# Dedication

This project is dedicated to the editors of *Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience*:

- **Steven M. Platek**, PhD
- **Julian Paul Keenan**, PhD
- **Todd K. Shackelford**, PhD

Their work, especially **Chapter 6** of this book, provided strength and inspiration when it was needed most. It showed me that I was not alone in taking this view:

«The scientific effort to understand the interplay among genes, the brain, and behavior is laudable. Although we may never untangle the entire mystery of neurological evolution or understand the complexity of human behavior, the attempt to connect the two is a fascinating and inspiring scientific enterprise. Touching the most basic components of human life—cognition, affect, and behavior—the theory and understanding generated by ECN will have a longlasting influence over many aspects of our lives. In truth, however, we will never know the full effect of ECN on the texture of human life. Certainly its impact extends beyond philosophy, the media, and the justice system as we have narrowly construed it here. The broader and ultimately more important impact of ECN is unknowable, and to the extent that it is known, it is not within our purview or that of ECN scientists to assess. Such judgments about the philosophical, ethical, and social implications of ECN belong to society as a whole. We hope we have helped to begin an informed conversation to that end»

**Thank you** for the wisdom, courage, and hope you shared through your writing.