanisms of human evolution. Some motivational factors of interest included self-protection, mate choice, mate retention, coalition formation, status, parental care, and disease-avoidance (Kenrick et al., 2015).
By understanding how these motivational drives evolved, psychologists and social scientists could better understand how the dynamics of society have evolved and still function today. It is through assessing these motivational factors that psychologists and social scientists can understand why and how people form groups that lead to the formation of a given culture, and why from these groups people form bias against other groups. Moreover, understanding these drives helps in understanding how people attract one another in intimate ways such as mate choice and mate retention that helps lead to reproduction and child rearing. It is also through these motivations that help in understanding hierarchal social status patterns among individuals within the groups that they inhabit. These diverse motivational and behavioral patterns among humans manifest themselves most acutely through the various cultural and societal boundaries found throughout the world (Kenrick et al., 2015).
According to Gillian R. Brown and colleagues (2011), the underlying mechanisms responsible for the motivational and behavioral diversity are embedded within the adaptive fabric of genes that have been expressed as a result of natural selection and sexual selection operating for millions of years. To add to this complexity, these genetic influences are still adapting to current environmental conditions that have evolved alongside humans, including technological innovations, social reforms, diet, and education, among others. Furthermore, with this co-evolution between humans and culture, an increase in understanding of the former will help facilitate improved changes in the latter such as increased diversity and inclusion that could potentially lead to the continued successful survival and propagation of the human species (Brown et al., 2011; Buss, 2020).
Professional Influences
These improvements in diversity and inclusion throughout the social fabric will not only be witnessed in domains such as public spaces and the family unit, but also within the confines of professional domains as well. It is through the understanding of the human psyche and the resulting behavior that, for the most part, is heavily influenced by underlying evolutionary mechanisms. With that being said, this is not to say that these behaviors are then justified or that they are immutable, but on the contrary, these behaviors are adaptable to the evolutionary cultural context. For example, men are more susceptible to what is called the sexual overperception bias which is the misconception that a female is sexually interested due to perceived invitational cues such as smiling or eye contact. This sexual overperception bias appears to have its roots embedded within the sexual selection framework wherein men sought to reproduce as often as possible while females tended to be more selective in their mating choice. Due to this, men overperceive sexual interest from females as their perceptions are more oriented towards sexual opportunities compared to females. This, of course, could potentially be the underlying mechanism by which men tend to sexually harass females more often than the other way around; however, not always (Buss, 2019).
Therefore, does this justify this type of behavior when men interact with females, especially within the confines of a professional atmosphere? Of course not. Furthermore, does this imply that men are permanently determined to act out this underlying drives? Again, no. Adaptability is the key to changes in behavior, adaptations that should be implemented over the course of time through efforts such as education and conscious effort. By effectively implementing these efforts, changes in males orientational perceptions can occur that can liberate them from these ancestral behaviors. These changes can then lead to reductions in sexual harassment cases within the professional environment which thus leads to a more egalitarian and inclusive environment wherein both males and females can prosper in a safe and productive manner (Buss, 2019).
Conclusion
Evolutionary psychology provides an opportunity for the unification of psychological theories into a comprehensive metatheoretical framework (Buss, 2020). However, there is still much to be discovered in the application and analysis of this field of psychology. An area of future research that the field of evolutionary psychology should focus on is modern society’s impact on the trajectory of human evolution. With the rise of mental illness and chronic illnesses, the human species has appeared to have taken a dramatic shift in the wrong direction in accordance with the initial evolutionary pathway. This is not to suggest that there is some sort of unitary pathway by which humans should progress; however, the current trajectory has created issues that have long-term consequences that have only begun to reveal themselves. Research on how to treat and reverse such consequences in a manner that is conducive to overall human progress and flourishment is dire (Durisko et al., 2016).
References
Benjamin, L.T. (2019). A brief history of modern psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Brown, G. R., Dickins, T. E., Sear, R., & Laland, K. N. (2011). Evolutionary accounts of human behavioural diversity. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 366(1563), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0267
Buss, D. (2019). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind 6th edition. Routledge Publishing.
Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Human aggression in evolutionary psychological perspective. Clinical psychology review, 17(6), 605–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-7358(97)00037-8
Durisko, Z., Mulsant, B. H., McKenzie, K., & Andrews, P. W. (2016). Using Evolutionary Theory to Guide Mental Health Research. Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 61(3), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743716632517
Elimari N and Lafargue G (2020) Network Neuroscience and the Adapted Mind: Rethinking the Role of Network Theories in Evolutionary Psychology. Frontier Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.545632
Heyes C. (2012). New thinking: the evolution of human cognition. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 367(1599), 2091–2096. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0111
Over the past six million years of human evolution, tremendous changes have transpired within the human cranium such as overall brain size and neuroanatomical organization. These changes have helped the homo species better understand, or perceive, their environment, enabling them to acquire, assess, and integrate novel information that allowed for improved adaptation skills that were essential for the survival of the species (Sherwood et al., 2008). According to Britannica, perception is best defined as the processing of sensory information that is organized into a coherent experience (2024). This perceptive ability allowed human ancestors to assess and integrate newfound information into their existing knowledge structure, or schema, and therein enhance their current perceptual knowledge of themselves and environment that allowed for improved innovative strategies to overcome obstacles such as climate change and hunger as they manifested themselves (Mattson, 2014). Without this adaptive ability of perception, the species would have become victim to the environment and the selection pressures they presented, leading to the extinction of the human species (Zeller et al., 2023; Fogarty & Kandler, 2020).
Some of these perceptive and adaptive abilities were driven by underlying emotional and motivational neural circuits found within the limbic system of the brain that helped direct the attention of early humans towards relevant and novel stimuli that would help ensure the survival of the species (Lang & Bradley, 2010; Garrett & Hough, 2020). As time went on and human brain size and intelligence increased, so did the sophistication of these emotional and motivational circuits that influenced the perception of their experiences. This ultimately led to the formation of religious ideas and the appreciation of art that was especially evident beginning around 45,000 BCE (Narr, 2021). Humans began to not only recognize what objects were and their value to survival, but also their imbued perceived value in accordance with their created value system which became known as “sacred” objects to be admired and contemplated (Eliade, 1987).
