What is the EvoScript that Paul Eastwick criticizes on Hidden Brain?

Paul Eastwick, a UC Davis psychologist, uses the term EvoScript for a pop version of evolutionary psychology with three claims. Everyone has a mate value on a one-to-ten scale that sets their dating prospects, men and women want very different things, and short-term and long-term mating are separate strategies you must pick between. He says influencers have exaggerated these ideas and that mate value gaps do not predict how relationships go or whether they end.

• Eastwick first met a version of the script as a teenager, when a friend told him to upgrade his clothes and hit the gym to move from a six to an eight.
• Eastwick names Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson among the voices who have popularized these ideas, mostly to an audience of men.

▸In their words

“Mate value discrepancies don't predict how a relationship is going to go.” Paul Eastwick · at 30:31 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Hidden Brain (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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