So are we more “animal” than we realize?

Still Living in the Stone Age

Psychologists working in a new area of research are starting to realize that much of our behavior is controlled by our genes, rather than our culture.

Shortly after the British natu­ralist, Charles Darwin, pub­lished his theory of evolu­tion, a Victorian lady was asked what she thought of the idea that humans and animals were descend­ed from a common ancestor. “Let us hope it is not true,” she said. “And, if it is true, let us hope it does not become public knowledge.” This story is probably apoc­ryphal, but it illustrates well the attitudes of the time. Today, we are more comfortable with our past. Many people accept Darwin's view of how we came into being – that our bodies evolved through the process of natural selection acting on our genes. However, Darwin believed evolu­tion was responsible for far more than just our physical characteristics. He saw it as the major influence in shaping our psychology. Indeed, he predicted that “in the distant future, psychology will be based on a new foundation”. This foundation was, of course, his theory of evolution. To proponentsof concepts like free will and personal responsibili­ty, such an idea seems absurd. But a growing number of scientists are questioning the extent to which our behaviour is controlled by our cul­ture. Their research has revealed increasing evidence that the human mind is made up of innatemecha­nisms, which control everything from the way we perceive time and space, to how we learn survival techniques and choose mates. Nowhere is this more obvious than our innate ability to learn lan­guages. Steven Pinker, Professor of Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, likens language ability to computer software. "Children learn a new word every 90 minutes of their waking life for years. Then they have to figure out how to string them together using... a kind of mental computer pro­gramme. The essence of human lan­guage is the ability to convey new ideas by putting words together in different combinations. Since we all have this language 'software' in our minds, we can figure out what oth­ers are saying by the meanings of the words and the order in which they are arranged." Evolutionary psychologists believe that most of these in-built “programmes” evolved over the hundreds of thousands of years during which we were hunter-gatherers.They point to the fact that many aspects of human behav­iour can be explained by under­standing what would have helped us to survive in the past.  

So are we more “animal” than we realize?

Take our desire to consume high-fat foods rather than high -fibre vegetables. Our brains evolved to prefer foods with lots of calories because our early ancestors, who lived by hunting and gathering, con­tinually faced a shortage of high-energy foods. Today, we suffer heart disease and other illnesses caused by high-fat diets because we are sim­ply not accustomed to having access to so much high-energy food.

Attraction to the opposite sex seems to be programmed, too. In a study of over

10,000 people in 37 different cultures around the world, Dr David Buss of the University of Texas found that there are universal rules which make a man or woman attractive to the opposite sex.

“Men universally desire sexual partners who are younger than they are,” he contends. “How much younger depends on whether themarriage system is polygamous or monogamous. In polygamous cul­tures, men prefer women who are around seven or eight years younger than they are. In monoga­mous cultures, they prefer women around three years younger.”

As far as preferences are con­cerned, Dr Buss found that “men place a greater emphasis on the physical appearance of the partner, because this provides clues to reproductive fitness”. “Women desire men with economic resources, and the qualities that lead to economic resources: social status, ambition, industriousness.”

Darwinian theory also helps explain the darker side of human nature: why we are capable of vio­lence and murder. Martin Daly of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, believes the high murder rate in the poorer areas of some cities is a direct result of the natural instinct of males to compete with each other for females. He thinks that males with little or no financial resources are more likely to take risks and behave violently to acquire females.

And studies of other primates reveal that violence, like that seen at football match­es and the human capacity for war, may also be inherent. Chimpanzees, for example, frequently “gang up” to attack their neighbours.

Finally, Professor Leda Cosmides of the Centre for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, believes that the reason many people in western society have psychological problems is because the environment we live in is not the one in which we evolved to survive.

She maintains that, like our ani­mal cousins, we evolved to deal with the instantaneous life or death sit­uations that characterise life in the wild. But we no longer live like that. Instead we suffer long-term stress from uncertainties like job insecuri­ty and poverty. And, when we come into conflict with others, we are forced to enter legal disputes which may take years to resolve, when our natural instinct is just to lash out and leave it at that.

The future ramifications of this young theory are legion. Apart from the philosophical issues it raises, it will challenge most, if not all, of our current ideas, systems and laws, from abortion and con­traception, to racial and cultural discrimination, to our propensi­ties for compassion and genocide.

(David Gifford, BBC English).

Questions for discussion:

1. What was the attitude to Ch. Darwin’s theory of evolu­tion in the Victorian times? How does it differ today?

2. Is evolu­tion responsible for far more than just people’s physical characteristics?

3. A growing number of scientists are questioning the extent to which our behaviour is controlled by our cul­ture. Extend the statement.

4. How do evolutionary psychologists explain most of in-built “programmes”? Give examples.

5. How does Professor Leda Cosmides of the Centre for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara explain the fact that many people in western society have psychological problems?

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