The ability to perceive one’s environment consists of an amalgamation of various levels of interconnected systems that are a top-down process that range from fundamental to subjective to interactive that are cognitively analyzed and processed at multiple levels (Garrett & Hough, 2020). This intricate processing not only provides a perceiving entity a means to understand their own self and their environment, but also instantiates meaning into the context in which they have their being. Cognitive perception relies on prior experiences to help the perceiver to understand and navigate an experience (Sohn et al., 2019). Not only are prior experiences an essential component within the confines of perception, but future learning opportunities are as well. Future learning engagements help transform and enhance prior schemas, that are then utilized to “update” an observer’s perceptual interaction with a given experience (Zhang & Li, 2020; Gold & Watanabe, 2010). To further shed light on the concept of perception, this paper will seek first to address whether perception of experience is strictly a direct or indirect phenomenon by examining arguments for the former and then addressing those arguments with counter evidence that will consist of two studies examining perceptual effects. And in accordance with the bottom-up concept of analysis stated previously, this paper will further examine evidence from the foundational level of quantum effects, then examine brain processes that are found within hemispheric differences, and finally societal and cultural influences on perception.
Direct or Indirect Perception?
This ability for perceptual interaction with the environment thus begs the question, do humans perceive reality as it is, or do they perceive and interact with the essence thereof in a way that imbues sets of value and meaning on a given object? As suggested so far within the introduction, it would appear to be the latter, and more evidence will be laid out to support this concept later. However, despite this evidence, there are opponents to this concept of value imbuement within the interactive dynamics between humans and reality, and instead they insist that humans perceive reality in a direct manner with little to no subjective value structure imposed upon objects they interact with or observe. One user on Quora, Mark Werner (2019), that due to evolution, our brains provide us with a “perception that is quite accurate”, and it is due to this accuracy that has helped to ensure our survival as a species. Another user on the same platform, Zane Scheepers (2017), believed, akin to the previous user, that perception was strictly a mind model that creates/observes actual reality and is only subjective in a sense according to when or where one might be observing a particular phenomenon occurring. He went on to state that comprehension also played a role in observation but was separate from the construct of perception itself.
Study 1
The first study to be examined focuses on the effects of depression on the perception of positive and negative stimuli. This research was conducted by Mathilde Bigot and colleagues earlier in 2024 with approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee, CPP-Ile de France IV (2015/44), and support from Agence Nationale de la Recherche Grants and other such enterprises. The researchers recruited 48 participants with 25 being in a euthymic state and 23 a depressive or mixed state that ranged in age from 18-65 years old. They then had the participants participate in a identification task of the Sniffin’ sticks test while an odor valence assignment was evaluated during the process. These results were then paralleled with previous work on mice models of depression wherein mice were chronically administered corticosterone (Bigot et al., 2024).
The results of these two evaluations found that both mice and humans during depressive states demonstrated an acute and global shift towards a negative assessment of both pleasant/attractive and unpleasant/unattractive odors. One particular area of the brain that was of interests was the basolateral amygdala (BLA) circuits wherein negative and positive valence evaluations of attended stimuli are processed. This circuit becomes disrupted during depressive states which increases proclivity towards a more negative valence bias in the evaluation of both positive and negative stimuli. The findings help shed light on the potential cause of negative bias towards attended stimuli during depression that could help discover future treatment options (Bigot et al., 2024).
This study’s validity appears to be intact as they used tests and procedures that have been reliably tested and used multiple times by various institutes. The reliability of this study is evident in the fact that the results from the human participants were paralleled and found to be highly correspondent. Although the sample size was fairly small, the generalizability potential can be found within the age range of participants and the varying types of depression being evaluated in this study. Finally, the code of ethics provided by the American Psychological Association (APA) appear to have been followed accordingly with informed consent provided by all participants in the study; no harm being caused by the researchers; benefiting participants through the findings of the research that could bring about new methods of treatment; integrity and justice appear to be evident through their stringent and thorough research methods being utilized; and lastly, privacy and dignity were evident as none of the personal information of participants were provided (APA, 2017).
Study 2
The second study utilized in this paper focuses on the effects of emotional states and affectivity in the recall of past events. This study was conducted by Jennifer M. Talarico and colleagues in 2009 with approval from The Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects in Non-medical Research at Duke University. The researchers recruited 170 undergraduate students to participate in the study with a median age of 19 years old. They asked each participant to recall eight distinct emotional events – happy, calm, in love, positive surprise, negative surprise, angry, sad, and afraid. The first four were categorized as positive emotions while the last four were negative emotions. They were also further categorized into low and high arousal with the high arousal emotions being fear, happiness, love and anger. The participants were then asked to think about and recall events in as many details as possible that correlated with a given emotion. They were then asked to answer various rating scale questions about phenomenological properties, metacognitive properties (belief in the memory’s accuracy), and event properties (significance) taken from the Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire (Talarico et al., 2009).
What the researchers discovered through the results of the participants was that the more positive-valence events provided greater peripheral details while more negative-valence events impaired peripheral details, and instead enhanced centralized features of those events. These results were explained in terms of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions which posits that positive emotions promotes a broadened perception of events that allows for greater and broader details to be acquired and stored for later recall. In accordance with this theory, negative emotions promote a more centralized and precise range of perceptions that focuses more on threat detection, which therefore inhibits the ability to acquire greater details from an engaged event (Talarico et al., 2009).
In accordance with the APA (2017), this study appeared to incorporate all five ethical principles of psychology. First, informed consent was provided from all participants while at the same time no harm was caused throughout the process. Second, no conflict of interest was claimed, and the researchers maintained a professional approach to their investigation of the research topic. Finally, they maintained integrity by maintaining honesty and providing accuracy in their methods and results.
The validity of the study is evident in the tests they administered being utilized in other research, and the reliability of this study is evident in the fact that it was tested on 170 participants that all provided similar results in event recall. Lastly, the generalizability is a bit on the low side as they used only undergraduate students. However, the sample size was moderate, and the gender ratio was approximately 60/40 with females outnumbering males (Talarico et al., 2009).
