Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that we humans are fundamentally predisposed to trust in the collective set of conceptual tools that inheres in any cultural system.

While it addresses a number of discrete theoretical and empirical problems, it has the common goal of creating general conceptual tools to comprehend the dynamics of everyday social interaction.

The main criticism of the book has been its inability to teach generative reasoning or to provide readers with specific conceptual tools and a knowledge system for integrative thinking.