Störmer Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature

1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-3-642-13968-0
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 166 Seiten

To understand why we humans are as we are, it is necessary to look at the essential building blocks that comprise our nature. The foundations of this structure are our evolutionary origins as primates and our social roots. Upon these rest features such as our emotions, language and aesthetic preferences, with our self-perceptions, self-deceptions and thirst for knowledge right at the top.The unifying force holding these blocks together is evolutionary theory. Evolution provides a deeper understanding of human nature and, in particular, of the common roots of these different perspectives.To build a reliable and coherent model of man, leading authors from fields as diverse as primatology, anthropology, neurobiology and philosophy have joined forces to present essays  each describing their own expert perspective. Together they provide a convincing and complete picture of our own human nature.

Ulrich Frey (philosophy), Charlotte Störmer and Kai Willführ (biology) work in an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Giessen, applying evolutionary theory to a broad range of fields. The following authors contributed to the chapters of this book: Karl Grammer, Benjamin Grant Purzycki, Peter Kappeler, Niklas Krebs, Ruth Mace, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Frank Rösler, Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Mary K. Shenk, Richard Sosis and Matthias Uhl.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Störmer, Charlotte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;7
2;Contents;8
3;List of Contributors;11
4;Introduction;13
5;Chapter 1 Our Origins: How and Why We Do and Do Not Differ from Primates;16
5.1;1.1 Introduction;17
5.2;1.2 Why Humans Do Not Differ from Primates;18
5.3;1.3 How Humans Do Not Differ from Primates;21
5.4;1.4 How Humans Do Differ from Primates;22
5.5;1.5 Why Humans Do Differ from Primates;23
5.6;References;24
6;Chapter 2 Our Children: Parental Decisions — How Much to Invest in Your Offspring;28
6.1;2.1 Introduction to Parental Investment Theory;28
6.2;2.2 Life History Theory and Tradeoffs;30
6.2.1;2.2.1 Current vs. Future Reproduction;30
6.2.2;2.2.2 Quantity vs. Quality;31
6.3;2.3 Who Invests: Mothers, Fathers, Grandmothers, and Others;34
6.3.1;2.3.1 Mothers and Fathers;34
6.3.2;2.3.2 Grandmothers and Others;36
6.3.3;2.3.3 Are Humans Cooperative Breeders?;37
6.4;2.4 Parent–Offspring and Sibling Conflicts;38
6.4.1;2.4.1 Infanticide and Neglect;38
6.4.2;2.4.2 Differential Investment and Inheritance;40
6.5;2.5 Sons vs. Daughters: Sex Biases in Parental Investment;41
6.5.1;2.5.1 The Trivers–Willard Effect;41
6.5.2;2.5.2 Local Resource Competition and Enhancement;42
6.5.3;2.5.3 Marriage Payments as Sex-Biased Parental Investment;43
6.6;2.6 Conclusions;44
6.7;References;45
7;Chapter 3 Our Social Roots: How Local Ecology Shapes Our Social Structures;50
7.1;3.1 Adaptation and Maladaptation;50
7.2;3.2 Testing Hypotheses About Adaptation in Human Cultural Behavior Through Cross-Cultural Comparison;53
7.2.1;3.2.1 Ecological Correlates of Human Social Behavior;53
7.2.2;3.2.2 How Social Behavior is Adapted to Subsistence Strategies;55
7.2.3;3.2.3 Cultural Phylogenetics;56
7.2.4;3.2.4 Transmission of Traits from Mother to Daughter Cultures;61
7.3;3.3 Conclusions;63
7.4;References;64
8;Chapter 4 Our Selections and Decisions: Inherent Features of the Nervous System?;66
8.1;4.1 Introduction;66
8.2;4.2 Some Thoughts About Selection–Decision Architectures;69
8.3;4.3 Switching/Decision/Negotiation Modules;73
8.3.1;4.3.1 Features of Conflict Negotiation Modules;73
8.3.2;4.3.2 Evidence for Conflict-Negotiating Modules;74
8.4;4.4 Representation of Decision-Related Intervening Variables;76
8.4.1;4.4.1 BOLD Responses in Humans;77
8.4.2;4.4.2 Single Cell Responses in Animals;79
8.5;4.5 Summary and Some Implications;81
8.5.1;4.5.1 Distributed Networks and Complex Interactions;81
8.5.2;4.5.2 Nomothetic vs. Idiographic Descriptions;82
8.6;References;85
9;Chapter 5 Our Gods: Variation in Supernatural Minds;87
9.1;5.1 Introduction;87
9.2;5.2 Representing Supernatural Minds;88
9.2.1;5.2.1 The Mindreading System and Attributed Domains;88
9.2.2;5.2.2 Supernatural Minds, Variation, and Counterintuitiveness;90
9.3;5.3 Variation in Domains of Supernatural Agents’ Knowledge and Concern;94
9.3.1;5.3.1 Omniscience with Heightened Concern: Prosocial Behavior;94
9.3.2;5.3.2 Imperfect Access with Acute Concern: Ritual Behavior;95
9.3.3;5.3.3 Emphases on Faith, Practice, and Social Complexity;97
9.4;5.4 Conclusion;99
9.5;References;99
10;Chapter 6 Our Preferences: WhyWe Like What We Like;104
10.1;6.1 Darwin’s Problem;105
10.2;6.2 Evolutionary Constraints on Aesthetic Perception:The Body as an Evolved Form;107
10.3;6.3 The Eight Pillars of Beauty;109
10.4;6.4 Alternative Views: Neuroaesthetics;112
10.5;6.5 Alternative Views: The Evolutionary Psychology of Ugliness;113
10.6;6.6 The Future of the Adapted Mind;114
10.7;References;115
11;Chapter 7 Our Appetite for Information: Invented Environment, Non-Transparent Mind, and Evolved Preferences;118
11.1;7.1 Introduction;118
11.2;7.2 Old Cognition, New Playgrounds, and the Technological Fallacy;119
11.3;7.3 We Don’t Know that We Don’t Know How We Perceive Media;121
11.4;7.4 Still the Same Old Cues;124
11.5;7.5 Reality and Media: The Boundary that Never Was;126
11.6;7.6 The Old Stories Are the Best;127
11.7;7.7 Conclusion;129
11.8;References;130
12;Chapter 8 Our Best Shot at Truth: Why Humans Evolved Mathematical Abilities;131
12.1;8.1 Introduction;131
12.2;8.2 The Mathematical Abilities of Modern Humans;132
12.2.1;8.2.1 Number Sense;132
12.2.2;8.2.2 Number Processing;134
12.2.3;8.2.3 Mathematical Thinking in Terms of Relations;135
12.3;8.3 Evolutionary Origins of the Mathematical Abilities of Modern Humans;137
12.3.1;8.3.1 Evolutionary Origins of Number Sense;137
12.3.2;8.3.2 Evolutionary Origins of Number Processing;138
12.3.3;8.3.3 Evolutionary Origins of Mathematical Thinking in Terms of Relations;141
12.4;8.4 Discussion: The Mathematical Nature of Modern Humans;144
12.5;References;147
13;Chapter 9 Our Way to Understand the World: Darwin’s Controversial Inheritance;150
13.1;9.1 Knowing Instead of Believing: Why the Theory of Evolutionand Traditional Forms of Belief Are Irreconcilable;150
13.2;9.2 Errors and Misunderstandings: The Theory of Evolution and the Ghost of Biologism;156
13.3;9.3 Huxley’s Synthesis: How Evolutionary Humanism Comes into Darwin’s Inheritance;159
13.4;References;163
14;Index;164