Influences of Culture and Society
The environment is the surface or top level of the analysis process of perception. One’s surrounding environment influences can influence their cognition and thus their perception of reality through cultural norms and beliefs, as well as the components of technology that emerge from the confines of that culture (Ji & Yap, 2016). For instance, research by Stephanie de Oliveira and Richard E. Nisbett in 2017 revealed that culture influences what one attends to and how they assess certain circumstances with those born and raised in Eastern cultures are more dialectical in their approach while attending more to context and relationships. On the other hand, western cultures are more systematic in their approach with a focus more on components of a given situation and an emphasis on extrinsic personal achievements and material gain.
What is even more fascinating is that according to Iain McGilchrist in his book The Master and His Emissary (2009), this same divide of perception can be found within the hemispheric differences within the brain. According to his research and the accumulated research of others, the right-hemisphere has evolved to perceive the world in a holistic fashion that considers context over parts, ambiguity over rigidity, and is more in tune with reality than the left, among many other attributes. On the contrary, the left-hemisphere is systematic in its perception of the world and is where more schematic perceptual models are housed. Moreover, the left-hemisphere is more precision oriented (being the same hemisphere that birds use to swoop down and grab up prey situated on the ground) with a desire for clarity and control, and it is slightly paranoid. And it perceives the world in terms of objects of utilization for personal gain. According to McGilchrist, as an individual develops within a given cultural context, a hyper-functionality of one hemispheric perceptual framework can occur and thus influence what an individual perceives in the world. As an example, he used modern, industrialized societies’ emphasis on a left-hemispheric perceptual orientation which appears to be influencing many of those born into western societies, especially those living in urban spaces. As mentioned previously in the second study on event recall details, positive emotions experienced during past events enhanced the recall of peripheral details while negative emotions dampened this ability and rather narrowed the focus of perception of the perceiver (Talarico et al., 2011). This finding appears to, at least part and partial, echo Iain McGilchrist’s proposal of right-hemisphere functionality resulting in a wholesome perception while the left-hemisphere was precise in partial details and had characteristics of paranoia (2009).
As mentioned previously, value systems that are constructed by individuals also help dictate what they attend to and how they perceive any given object as they perceive the object through a lens of value that is imposed upon it. This causes individuals to not see an object for what it is by rather in an interpretative manner of utility and sentiment. These personal value systems, of course, are not entirely personal as they are also the byproduct of an amalgamated cultural value system as well (Frese, 2015). One excellent example of object value interpretation due to cultural value influence is that of animal symbolism and value found in the various philosophies and religions. According to Caruana (2020), perceptual value of animals is different among the religions such as Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism perceives animals as sacred manifestations of the divine energy, or Chi, that encompasses all of existence, and thus they must incur no harm with many practicing Buddhist maintaining a vegan lifestyle. On the other hand, Christianity perceives animals as divine gifts from God that must be cared for and then utilized for human consumption while giving thanks to God for what has been provided.
Emotional Systems and Perception
The cultural influence upon one’s personal value and perceptual structure, again, is only partial with the remainder being influenced by personal experiences and thoughts that are intermeshed with the former influences. This overarching value structure is intrinsically and intricately interconnected with underlying emotional systems within the brain. Known as the limbic system, this underlying emotional system includes structures such as the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, mammalian bodies, fornix, and cingulate gyrus, among others (Torrico & Abdijadid, 2023). Each of these structures contributes varying emotional modes that, when augmented together, form a perceptual framework that is value oriented and that imbues motivational drive towards what is valued (Chiew & Braver, 2011).
These valued substances or objects, again, are being perceived from a perceptual framework that increases in complexity as the value of orientation increases in complexity. For example, on a fundamental level of cognition and behavior, this can be as simple as the motivation towards the value of water when one is thirsty wherein signals are sent to the hypothalamus that then motivates an individual to value water above most other current motivations (Garrett & Hough, 2020). As certain aims increase in complexity such as vocational interests, higher order cognitive processes are required with sets of values and motivational factors also increasing in interconnected complexity and functionality, values that have been extracted from cultural influences and one’s own personal experiences in conjunction with their personality dynamics interworking together (Bandhu et al., 2024).
Not only do underlying emotional systems and their value and motivational components play a role in directing perception towards specific value imbued objects or substances, but experienced emotional states also influence what and how something or someone is perceived. For instance, a study by Nicholas J Kelley and Brandon J Schmeichel in 2014 revealed that experienced negative emotions, specifically fear, reduces tactile sensory perception. Another study by Elisa C. Baek and colleagues in 2023 found that lonely people perceive the world in an idiosyncratic way, and that these differences in perception are due to structural and functional differences in the default-mode network of the brain, another area associated with emotional processing that includes structures such as the posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and the inferior parietal lobule. This dysfunction of the default mode network was found to be the result of the lack of significant connections with other wherein social and emotional networks within the brain and their resulting neurotransmitter and hormonal release are active.
Quantum Effects and Attention
At the highest level of the perceptual analysis hierarchy and thus the most fundamental, the subatomic realm of reality is a peculiar and yet highly essential part of perception. Since the time of the discovery of the atom and its constituents, the quantum world has fascinated professionals and enthusiasts alike. It is due to these quirky substances that gives reality its essence, and it is because of these that we can exist and engage with the world (Youvan, 2024). Despite their essentiality to being, how does this relate necessarily to perception? The answer is found within the infamous dual slit experiment wherein light particles, or photons, were shot through two slits onto a backdrop to help determine the nature of these particles. However, as the particles were released, something peculiar happened as they traveled through the slits and onto the backdrop; each photon traveled through both slits while making a wave light pattern on the backdrop. What researchers discovered through this experiment and the ones that followed was that particles were both a particle and wave at the same time, and thus they consisted of a dual nature (Ananthaswamy, 2023).
To further mystify this puzzle, later research revealed that these particles would only become actual particles apart from their wave function when they were observed or measured. This need for attendance appears to imply that reality only exists when a conscious entity is observing or attending to these substances wherein the essence of reality manifests itself. Albert Einstein disliked such an idea as he did not care to believe the moon to not be there if he were not observing it. This implies the idea that as an individual interacts with reality, it manifests itself to them. Therefore, what one attends to, to a certain degree, shapes what is perceived as this attendance causes the essence of reality to emerge. A most fundamental interactive process with the nature of being that can be shaped or morphed by the attention of an individual, a process that has some roots with human brain activity and the visual system itself (Radin et al., 2012).
