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Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind

Page 48

by Mark Pagel


  Narrow Roads of Gene Land (Hamilton), 316–17

  NASA, 241–42

  national anthems, 83, 96, 165, 203

  nationalism, 81–82, 86–87, 163–64, 203–4, 205, 211–12

  nation-states, 15, 92, 185, 345–66

  alliances of, 181

  benefits of, 346, 347, 360, 361–62

  centralization of, 346, 361, 362

  dictatorial regimes of, 349, 363, 365–66

  disintegration of, 363

  economies of scale in, 358–63

  elite leadership of, 345, 348, 361–63

  local rules in emergence of, 349–58, 361, 362

  mobility in, 364, 365

  scale-free mechanisms in, 348–49

  social networks in, 364–66

  strangers trusted in, 346–48

  traitors to, 90–91

  Native Americans, 91–92, 164, 185–86

  alliances among, 185

  cultural diversity of, 52–53

  linguistic diversity of, 53

  longhouse designs of, 59

  Pacific Northwest potlatch tribes of, 155

  slavery among, 94

  Natural History of Religion, The (Hume), 140, 146, 147–48

  naturalistic fallacy, 14

  natural selection, ix, 9–11, 26, 45, 46, 48, 64, 89, 105–6, 125–31, 194, 195, 197–98, 199, 208, 210–11, 272, 324, 340, 351

  acting on local rules, 351, 352–53

  of adult milk digestion, 263–64

  of alcohol metabolizing genes, 262

  of altruism, 78

  amorality of, 158

  complexity produced by, 239–40, 246–47

  of cooperation, 10–11, 73, 78, 88, 176, 177, 182–84

  cultural enhancers and, 133, 139, 143, 152, 155, 160

  of deception, 307, 312, 313

  defensive strategies produced by, 245

  differences erased by, 100, 117, 118–19

  diversifying, 101

  fitness favored by, 118–19, 121, 154, 229–30, 272

  of fur, 256

  of gender differences, 318

  grandchildren maximized by, 264

  of hairlessness, 257, 258, 260

  of HARs, 252–54

  and hostile forces of nature, 244–45

  of immune cells, 25, 105

  kin selection favored by, 71, 77

  of language, 275, 279, 305

  life-dinner principle in, 24, 26, 145–46, 152, 160–61

  of linked genes, 126–27

  of menopause, 67

  moving and unpredictable targets of, 244, 246–48

  naive altruism unfavored by, 182–83, 279

  of racial differences, 124

  replicators promoted by, 79–80

  reproductive success maximized by, 24, 154, 361

  as selective death, 262–63

  selfish instincts favored by, 71–72

  of steatopygia, 262

  survivors of, 272–73

  treachery favored by, 173–74, 176

  against violence, 266

  of words, 300, 301

  Natural Theology (Paley), 238–40

  Nature, 285

  nature vs. nurture debate, 113–19

  navigation, celestial, 38, 41, 47, 60–61

  Nazis, 160

  Neanderthals, 29–30, 31, 32, 33–35, 37–38, 68, 90, 235, 253, 280

  ancient DNA of, 29, 31, 33–34, 322–23

  brain configuration of, 235–36, 254

  cannibalism of, 309–10

  environmental adaptation of, 44, 45

  extinction of, 30, 33, 45

  female dispersal among, 322–23

  hunting by, 44–45

  lactose intolerance of, 264

  language and, 254, 277–78

  modern human genes shared by, 29, 34, 38, 44, 254

  modern human interbreeding with, 33–34, 44

  physical appearance of, 31, 43–44, 45, 235–36

  social learning of, 43–45, 70, 254, 278

  neuroses, 338, 339

  neutral markers, 55–56

  New Guinea:

