In the evolutionary psychology yahoo group, I’ve made two attempts to discuss the epigenetic effects of nutrient chemicals and pheromones. The first attempt was prior to the March 2012 publication of Kohl, J.V. (2012) Human pheromones and food odors: epigenetic influences on the socioaffective nature of evolved behaviors. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, 2: 17338.
I made another attempt in September 2012, and found that only one or two participants in the group understood the fact that gene expression is not randomly determined. Instead, it is largely determined by the epigenetic effects of nutrient chemicals and pheromones. Those who review the series of claims made by evolutionary theorists, philosophers, and even some biologists who should know better, will see that most of them seem to think mutations are responsible for the adaptive evolution of species from microbes to man.
None of them know how that could be possible. They have simply accepted “random mutations theory” which has no basis in biology and modified it slightly so that it is now a theory of mutations, which may or may not be random. They seemingly would rather stick with a ridiculous theory that mutations cause something instead of learning about the basic principles of biology and levels of biological organization that link sensory cause directly to epigenetic effects on stochastic gene expression. It is the epigenetic effects of nutrient chemicals and pheromones that enable the ecological, social, neurogenic, and socio-cognitive niche construction that is responsible for our adaptively evolved behavior.
I mention this here in case I decide to quit participating in pointless discussions and again focus on detailing more about the epigenetic effects of nutrient chemicals and pheromones on behavior that, in sum, allow me to unequivocally state that: “Olfaction and odor receptors provide a clear evolutionary trail that can be followed from unicellular organisms to insects to humans.” It is a trail that most evolutionary psychologists cannot seem to follow, probably because they have been taught that mutations cause adaptive evolution and never asked how that was possible.
