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Pathological complexity and the evolution of sex differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2022

Walter Veit
Affiliation:
School of History and Philosophy of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia wrwveit@gmail.comhttps://walterveit.com/
Heather Browning
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science, Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK DrHeatherBrowning@gmail.comhttps://www.heatherbrowning.net/

Abstract

Benenson et al. provide a compelling case for treating greater investment into self-protection among females as an adaptive strategy. Here, we wish to expand their proposed adaptive explanation by placing it squarely in modern state-based and behavioural life-history theory, drawing on Veit's pathological complexity framework. This allows us to make sense of alternative “lifestyle” strategies, rather than pathologizing them.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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