  cannibalism in, 310

  linguistic diversity of, 49, 50–51, 302

  slavery in, 94

  tribal warfare in, 193

  New York, N.Y., 55, 188, 196

  New Zealand, 8, 36, 37

  Auckland Museum, 94

  Maori war canoes of, 93–94

  rugby team’s haka chant in, 166

  niche environments, 50

  norms, 176–77, 186

  cooperation as, 212

  in group commitment, 222–23

  punishing deviation from, x, 89, 90, 159

  North America, 5, 9, 35, 37, 52–53

  Northern Ireland, 83

  North Korea, 366

  Nothing to Be Frightened Of (Barnes), 140

  Nume speakers, 50

  nutcracker bird, 42

  obsessive-compulsive behaviors, 143–44, 160

  Oceania, 36

  slavery in, 94

  ochlocracies, 362

  “Of Cannibals” (Montaigne), 310

  Olduvai Gorge site, 43

  Olrat speakers, 50

  Olson, Ken, 334

  On Human Nature (Wilson), 179

  On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (Ricardo), 104

  ontogeny, 353–57

  social, 355–58, 366

  opercula, 111

  oral traditions, 166–68

  orang-utans, 8–9, 234

  reproduction rate of, 66, 67

  order (lack of entropy), 351–57

  Orgel, Leslie, “second rule” of, 324, 355, 357

  Otmoor villages, England, 54–55

  Ötzi, the Ice Man, 93

  overweight people, 336

  Oxford English Dictionary, 293, 294, 301

  Oxford University, 54–55

  Packard, Vance, 326

  paintings, 32, 109–12

  Australian Aboriginal, 168

  cave, 4, 110–12, 116, 168, 236

  by chimpanzees, 109–10

  dominant forms of, 168

  Palestinians, 152

  Paley, William, 238–40

  Palio horse race, Sienese, 103

  Papua New Guinea, ix, 5, 33, 49–51, 53

  density of languages in, 49, 50

  parasites, 21, 25–26, 183–84

  ectoparasites, 257–61

  endoparasites, 257–58, 317–18, 319

  genetic, 285–87

  grooming of, 258

  host behavior manipulated by, 20, 156, 160

  as largest cause of death, 257–58

  religions as, 136–37, 152, 158, 160

  social, 313, 337

  parochialism, 88–90, 91–94, 98, 150, 231–32

  partial reinforcement, 142

  Pascal, Blaise, 148

  pastoralists, nomadic, vii–viii, 91

  differentiated clothing styles of, 52

  paternity uncertainty, 315–16

  patriliny, 37

  patriotism, 81–82, 96

  peacocks’ tails, 154–55, 163, 166, 214

  Pèche Merle Cave paintings, 112

  penguins, 45–46, 130

  Pennisi, Elizabeth, 336

  perceptual defense and vigilance, 149

  performance-enhancing drugs, 134, 159

  Persian “King’s Eyes,” 332

  persistence hunting, 249–50, 257

  Phaedrus (Plato), 167

  phenotypes, 20, 29

  RNA, 74

  social, 291–92

  pheromones, 106

  Picasso, Pablo, 109, 111

  Pinnacle Point site, 3

  plants, 37, 245, 262

  Plato, 167, 223

  pluripotent cells, 354, 355, 356

  politicians, 187

  lame-duck, 192

  Pol Pot, 159, 357

  Polybius, 243

  Polynesians, 35–36, 37, 47–48, 49–50, 60–61

  population
sizes, 23, 127–28, 241, 244, 346–47

  potlatches, 155

  pottery designs, Lapita, 35–36

  predator-prey relationship, 24, 65–66, 245–46, 249–50

  Prehistory of the Mind, The (Mithen), 112

  prejudice, 81–82, 211

  Pride and Prejudice (Austen), 156

  principle of information, 209–11, 216, 231–32

  prions, 310

  prisoner’s dilemma, 188–89

  psychoanalysis, 321–22

  public goods, 226–31

  Punic Wars, 243

  Pygmies, 94

  Québec, 59

  rabbits, 24, 62–63, 64

  as introduced species, 65–66

  rabies virus, 20, 22

  racism, 27, 56, 150, 367–69

  random drift, 60–62, 127–28

  ransoming, 189–90

  Rational Optimist, The (Ridley), 46

  reciprocal altruism, ix–x, 179–202, 280

  fairness expected in, 8, 124, 177, 190, 195–201, 347

  God-Save-the-Queen scenario of, 181–84, 189

  shadow of the future in, 177, 187–95, 347

  strong reciprocity in, 197–98, 199, 200–201

  “Reciprocal Altruism Thirty Years Later” (Trivers), 199

  red hair, 34

  red ochre pigment, 32

  Redwood, John, 83

  Register, K. E., 92

  regression to the mean, 144–45, 148

  reinforcement schedules, 141–45

  religions, 6, 8, 10, 13, 22–23, 91, 96, 102, 132–64, 225

