I am the author of a new peer-reviewed APA paper exploring pre-Holocene ecological influences on psychology, specifically Ice Age Siberia pressures on East Asian lineages and if that has affected/retained in their modern day psychological or cultural traits. I find despite East Asian general psychology to be on a distinct extreme end of a global spectrum (as shown in cross cultural psychology), it is near identical to Inuit/Siberian populations, and to that of successful polar workers/expeditioners. I posit that it influenced the formation of values later branded as Confucianism. It can be read open access here https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2025-88410-001.html

I know LW readers are well read on psychology and metacognition topics, so I invite you all to take a stab at understanding or breaking the theory. My X thread on it has gone viral with over a million views and 7k likes from prominent figures including POTUS adjacent ones, with highly polarized reactions (the right loves it, the left sends me death threats, everyone else finds it fascinating). https://x.com/arcticinstincts/status/1900223591750451276 The thread is grossly oversimplified and sensationalized for viral potential, and at first glance you'll quickly have many first order criticisms, but I encourage you to first read the paper entirely as they're mostly addressed already. Basically no one on X did before reacting.

The paper also introduces a novel methodology for observing the adaptation of local psychology to local selective pressures in real time, using success/fail data from local personnel selection criteria, which nullifies common evo psych criticisms of "just so stories". Ironically it currently only works for locally adapted psychology, which is arguably more taboo than pre-OoA universal psychology. All in all, the paper and its implications are controversial in every way.

I will respond to criticisms here, and if you are able to write it at an academic-level, I invite you to write it as a formal commentary for the journal, as the editor is accepting commentaries on this paper with a June 30th deadline, 15 pages max, double spaced including references. A few eminent researchers in cultural and evolutionary psychology are writing commentaries already. Thanks to everyone in advance.

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