Evolutionary Psychologists can't practice what they don't preach: A response to Gallup (2020)

We respond to Gallup’s (2020) opinion piece by indicating that psychologists have yet to agree on an operationalized definition of “intelligence.” We argue that the literature investigating an overall decline in human intelligence is mixed at best; additionally, if a decline in human intelligence was supported, evolutionary scholars are not in a position to change the course of such decline. We clarify what evolutionary psychology is, i.e. the study of human nature by empirical examination of evidence for adaptive design hypotheses, and what it is not, i.e. a privileged position from which to preach the appropriate ways to solve problems associated with evolutionary challenges. Finally, we dispute Gallup’s (2020) suggested prescription for evolutionary psychologists.