Comparison of evolutionary psychology with other, biology-based disciples

Tables below show inverse relationship between empirical fact and speculation: The fields studying basic mechanisms accumulate far greater number of confirmed facts with few hypotheses, while higher-level behavioral fields like evolutionary psychology rely on numerous speculative explanations for relatively fewer established facts.

Big Picture Comparison

Approximate Number of Confirmed Facts

Field Approx. Confirmed Facts
Evolutionary Psychology ~50–200 (hundred)
Evolutionary Biology ~5–20 thousand
Genetics ~50–500 thousand
Molecular Biology ~500 thousand–2 million
Cell Biology ~1–5 million

Approximate Number of Major Speculative Hypotheses

Discipline Approx. Speculative Hypotheses
Evolutionary Psychology 200–500+
Evolutionary Biology ~10–20
Genetics ~10–15
Molecular Biology ~5–10
Cell Biology ~3–5

*Approximate numbers confirmed by Chat GPT, Grok, and Claude.