Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind (55 page)

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Authors: Mark Pagel

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Cosmides, Leah, 208–9

Creation, The
(Atkins), 240

creationism, 140

creativity, 43, 236–44, 328, 359

Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, 310

crime rate, 265–66

Cubism, 111

cultural diversity, vii–x

geography in, ix

Native American, 52–53

within Soviet Union, 59

cultural enhancers, 132–69, 220

memes vs., 135–38, 145–46, 158–64

as not directly productive, 132–34, 163

survivors of competition among, 137

see also
art; music; religions

Cultural Origins of Human Cognition
(Tomasello), 41

cultural survival vehicles, 12–15, 29, 45–68, 69–98, 134–35, 153, 191, 281, 355–56

allegiance to, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 27, 73

alliances formed by, 75–76, 88

competition among, 67–68, 72, 90, 92–93, 96, 97, 146

complex subdivisions of, 11

cooperation and, 70–98

cues for shared cultural history in, 82–83, 222–23

cumulative adaptation and, 45–49

favoring members of, 8, 80–82

identifying outsiders of, 222–23, 231–32, 304

missing years and, 59–62

origin of, 76–87

rule of two broken by, 66–68

sense of belonging to, 11, 12, 13, 72–73

shared purposed of, 73, 369

small, vulnerability of, 12, 53–54, 60–62, 70

violence of, 88–95

willingness to die for, 11, 27, 69

cultural survival vehicles, separation of, 48, 49–62

clustered genetic similarities reflected in, 48, 55–56

distinguishing neighbors in, 50–52

geographical population density and, 53

of immigrant communities, 55

and lack of mobility, 54–56

linguistic, 49–54, 56, 57–58, 81

neighbor’s traits resisted by, 59

outside information flow resisted in, 57–59, 81

random drift and, 60–62

culture:

ancestral, 58–59

of animals, 8–9

arbitrary affiliation of, 4–6, 10, 27

arbitrary nature of, 4–5

artifacts of, 4, 26, 32–33, 44

elements of, 1–3, 26

emergence of, 1–2

geographically shared traits of, 58–59

imprinting on, 5–7

individuals’ devotion to, 5

invention of, 2

material, 59

mind control exercised by, 19, 26, 27

reproductive success promoted by, 11, 13, 24, 26, 27

survival of, 11

as survival strategy, 6, 7, 11, 13, 66

cumulative cultural adaptations, 45–49, 70

cuneiform tablets, 167

cut marks, on bones, 43, 310

Cyrano de Bergerac
(Rostand), 290–91

Dalí, Salvador, 109

Daly, Martin, 315

Darwin, Charles, 9–10, 14, 25, 64, 80, 96, 151, 158, 164–69, 202, 242, 245

descent with modification concept of, 251–52, 296, 297

on language development, 296

sexual selection theory of, 153–54

at Tierra de Fuego, 260

Dawkins, Richard, 12, 21, 24, 158, 206, 239–40, 249, 272, 307

death, 10, 20, 64, 69, 76, 95, 115, 164, 262–63, 363

cannibalism and, 309–11

kin selection and, 71

of noncontributing tribal members, 95

parasites as largest cause of, 257–58

for religious beliefs, 21, 23, 145, 156, 158

of social amoebae, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 85

see also
self-sacrifice, suicidal

debris, evolutionary, 128

deception, 13–14, 208, 307–40

detection of, 307, 310–11, 312–14, 320

genetic factors in, 314, 316–24;
see also
gender differences

hidden emotions in, 312

in infantile anonymity at birth, 314–16

intelligence and, 173–74, 309–16

mental illness and, 309–11, 313–14

rewards of, 312

self-, 307, 308, 312, 316–24

social learning and, 335–40

theory of mind in, 311–12, 330–31

truth vs.,
see
truth

as “zero-sum” interaction, 313

decision making, 324–40

in brain, 325–27, 328–30, 332

collective ignorance and, 335, 363

imitation vs. innovation in, 335–40

defensive strategies, 245

defensive walls, 360

demography, rule of two in, 62–68, 93

Denisova Cave site, 31, 33, 34

Dennett, Daniel, 21, 22, 140, 324

depression, 150

Descartes, René, 139

Cogito, ergo sum
statement of, 327

Descent of Man, The
(Darwin), 296

descent with modification, 251–52, 296, 297

determinism, 14

detour task, 272

Diamond, Jared, 61, 291

Dictator game, 197, 200–201

dictatorships, 349, 363, 365–66

Dinka tribe, 9

diploid organisms, 316–17

Dirac, Paul, 128–29

diseases, 20, 95, 127, 160–61, 248, 257–58, 310, 360–61

dispersal, male vs. female, 322–23, 324

diversifying selection, 101

division of labor, 92–93, 99, 100, 184, 350

DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid), 73, 133–34, 181, 251–54, 277, 353