What one attends to is that which is brought into focus and thus processed to a more precise degree in comparison to the peripheral range of vision. The attended visual stimulus is processed through both the ventral and dorsal streams that begin with images captured by the eyes that is then transferred through these pathways through the visual cortex towards the back of the brain to the higher order systems housed within the prefrontal cortex for further processing and potential action execution (Garrett & Hough, 2020). According to quantum theory, this visual process is accomplished as one observes, or interacts, with the underlying subatomic realm. As the wavefunction collapses and the substance of the quantum entities become particles under the observation under a conscious entity, reality appears and is then processed by the brain through the visual system mentioned. This interactive interplay of consciousness and the quantum reality helps give rise to reality and ultimately what is perceived.
One study by Mordehai Heiblum and colleagues in 1998 revealed that the more one observes a particle, the more they influence the behavior of that particle. These results help confirm previous observations such as the double-slit experiment mentioned previously wherein an observer helps dictate, to a lesser or greater extent, how and what emerges within the confines of observed reality. Moreover, this may also be some of the reasons, at the most fundamental level, why certain emotional states and their conjoining value systems help determine what one finds. It may not necessarily be that emotions, values and motivations help direct us towards “tools” that helps one achieve an aim, but rather the aim and its underlying mechanisms may be that which helps reality produce the tools necessary to achieve the aim (Glattfelder, 2019; Schwartz et al., 2005).
Conclusion
Perception is an interesting component of human experience that helps one understand, interact and adapt with their environment. However, as mentioned previously with the proposed arguments by the Quora users which stated that the brain perceives reality accurately, and that perception was strictly a mind model that creates/observes actual reality and is only subjective in a sense according to when or where one might be observing a particular phenomenon occurring. These statements are true, however, part and partial to the actual overarching perceptual narrative that plays out in both the mind of the perceiver and reality itself. As examined earlier, the mind perceives its environment and the events that transpire within those confines through a framework that is influenced by a top-down mechanism.
First, perception is influenced by cultural value systems that have been acquired throughout the perceivers life that imbues events and objects with value that transcends the explicit objective module of what is being observed (de Oliveira & Nisbett, 2017; Frese, 2015). Second, at the deeper level of perceptual analysis is the influence of emotions that are processed through the limbic system of the brain (Torrico & Abdijadid, 2023). Emotions, in conjunction with the schematic value structure, provides a perceiver with information that can alter an observed object or given situation (Chiew & Braver, 2011).
Finally, at the highest level of analysis, the quantum level of reality influences what an individual perceives as the perceiver interacts with reality (Youvan, 2024). This interaction causes the wavefunction nature of the subatomic realm to collapse and become a particle and thus tangible reality in which the perceiver can observe and interact with (Radin et al., 2012). This also means that reality unfolds through the interactive dynamics between consciousness and the subatomic realm, and thus the reality that unfolds can mimic, to a certain degree, what the preconceived value structures and emotional states within consciousness desire or are oriented towards (Heiblum et al., 1998; Glattfelder, 2019).
What does the sum of all this mean, precisely? The theory being proposed here is that perception is an interconnected and intricate process that involves multiple levels of interaction and analysis. Not only is there a multilevel analysis process of what is being observed, but a multifaceted process embedded within the object or situation itself. The observer is perceiving the substance or situation through a value and emotional laden framework while also, if taken far enough, can assess the substance or situation’s components at multiple angles. This expands the perception of any given object or event past the proximal observation and into a realm that could further enhance the observer’s perceptual framework in the future. One can perceive an object within their value and emotional framework at each level of analysis, and yet they can trek beyond this uni-faceted analysis by contemplating or analyzing the multiple components of an object or situation, not only from their own perceptual framework, but also through the empathetic expanse of other perceivers as well. This empathetic reach provides the benefits to help understand what others are perceiving when an object or situation is present which enhances interconnections, and it also allows for a greater intraconnectedness within and the enhancement of their current perceptual framework and understanding of the world around them.
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Since the time humans branched off from chimpanzees approximately six million years ago, humans have evolved into a larger and more complex species through influencing factors such as bipedalism, tool crafting, cooking, climate change, socialization, and pair bonding (Wrangham, 2009; Tuttle, 2024; Timmermann et al., 2024). The latter of these factors was initially accomplished through the evolutionary process of sexual selection, and with it a greater parental investment from both males and females that required greater cooperation between the sexes, as well as helped contribute to the formation of human culture (Larsen, 2023). The process of sexual selection is predominately accomplished through the selectivity of females in their choice of male mating partners that has helped shape variations between human female and male brains throughout the past two million years or so. This process has impacted males and females in different ways that have contributed to neuroanatomical and physiological differences between the sexes (Stanyon & Bigoni, 2014).
Although sexual selection has been one of the guiding forces that have helped human evolution through a pathway that has brought about changes both physiologically and neuroanatomically that helps distinguish between male and females, it is still only the tip of the iceberg of causal factors of anatomical differences between the sexes. However, even with acknowledged differences with some that have recently been disclosed that will be discussed shortly, there are still plenty of opponents to these differences that believe there to be no outstanding differences between male and female brains at all with most differences being solely a byproduct of immediate environmental and social influences. To help address this conundrum between perspectives, this paper will first examine the field of biology in a comparative and contrasting approach to the study of sex differentiation, followed a brief overview of a flawed source claiming such a concept. From there, evidence found within recent studies will be assessed as well as a psychological theory pertaining to sex differentiation.
Biology of Sex Differences
Biology is the study of a living species and their vital processes with focuses on underlying processes such as genetics, hormones, cellular and immune function, among others Britannica, 2021). Although biology focuses on the physiological components of humans while the field of psychology studies the functionality of the mind, the two fields of study complement each other. With the help from biology, psychologists can better understand the underlying biological markers that help drive behavior, which is a crucial factor in understanding the psychological processes and the overall functionality of any species. Vice versa, psychology can help biologists discover root causes of certain behaviors that have been analyzed by psychologists as their work helps provide cues as to what might be underlying the behavior of interest (Garrett & Hough, 2022).