  commensals and, 136–37

  conflicts between, 83

  consolation, hope, and optimism in, 146–50, 159, 162

  as conspicuous waste, 153–56, 163, 214

  coordinated action promoted by, 150–53, 159

  as cultural enhancers, 132–38, 158–64

  dying for, 21, 23, 145, 156, 158

  exchanges with gods in, 148–49

  as explanatory framework, 140–41, 146, 147–50

  false beliefs in, 132, 141–45, 148, 150–53, 156–58

  group commitment advertised by, 153–58, 162, 213–14, 223

  group conflicts and, 150–53, 156

  kin selection invoked by, 152

  life-dinner principle and, 160–61

  magical thinking in, 139, 141–45

  as memes, 135–38, 145–46, 158–64

  as mind virus, 136, 152, 160–62

  and natural disasters, 148–50

  Old Testament God in, 158

  Paley’s natural theology in, 238–40

  as parasites, 136–37, 152, 158, 160

  in prehistoric times, 133, 134–35, 147–48, 149–50, 162

  psychological predisposition to, 138–45

  purveyors of, 162–64

  and regression to the mean, 144–45, 148

  restricted forms taken by, 139

  strange rituals of, 144, 156, 214

  teleology of, 140, 141

  religious art, 112, 156–57

  religious ascetics, 21–22

  religious martyrs, 21

  religious warfare, 83, 159

  Remarque, Erich, 97

  Renard, Jules, 138

  Renfrew, Colin, 297

  replicators, 12, 73–76, 133–34, 160, 194, 283–93

  cultural, 21–26

  natural selection of, 79–80

  RNA, 73–75, 181–84

  transposons as, 285–87

  words as, 294–95

  reproductive lifespans, 67

  reproductive potential, 260–61, 320–21

  reproductive rates, 66–68

  reproductive success, 10, 22, 118–19, 149–50, 158, 225, 235, 239, 352–53, 360

  culture as favorable to, 11, 13, 24, 26, 27

  current and future, 320–21

  natural selection and, 24, 154, 361

  of social amoebae, 77–80

  of termites, 76

  reputation marketplace, 218–22, 225, 231, 280–81

  reputations, 72, 213–32, 280, 294, 313, 347, 348, 364, 366

  attacks on, 219

  contributing to public goods in, 227–31

  enhancement of, 225, 231

  following norms in, 222–23

  greenbeard genes and, 213–18

  honor killings and, 8, 202, 224–25

  morality in, 223–24

  self-sacrifice for, 225

  shaming and, 224, 225

  transferability of, 218–22, 225

  retro fads, 137

  revenge, 180, 193–94

  spiteful, 188

  Reynolds, Craig, 353

  rhetoric, art of, 164, 167

  Ricardo, David, 104

  Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage, 104–6, 108, 109, 121

  rice wine, 262

  Ridley, Matt, 46

  risk assessment, 338–40

  risk taking, 123, 317

  RNA (ribose nucleic acid), 73–75, 181–84

  RNA-world, 73

  Rocamadour religious art, 112, 156–57

  rock-scissors-paper game, 120–21, 122, 124

  Rogers, Alan, 259–60, 335–36, 337

  Romance (Latinate) languages, 57, 297, 298

  Romania, 362

  Romans, ancient, 90–91, 94, 243

  Rosenhan, David, 313–14

  Rostand, Edmund, 290–91

  Rowling, J. K., 334

  Ruhlen, Merrit, 299

  rule of two, 62–68, 93

  running, endurance, 249–50, 257

  Rwanda, 88–89

  Safi, Mahmoud, 152

  Sagan, Carl, 174

  salivary amylase, 48

  Sally-Anne test, 42

  Samburu tribe, 25

  San Bushmen, 92, 256

  persistence hunting style of, 249–50, 257

  Sanskrit language, 296

  Sassoon, Siegfried, 224

  Saudi Arabia, 32

  Saunders, Peter, 125

  scale-free mechanisms, 348–49

  Science, 313, 336

  Scotland, 19, 27

  red hair in, 34

  Seabright, Paul, 346–47

  sea levels, 35, 61

  seashells, as jewelry, 32, 44

  Selepet speakers, 51

  self, sense of, 269–73, 305

  self-awareness, 249, 324–34

  self-deception, 307, 308, 312, 316–24

  self-interest, 8, 13–14, 85, 86, 120, 176–77, 199, 201, 202, 281, 337, 363, 367

  cooperation vs., 71–73

  discriminatory, 232

  enlightened, 72

  group selection vs., 198

  specialization and, 101–8

  suicidal self-sacrifice in, 73, 80, 96–98

  selfish cheats, 71–72, 78, 79–80, 86, 173–74, 176–77, 180, 187–88, 190, 191, 192–93, 194, 199, 200, 208–18, 226–27, 229, 312