ancient, 29, 31, 33–34, 322–23

chromosomes of, 126–27, 252, 283–84, 318

as digital signaling system, 287–89

double helix of, 74

junk, 285–89, 292

language and, 283–93

mitochondrial, 318–19

nucleotides of, 252, 263, 287–89

see also
genes; genetic factors

dogs, 255, 272, 346

domestic breeds of, 101–2

rabid, 20

rule-based behavior of, 245, 272

dolphins, 8

domestication, 254–64

of animals, 101–2, 114, 255–56, 263–64, 265, 266

of plants, 262

Dorig speakers, 50

dowries, 37

drug use, 22, 23, 160

performance-enhancing, 134, 159

dualism, 139–40

Duncan, Dayton, 52

Durham Cathedral, 157, 163

dyslexia, 128

Easter Island, 36

Ebola
virus, 20

economics, 104–5, 176–77, 188, 196–201

barter, 220

common goods in, 213, 226–31

credit in, 219

interdependence in, 186, 350–51

law of supply and demand in, 121–22, 200

transferability in, 218–22

ultimatum game of, 196–200

economies of scale, 358–63

ectoparasites, 257–61

Edgerton, David, 242–43

ego, 321–22, 323

Einstein, Albert, 129, 328

elephants, 63, 73, 176

Ember, Carol, 92

embryonic development, 353–57

emergent properties, 351

Emin, Tracey, 138

empathy, 7, 8, 88, 266

endoparasites, 257–58, 317–18, 319

endurance running, 249–50, 257

England, 19, 38–39, 236–40, 296

Durham Cathedral in, 157, 163

London art galleries of, 138

London’s Millennium Bridge in, 237–38

moralistic aggression in, 224

Norman conquest of, 57, 306

Otmoor villages of, 54–55

Paley’s natural theology in, 238–40

English language, 57–58, 222–23, 297, 298, 300–302

adaptability of, 306

Americanisms in, 58, 305

Old to Modern, 295–96

as worldwide lingua franca, 303, 305–6

English speakers, 50, 57

engraved ochre stone at Blombos Cave site, 32, 113

enhancement selection, 231

environments, 67, 143, 326–27, 335–36

adaptations to, 7, 9, 38, 44, 45–46, 47–48, 66, 127, 151

carrying capacity of, 65–66, 93, 95, 297, 361

natural disasters in, 148

niche, 50

social, 102, 113, 119

in talent development, 102, 113–19

typically human, 114–15

Eothen
(Kinglake), 282–83

epidemiology, 360–61

equality of opportunity, 125

Esperanto, 303

Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(Locke), 169, 308

Ethiopia, 30

Europe, 29–30, 33–34, 37, 44, 45, 48, 54–56, 263–64, 280, 363

adult milk digestion in, 263–64

ancient hunter-gatherers in, 297

languages of, 296–97

European Union, 186

eusociality, 73, 202

evolution, ix–x, 1–15, 45–46, 69–98, 125–31, 133, 136, 232, 233–66, 307, 340, 346

of altruism, 78–87

of brain, 234–36, 250–54, 311, 328–29, 338, 356

common ancestors in, 251–54, 263

continuing, 264–66

convergent, 134

of cooperation, 174, 177, 204–13

cultural, 21–27, 36–37, 45–49, 108–9, 129–31, 134–35

of cultural altruism, 204–13

Darwinian,
see
Darwin, Charles

of endurance running, 249–50

free will and, 10

group selection in, 96–98

independent, 130

of language, 220–21, 279–83

major transitions in, 75, 76–77

of menopause, 67

naturalistic fallacy and, 14

as progressive, 129–31

recent rapid, 125–27

replicators in, 73–76

of risk taking, 123

of spite, 188

time in, 9

in typically human environments, 114–15

variety in, 239–40

of viruses, rapidity of, 25

see also
natural selection; reproductive success; survival strategies

evolutionarily stable strategies, 119–25, 336

evolutionary biology, ix–x, 7, 11, 20, 22, 71, 75, 101, 120, 154, 188, 204–13, 239, 359