Biology has helped shed light on the underlying biological functions that help differentiate males and females while psychology has helped compliment this information through the perceptual and behavioral differences between the sexes. For instance, males produce 15 to 20 times more testosterone than females which is linked to greater muscle mass, increased aggression and sexual drive, decreased sensitivity to stress, and risky behavior. Testosterone is also a vital hormone in the development of male sexual hormones during gestation that is accomplished by stimulating the development of the Wolffian ducts that results in male external genitalia (Garrett & Hough, 2022). This data on testosterone not only helps explain some of the biological differences between males and females, but it also helps understand neurological and perceptual differences between the sexes as well (Zitzmann, 2020).
Flawed Source
According to Elle Beau, a user on Medium, there are minor differences between male and female brains. The only evidence to support her claim was that most studies revealing differences between male and female brains were insignificant findings as well as flawed in their design with small sample sizes. She also states that the only genuine difference between the brains is the portion of the brain that enervates the male penis (2024).
Peer-Reviewed Sources
Three recent studies will be examined here to help rebuttal the flawed source as well as help further enhance the complexity of the human brain regarding gender differentiation.
Source 1
The first source of consideration is a large study from 2013 by Madhura Ingalhalikar and colleagues that focused on the structural connectome within the brain of both males and females. This study included 949 youths ages 8 to 22 years old with 428 being male and 521 being female. The researchers used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine the participants brains to examine the interactions among regions of the brain while computing a structural connectome of these interactions. What the researchers discovered is that there is a significant sex difference between male and female brains that suggested fundamental differences in connectivity patterns between the two. This study utilized available data that was acquired through the Institutional Review Board approval from both the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania. The data was acquired through approval which requires informed consent from both the child involved and their parents. They also published the data which requires approval and informed consent both of which was accomplished, and thus they followed the necessary ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA) that would have been required for this study (APA, 2017).
Noticeable differences include inter-hemispheric and intra-hemispheric connections. They found that male brains tend to develop in manner that facilitates intra-lobe and intra-hemispheric connections. This type of connectivity produces neural networks that are transitive, modular, and discrete. Females, on the other hand, showed greater inter-hemispheric connectivity that allows for greater efficiency in the integration of the analytical and sequential reasoning modes of the left hemisphere with the intuitive and spatial features of the right hemisphere. The behavioral implications of these connectome differences between the sexes have been revealed in behavioral studies mentioned in conjunction with the results of this study that include females outperforming males on attentional tasks, word and face memory, and social cognition tests, whereas males outperformed females on tasks relating to spatial processing and motor and sensorimotor speed (Ingalhalikar et al., 2013).
Regarding cortical volume and surface differences, males had larger volume and surface areas in comparison to females, however, females showed exhibited thicker cortices. Furthermore, these differences in volume and surface area were also found to mediate a vast majority of small sex differences in reasoning abilities. The researchers also found similar results as the first study mentioned previously wherein there was greater connectivity within the default mode network in females while males showed greater connectivity in the sensorimotor and visual cortices (Ritchie et al., 2018).
Source 3
The last of the three studies was conducted by Srikanth Ryali and colleagues earlier this year in 2024 that utilized artificial intelligence and large multicohort functional MRI datasets consisting of 1,000 20-to-35-year young adults to help better understand sexual differences in organizational brain functionality. These differences were predominantly found in the organizational and functionality of the default mode network, striatum, and limbic network. These findings were not only replicable and generalizable, but they were also behaviorally relevant, and thus challenge the notion of a continuum in male-female brain organization. The researchers of this study obtained data upon approval from the Max Planck Institute of Leipzig, the Human Connectome Project, and the Nathan Kline Institute which also included informed consent on the part of participants. Their work was also supported and approved by the National Institute of Health, Transdisciplinary Initiative and Uytengsu-Hamilton 22q11 Programs, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute and NARSAD Young Investigator Award, and thus fulfill certain criteria of the APA code of ethics (2017).
Significant findings of this study included the replicability and generalizability of specific identifiable brain features between the sexes, and that these features help determine the cognitive profiles of the two sexes. Specific brain features that contribute to significant differences between males and females is that of the default mode network with the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex playing the most discriminatory role. The default mode network is responsible for introspection, mind-wandering, and autobiographical retrieval, which may influence the sex-specific differences regarding self-regulatory behaviors, certain beliefs, and social interactions. Another notable difference between the sexes was found in the striatum and limbic networks. The striatum network is responsible for habit formation, reinforcement learning, and sensitivity to rewards, while the limbic system plays a role in correction of behavioral responses and expected reward value. These two systems help navigate an individual’s subjective pleasantness to experiences which may help explain differences in male and female hedonic experiences. On a final note, the differences laid out by the researchers were found to help predict cognitive profiles in males and females (Ryali et al, 2024).
Biological Mechanisms
When considering dimorphic characteristics of males and females, it is best to examine how both the body and mind interact to form the whole of the person. Two factors to be considered here are the effects of testosterone and estrogen, and sexual arousal and attraction. First, testosterone and estrogen play significant roles in the formation, stabilization, and motivational characteristics of both males and females. As mentioned previously, testosterone is the essential ingredient in helping determine a fetus’s destination as a male during gestation, and estrogen helps in the formation of both female reproductive parts and neuroanatomical features. Furthermore, levels of testosterone and estrogen throughout development are needed to maintain a certain level of homeostasis to provide a proper developmental trajectory, especially during the transitions of puberty (Garrett & Hough, 2022). Although testosterone levels gradually decline following the age of 30 for men, and both testosterone and estrogen decline during menopause for women, maintaining a level of homeostasis throughout most of one’s adult life is essential for both physical and mental health (Maattanen et al., 2021; Tsujimura, 2013; Lizcano & Guzman, 2014).
Next, not only do testosterone and estrogen play a vital role in overall mental and physical health and well-being, but they also influence sexual arousal and attraction. Testosterone influences male sexual drive (Nguyen et al., 2022), and in females to a lesser extent. Both estrogen and oxytocin play a larger role in female sexual arousal as well as orgasmic intensity and pleasantness (Garrett & Hough, 2022). Not only do these hormones help moderate male and female sexual arousal, but they also help direct and motivate the partners in which to copulate. For females, estrogen levels help dictate perceived attractiveness in potential mates, especially during ovulation. During this phase of the menstrual cycle when estrogen levels are at their peak, females often desire more masculine counterparts with features that are indicative of higher circulating testosterone levels (Gildersleeve et al., 2014). On the opposite side, testosterone helps dictate perceived attractiveness in male mating selection strategies with an increased focus on more feminine characteristics such as large eyes, neotenous features, petite stature, and smaller jaws (Bird et al., 2016). These dimorphic qualities are, at least in part, due to the effects of natural and sexual selection that have helped our species dimorph into two complimentary components of the overarching landscape of reproductive success and survival of the species.