  Selfish Gene, The (Dawkins), 249, 307

  “selfish” herds, 246

  selfishness, 85, 187–88, 189, 195–96, 201, 208

  self-organization, 349–58

  self-sacrifice, 8, 13–14, 152, 180

  kin selection and, 174–76, 179–81

  for reputations, 225

  see also altruism

  self-sacrifice, suicidal, 71, 76–87, 175

  group selection and, 96–98

  killing off competitors in, 85, 152

  kin selection and, 81–85, 211–12

  in self-interest, 73, 80, 96–98

  of social amoebae, 77–80, 82, 83, 85

  of suicide bombers, 85, 97, 152, 201

  in warfare, 71, 73, 80, 83–85, 96, 97, 175, 202, 225

  sex chromosomes, 318

  sexual selection, 153–55, 260–62

  hairlessness in, 260–61

  handicap principle in, 154–55

  steatopygia in, 261–62

  Shakespeare, William, 165–66

  shame, 88, 123, 224, 225

  Shaw, George Bernard,
58

  Siberia, 31, 35, 44

  woolly musk oxen of, 45–46

  Siena, Italy, 103, 121–22

  Silent Spring (Carson), 37

  “six degrees of separation” notion, 364

  Skinner, B. F., 141–45

  skylarks, 214, 215, 232

  slavery, 94, 185–86

  Slavic languages, 297, 298

  slime molds, see social amoebae

  “small world” experiment, 364

  social amoebae (slime molds), 77–80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 207–8

  social anthropology, 129

  social contract, 180, 226

  social deprivation, 101

  social environments, 102, 113, 119

  Social Evolution (Trivers), 149

  social insects, 74, 345, 346

  eusociality of, 73, 202

  reproductive success of, 67

  shared vehicles of, 76–77

  specialization of, 106

  warfare of, 71, 73, 152, 175

  social intelligence, 244–51, 311

  levels of, 248

  social competition and, 246–51

  theory of mind in, 248–50

  social learning, 2, 37–49, 59, 62, 68, 105, 205, 236–42, 254, 255–56, 258, 362

  by animals, 38–43

  complexity increased by, 46–47

  cumulative adaptation through, 45–49

  imitation of new behaviors in, 37–45, 61, 69–73, 236–44, 335–40

  improvement in, 38, 39, 40–42, 43, 46–47, 237–38

  by Neanderthals, 43–45, 70, 254, 278

  theory of mind in, 41–43

  as visual theft, 69–73, 186, 280, 337–38

  social networks, 364–66

  social preferences, 51

  social viscosity, 365–66

  Sociopath Next Door, The (Stout), 123–24

  sociopaths, 123–24, 362, 363

  Socrates, 167

  Sokal, Robert, 55–56

  Somerset, Major Fitzroy Richard, 4th Baron Raglan, 1

  songbirds, 100

  American, near eradication of, 37

  dialects of, 8

  South Africa, 32

  South America, 35, 36

  Soviet Union:

  arms race with, 174

  collapse of, 59, 363

  Stalin’s purges in, 159

  space shuttle, 241–42

  Spain, 297, 309–10

  Spanish language, 297–98, 300, 306

  specialization, 75, 99–113, 183, 184, 185, 348, 356–57, 366

  of cells in multicellular organisms, 105–6

  competition engendered by, 108, 125

  latent abilities unmasked by, 108–13

  in Middle Ages, 102–3

  painting as, 109–12

  Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage in, 104–6, 108, 109, 121

  self-interest and, 101–8

  of social insects, 106

  win-stay, lose-shift strategy in, 106–8, 109, 123

  “Species of Thought” (Wilson), 150–51

  Spencer, Herbert, 64

  spite, 187, 188, 280–81

  for unfairness, 198–200

  Stark, Rodney, 148

  Star Wars, 355

  Stealth fighter planes, 293

  stem cells, 354, 355

 

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