evolutionary debris, 128

Evolution of Language, The
(Fitch), 278

Evolution of Technology, The
(Basalla), 242

exchange, cooperative, 100, 103–5, 108, 124, 311–12, 313

Extended Phenotype, The
(Dawkins), 12

extinctions, 60, 183

of
Homo,
30, 33, 37, 43, 45, 68

human near-, 4

of languages, 305–6

modern humans as cause of, 37

of words, 301

extreme male brain, 128

fairness, sense of, 8, 124, 177, 190, 195–201, 347, 367

in ultimatum game, 196–200

false beliefs, 132, 141–45, 148, 150–53, 156–58, 231, 308, 338, 339, 348

false-belief tests, 42

Fear and Trembling
(Kierkegaard), 157–58

Federal Bureal of Investigation (FBI), 187

female dispersal, 322–23

Fertile Crescent, 297

figurines, sculpted, 30, 44, 112–13

Venus statues, 261–62

financial crises, 186

fire ants, 206–7

Fitch, Tecumseh, 278

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

flaking stone tools, 39–40

Flores, island of, 34–35

food sharing, 228–31

Foré tribe, 310

forgiveness, 190, 193–95

fossil record, fossils, 2, 30, 32, 34, 37, 127, 156–57, 246

4’33”
(Cage), 132–33

FOXP2 gene, 254, 277

France, 156–57

cave paintings in, 110–12, 168

linguistic isolationism of, 57–58

free will, 10, 273, 324–26

French language, 57–58, 296, 297, 298, 300, 306

Freud, Sigmund, 321–22, 323

fruit flies, 262, 284

Fuegians, 35, 61, 260

fur, 256–61

Gabbra tribe, viii, 52

gametes, 5

Gandhi, Mahatma, 193

gazelles, 245

stotting by, 214–15, 230

gender differences, 316–24

in endoparasites, 317–18, 319

male vs. female dispersal in, 322–23, 324

in reproductive potential, 260–61, 320–21

sex chromosomes in, 318

genes, 1–6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 19–27, 45–49, 64, 68, 73, 75–76, 77–78, 88, 133–34, 143, 152, 160, 205, 272, 276, 283–93, 303, 308–9, 352–53, 369

for adult digestion of milk, 263–64

alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh), 262

alleles of, 126–27, 316–24

altruist, 79–81, 85

ASPM, 265

bacterial exchange of, 3

cooperation promoted by, 10–11

determination vs. influence by, 114–15

expression of, 134, 253, 254, 286–87, 320–24

for eye color, 316

FOXP2, 254, 277

in gametes, 5

greenbeard, 206–9, 211–18, 222

group differences in, 48, 55–56

growth factor receptor-bound protein 10 (Grb10), 324

handicap principle and, 154–55

human-Neanderthal shared, 24, 34, 38, 44

insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2), 321

interspecies sharing of, 284–85

linked, 126–27

lost by domesticated cells, 255

melanocortin I receptor, 259–60

memes vs., 21–26

microcephalin, 265

mitochondrial, 319

mutations of, 239, 240, 253, 263–64, 295

number of, 283–84

of parasites, 20

prion, 310

proteins made by, 253, 286, 288

recent common ancestry shown by, 4

recombination of, 126

for red hair, 34

regulation of, 286–89

as replicators, 12

restricted flow of, 54–56

selfish, 10–11

similarity of, human near-extinction demonstrated by, 4

of social insects, 71, 76, 77–78

transposons in, 285–87

Genesis, Book of, 157–58

genetic enhancers, 133–34

genetic factors, 33–34, 44, 59–62, 71, 202, 247, 251–66

accelerated change in, 252–54

in autism, 128–29

in brain, 251–64

clustered similar, 48, 55–56

in deception, 314, 316–24;
see also
gender differences

in dog breeds, 101–2

domestication and, 254–64

in dyslexia, 128

language and, 283–93

proposed late change in, 59–60

random drift and, 60–62, 127–28

in talent, 100–102, 110, 113–19, 122–29

twin studies and, 115–17

see also
kin selection

genetic markers, 206–9

neutral, 55–56

genetic meritocracies, 125

genetic relatedness, degree of, 175–76, 179–80, 211–12, 323, 366

genetic variety, 100–102, 110, 113–19, 122–29

heritability of, 117–19

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