Natural and Sexual Selection
Both natural selection and sexual selection have played a significant role in sexual dimorphism in the human species (Lassek & Gaulin, 2022; Stanyon & Bigoni, 2014). First, according to William Lassek and Steven Gaulin (2022), natural selection could potentially account for the dimorphism, especially physically, between males and females. This is evident in the physique differences between males and females, especially during the more primitive times of our development wherein males went out and hunted large, mobile game that required both strength and endurance, while females foraged locally and cooked the foods provided by the males. This energy expenditure demanded to accomplish daily hunting expeditions as well as carrying game that was killed, sometimes miles away, caused a larger adaptive feature for males compared to females. As this traditional practice was carried out over the course of millions of years, the adaptive morphological differences continued to expand.
Next, and as mentioned in the introduction, sexual selection was a mating strategy that has allowed for increased variations in both biological and neuroanatomical between males and females as females often sought out larger, more muscular counterparts that featured wider jaw width and increased strength which is an indicator of increased testosterone and overall health and vitality. Females were often driven towards finding mates that only possessed such traits, but that could also utilize them as was demonstrated through male-male competition for potential mates, as well as hunting success. Males, too, played a role in mate selection, however, minor in comparison to their counterparts, wherein they often sought out more “feminine” mates that presented neotenous and juvenile facial features, and larger hip-to-waist ratio which is an indicator of higher estrogen levels, and again, increased health and vitality, especially regarding childbearing (Puts, 2013). Interestingly, these same perceived attractive biological features in the dynamics of mate selection are still present in modern society pair bonding (Garza et al, 2016), although the effects have become more subtle in their application due predominantly to modernization and increased equality (Brooks et al., 2010), and the birth control pill, among other factors (Gori et al, 2014).
According to Stanyon and Bigoni (2014), these evolutionary selective mating strategies helped further drive the already prevalent neuroanatomical and behavioral differences among males and females that includes differences found within aggressive behavior, empathy and social skills. For instance, the propensity for aggressive behavior that is predominantly found among males that was instigated via male-male competition for mates is evident within the size of the neuroanatomical structures of the amygdala, mesencephalon, and diencephalon that are all positively correlated with the degree of male competition, along with a reduction in the size of the septum. Furthermore, increased empathetic tendencies and social skills found among females appears to be a consequence of sexual selection and pair bonding relationships along with its resultant formation of larger intergroup social dynamics that are evident further down the line of human evolution. The neuroanatomical evidence for higher capacity for empathy and social bonding among females is found within the increased density of gray matter found within the left-hemisphere that is involved in affiliation, social bonding and empathy.
Conclusion
As presented, sex differences do emerge both within both the physiology and neuroanatomy of males and females, and these differences are the result of contributing factors such as natural selection and sexual selection. Natural selection has helped humans evolve through the processes of selection pressure found within the environment that include such things as climate change, cooking, tool making, and pair bonding. These factors have helped shape humans both physiologically and cognitively in varying ways. Furthermore, as humans evolved and began to pair bond and cooperate within and between sexes, role playing in the form of male hunting and female gathering helped shape these sex differences that favor a larger physique for males and smaller physique for females. These role-playing effects also helped contribute to the neuroanatomical features of the brain as well wherein males acquired visual spatial skills that appear to have been the byproduct of being on the hunt and building tools and structures. On the other hand, females role-playing afforded them the essential skills of verbal communication and cooperation along with nurturance that enabled them to better care for social lives within the home and village or camp (Lassek & Gaulin, 2022).
Sexual selection has offered its adaptive morphological effects through male and female selective features that favored certain qualities that were dimorphic in nature, and yet also signaled health and vitality. Females often sought out males that were larger in stature with a more muscular build indicative of higher circulating testosterone that provided protective benefits and higher hunting success rate that generally accompanied such features. Males, on the other hand, often sought females that were more petite in stature and neotenous in appearance that indicated higher estrogen levels and fertility. As these selective processes continued through the evolutionary pathway from homo erectus approximately 2 million years ago until recent times, sexual dimorphic qualities continued to persist.
The evidence for such differences between the sexes, especially regarding the brain, was quite evident within the three studies provided wherein substantial differences emerged between male and female brains. The first study highlighted differences that were found using diffusion tensor imaging that revealed not only differences within certain regions of the brain between the sexes, but differences in the connectome between these regions. This difference in connectivity showed that males and females utilized different parts of the brain that helped explain differences in both behavior and perception. Another significance of this study was the fact that they utilized data from males and females during their developmental years, ages 8 to 22 years of age (Ingalhalikar et al., 2013). The second study went on to reveal how subcortical regions of the brains between males and females were different that included brain volume, surface area, cortical thickness, diffusion parameters, and functional connectivity. These differences are important to note as, again, they are often exhibited in behavioral and perceptual processes (Ritchie et al., 2018). The third and final study examined revealed an even deeper understanding of the differences between male and females by utilizing the latest technology such as AI to examine differences in both structural composition and connectivity. This study highlighted substantial differences in each of these factors that were both replicable and generalizable, and that challenges the idea of a female and male continuum of cognition that is currently being promoted (Ryali et al, 2024).
On an ending note, as technology advances and is utilized to help map out the human brain, more evidence might be found that helps shed light not only the history of humanity and the differences within, but also where humanity might be heading. These discovered differences should not be a discriminatory marker that undermines differences between the sexes but should rather be a beacon of information that highlights diversity among the human species. If utilized properly in a cooperative manner, just as the primitive ancestors of the past, humanity could continue its trajectory of progress towards a future of endless possibilities wherein sex differences are celebrated in an egalitarian manner that promotes all to achieve whatever it is that they set their minds on.
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Today marks 2 years alcohol-free. I personally struggled with alcohol for years prior to finally quitting and detoxing myself. The journey has been quite enlightening as I have put my focus on my family, my health, my work and schooling, and my relationship with God. My wife has been front and center in helping me overcome my demons, and to her I cannot thank enough. I have transformed for the better, and the journey does not end there.
