Abstract
Up until recently human nature might have been solely the realm of artists and philosophers. In recent years, Darwin''s theory of evolution has guided the theoretical and empirical research of an increasing number of social and behavioral scientists.
Among their areas of interest is also innate ability to learn and human disposition to study. This paper reviews some of the central ideas of evolutionary educational psychology and investigates its implications for current school education.
The gist is that the evolved cognitive systems and inferential biases that define innate and folk knowledge are not sufficient for academic learning, but, at the same time, are the foundation from which academic competencies are build.