The pinnacle message of the gospels, besides the belief in Christ, is the concept of transformation. This profound concept should not be sought out in a lighthearted fashion, but is something that should be endeavored in a manner that constitutes the whole of one’s being. It is an attempt to refashion the self through physical, psychological and spiritual exploration and application.
We are complex creatures, and often times we are quite distinct within our own self. Made up of sub-personalities and diverse personas, a unification through the process of transformation is required. The concept of transformation through the “spirit” is not solely a union of the self with God, but also a unification of the self within itself, we becoming one with the Source and one within our self. Only when we become unified are we able to utilize the potential that resides within.
The book of James expounds on this well as the author states that we should be patient and allow the various trials and tests, which to a varying degree should be sought out in an experimental fashion, mature and transform our implicit potential into explicit reality. Through the process of learning and growing do we become more unified in our self that enables us to manifest the potential within, and the more efficiently and effectively we are able to contend with reality as such.
Again, this same concept is echoed in the teachings of Christ in the book of John when speaking of the vine and the branches, and how we (branches) should be pruned (transformed) in order to make manifest the potential within us that brings God the glory. This pruning effect implies the death of what once was in our life that hinders our growth, whether this be substances, unhealthy foods, faulty interpretational schemas, and the like, which gradually unifies the self. By seeking out novel information while ridding ourselves of hinderances, we can transform and become what has laid dormant within.
I got a chance to hike up Quandary mountain through the Quandary Peak Trail that provides a 3.2 miles hike up to the summit followed by a 3.2 mile trip back down. Elevation change is approximately 3,300 feet. I managed to trek to the summit in 2 hours followed by a 2 hour descent that totaled to a 4 hour round trip. Thank God for keeping me safe throughout the trip.
For the past seven million years of human evolution, humans have survived and thrived through the mutative and adaptive processes of both natural and sexual selection. Alterations of gene expression along with the transformation that humans undertook with each passing subsequent generation was a vital necessity in the process of the survival and progression of the species (Goldberg et al., 2018; Hosken & House, 2011). Through these two selective processes, males and females have both mate choice and sexual preferences inherit in their biological and perceptual systems. These systems help guide not only mating and sexual preferences, but corresponding behaviors that help achieve such mating success. This is paramount in understanding gender differentiation regarding sexuality. Another theory to be considered when analyzing gender differentiation in sexual behavior is that of sexual economic theory which is concomitant with that of sexual selection. This theory posits that males and females exchange resources in effort to fulfill mating desires through the process of weighing costs and benefits in choosing mates. Females generally seek out financial security and a stable partner to help raise offspring by providing an exclusive sexual engagement and social contract with a male counterpart (Baumeister et al., 2017).
In addition to understanding gender sexuality differentiation, there must also be clarification as to what classifies a pathological means of sexual behavior among the genders and a healthy means. Although a majority of the population adheres to a “healthier” means of achieving sexual satisfaction, there are those in the sexual minority camp that do not. This, of course, is not to say that all those that reside outside of the average pathway of sexual satisfaction are deemed unhealthy behaviors, but rather that within this camp there are those that push the bounds to the point of healthy maintenance, while there are others that have allowed sexual satisfaction to become the overarching aim of their perceptual framework. Those that are deemed unhealthy sexual seekers are best defined as desires and behaviors that consume an individual’s existence while neglecting all other matters such as family, work, health and well-being, friendships, etc. (King & Regan, 2019).
Sexual Selection
Sexual selection theory, first postulated by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, refers to the mating choice and success between males and females for reproductive purposes. Females are those that choose mates based off certain “healthy traits” exhibited through physical and psychological characteristics and abilities, while males compete amongst each other for social hierarchal position for increased selectivity of female mating opportunities (Jones & Ratterman, 2009). These traits are indicative of “good genes” that are then carried through subsequent generations which are aggregated across time that produce stronger, healthier, and more intelligent generations that help the survival and propagation of the species as a whole (Hosken & House, 2011).
Sexual Economic Theory
As mentioned previously, sexual economic theory postulates that males and females exchange resources (generally exclusive sexual access from females in exchange for wealth and security from males) through a process of weighing out costs and benefits in potential mate interaction. This strategic means of mating is predicated upon a supply and demand dynamic wherein female access is a demand and the number of available females a supply, although this can shift with any given context where there is an imbalance in gender ration where females outnumber males, and thus supply exceeds demand and the price for sex is low. In this framework, females compete among one another to appear more attractive for potential male mates, while males compete against one another to seem like a better provider than their rivals. (Baumeister et al., 2017).
Gender Difference in Mate Selection
Both sexual selection and sexual economic theory have been defined, and yet what do these theories have to do with male and female differences in sexuality? First, a better understanding of mate preference and selection among the two genders should be attained before light can be shed on sexual preferences and differences. According to sexual selection, mate preferences among males and females have evolved wherein females tend to prefer more masculine type males that are physically fit, taller than average, industrious, brave, symmetrical (Peters et al., 2009), and high socioeconomic status, all of which are indicative of higher testosterone levels and good overall health, which also equate to healthy offspring. Moreover, males prefer females that are younger, neotenous, facial femininity, low hip-to-waist ratio, and petite-like features. Mating strategies among males and females have also evolved differently with females seeking out long-term partnerships while males generally desire short-term sexual engagement. Although there are quite a few distinctive differences between males and females regarding mate preference, there are also similarities between the genders when it comes to long-term mating strategies that include desired traits such as respectful, kind, trustworthy, and committed (Buss, 2023).
In relationship to sexual economic theory, males and females differ in their exchange of resources with males seeking the resource of exclusive sexual access in exchange for resources of economic security and status. This exchange rate, of course, comes at an even greater costs for females besides solely allowing access to sexual intercourse, but also the potential for pregnancy. This supply and demand dynamic has influenced females to prefer male mates that are high socioeconomic status and willing to commit to a long-term relationship, while males prefer female mates that are attractive and sexually promiscuous, often through the perceptual lens of a short-term mating strategy (Baumeister et al., 2017).
Gender Differences in Sexual Preferences
With sexual selection and sexual economic theory in mind, how do these two theories help increase understanding of gender differences in sexuality? The short answer is mostly through the long-term impact and influence of the reciprocal environmental, social, and interpersonal factors mentioned earlier that have shaped both the perceptual system and brain that males and females possess. This process of reciprocal influence can be broken down into three primary domains: Long-term versus short-term mating strategies, perceived attractiveness, and testosterone.
Females on average desire more intimate, long-term relationships with a male counterpart while the opposite is true of males. This long-term strategy among females has helped influence a sexuality orientation that favors more intimate, romantic, and affectionate characteristics. Males on the other hand prefer more explicit and visual imagery when engaging in sexual activities that is related to predominately physically attractive features which reflects a more spontaneous and short-term mating strategy. Even though males predominately mate in accordance with perceived attractiveness, females too seek out partners, although to a lesser degree, that are attractive (King & Regan, 2019). One study conducted by Sherlock and colleagues found that higher rated orgasms among female participants were more frequent when engaged with a partner who was perceived as attractive compared to less attractive partners (2016).
Testosterone is another factor that plays a rather large role in sexual propensity among the male population as it helps increase sexual drive (Corona & Maggi, 2022), and it is associated with characteristics of increased appeal that females seek out in their male counterparts such as increased height and muscle mass (Peters et al., 2009). Heightened testosterone is also linked to increased assertiveness and dominance (Knight et al., 2022), which can be associated with the sexual fantasy of dominance that is favored by men and sexual submission that is favored by women (King & Regan, 2019). Moreover, females during ovulation, which is a time of increased sex drive, prefer more masculine males that is associated with higher testosterone levels (Little et al., 2013).
The Effects of Social Changes on Mate and Sexual Preferences
Although the selective mating patterns mentioned previously are still evident today among males and females, both social changes and technological advancements such as oral contraceptives, gender equality, and lower sexual engagement have shifted the initial perceptual mate preferences in another direction. For instance, oral contraceptive cause females to not ovulate, a time wherein females estrogen levels increase dramatically which contribute to increased perceived attractiveness by males (Roberts et al., 2004). Moreover, this anti-ovulation feature of oral contraceptives is also shifting females to become more attracted to less masculine males (Little et al., 2013).
The influence of gender equality in modern society has revealed its benefits for all of society, and yet there are changes that have influence the sexual dynamic interplay between males and females. These factors include the lowered desire for a high socioeconomic status in potential male partners (March & Grieve, 2014), and an increased prevalence for a dominant position during sexual intercourse (King & Regan, 2019). Another social change of consideration is that of lower levels of sexual engagement and increased celibacy among both males and females. From 2000 to 2016, men report an overall decline of weekly intercourse dropped from 60% to 47%This change in sex drive is multifaceted with influencing factors such as increased phone and internet usage, longer commutes, and financial stress (Castleman, 2021).
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First, continued prayers for Israel and all those that have been affected by the brutal attacks. The devastation is surreal.
Second, let this be an awakening for the Christian church, especially the men within. Understand that this world is not the illusionary dream-like landscape we inhabit each day here in America, and throughout much of western society. Through this many have become lazy and apathetic in our approach to life, while at the same time relying on authority, much of whom are controlled by the enemy, to solve our problems.
At any given moment an enemy can attack, and according to end time prophecy, they will attack someday soon. The church must come to grasp the fact that the end is near, and this means that, just like the what happened in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, the new world order will be coming for you and your family.
At this moment, most Christians are quick to point to a pre-tribulation rapture scenario, and yet no where in the Bible does it indicate such an event. Time and time again it states that the coming of Christ transpires following the tribulation era. This is just one of many: but
““Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matthew 24:29-31 NKJV
With that being stated, what should the church do? Watch and be ready. Stop living the life the elites want you to live; stop overeating, being lazy, not praying, and not studying.
We are called to pay attention and to be ready. We must train like good soldiers of Christ, so when the enemy arrives, we are at least somewhat physically and mentally prepared to protect our families, friends, and communities.
And with 80% of the American population being overweight, at this moment, the enemy is going to have a field day slaughtering any and all that try to intervene.
The church has become weak, and this weakness, unfortunately, is due mostly to the lie that the elites promoted in our modern society: “Eat, drink, and be merry. Buy up what you will while you can, and live the American dream.” The part they left out: “For tomorrow you and your family will die.”
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”
I Corinthians 16:13 NKJV
Let us stand up against the evil that is coming, and get in touch with our ancestral roots wherein they lived a life of survival of the fittest, as there is a time coming soon where the fittest will be the ones who remain at the coming of Christ following the tribulation. We cannot let the Antichrist and his minions have it so easy, but rather give them the fight of their lives.
I will be going live on both this Sunday, October 8th, at 5 pm central for the fourth lecture of the Examining The Christian Faith series. In this lecture, we will be examining pre-flood history, the flood itself, the Tower of Babel, and the emergence of civilization.
We will begin by first taking a look at the story of Cain and Abel and the idea of morality and sin. We will examine various interpretations of this story to try to make sense of what is being told in the compacted literature.
We will then go on to investigate the evidence for a pre-flood society. We will delve into the timeframe of this hypothetical society and its destruction by a cataclysmic flood and look at what evidence there might be for such an event.
From there, we will examine evidence for a post-flood culture, including Noah and the Tower of Babel. We will look at how these early societies helped shape and influence the later emergence of civilization in Sumer and Egypt approximately 5,000 years ago.
Join me this evening at 5 pm central on YouTube for the introductory lecture to the “Examining The Christian Faith” series, Introduction To The Power of Ideas. In this lecture, we will examine what it means to say one believes in something, such as ideas or religions. We will begin by looking at the concept of interpretation and that of traditionalism and progressivism.
From there, we will see how our perception changes how we interpret ideas and reality and how, in a reciprocal manner, ideas can shape our perception. This will be examined through the work of Iain Mcgilchrist’s dual hemisphere perception.
Following this examination, we will then go on to investigate some of the popular ideas that have influenced modern culture from the works of figures such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, and, of course, Jesus Christ and the apostles. We also take a look at what type of influence their ideas had on society and culture, whether positive or negative.
Did God condone rape in the Old Testament? Those opposed to the Bible and the belief therein are quick to point out Deuteronomy 22:28 where many believe that it suggests rape to be no issue. But how true is this, exactly?
Michael Thacker 