PDF-(BOOS)-Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution

Humans are a striking anomaly in the natural world While we are similar to other mammals in many ways our behavior sets us apart Our unparalleled ability to adapt has allowed us to occupy virtually every habitat on earth using an incredible variety of tools and subsistence techniques Our societies are larger more complex and more cooperative than any other mammals In this stunning exploration of human adaptation Peter J Richerson and Robert Boyd argue that only a Darwinian theory of cultural evolution can explain these unique characteristicsNot by Genes Alone offers a radical interpretation of human evolution arguing that our ecological dominance and our singular social systems stem from a psychology uniquely adapted to create complex culture Richerson and Boyd illustrate here that culture is neither superorganic nor the handmaiden of the genes Rather it is essential to human adaptation as much a part of human biology as bipedal locomotion Drawing on work in the fields of anthropology political science sociology and economicsand building their case with such fascinating examples as kayaks corporations clever knots and yams that require twelve men to carry themRicherson and Boyd convincingly demonstrate that culture and biology are inextricably linked and they show us how to think about their interaction in a way that yields a richer understanding of human natureIn abandoning the natureversusnurture debate as fundamentally misconceived Not by Genes Alone is a truly original and groundbreaking theory of the role of culture in evolution and a book to be reckoned with for generations to come I continue to be surprised by the number of educated people many of them biologists who think that offering explanations for human behavior in terms of culture somehow disproves the suggestion that human behavior can be explained in Darwinian evolutionary terms Fortunately we now have a book to which they may be directed for enlightenment It is a book full of good sense and the kinds of intellectual rigor and clarity of writing that we have come to expect from the BoydRicherson stableRobin Dunbar Nature Not by Genes Alone is a valuable and very readable synthesis of a still embryonic but very important subject straddling the sciences and humanitiesE O Wilson Harvard University. Adapted from https. ://sites.google.com/site/highlandhsp3m/unit-1-what-makes-us-human. What does being human mean to you?. What distinguishes humans from animals?. Take a moment an think. REALLY think.. The NATURE. in the Nature vs. Nurture conundrum . Principles That define this level of analysis . Biological psychologists use the “Reductionist Approach”. They attempt to explain behavior very simply …. By finding the physiological (physical) reasons behind the behavior. What is a Nazi. Nazi believes some people are superior. Germans. Scandinavians. Blonde Hair Blue Eyes. Nazi believes some races are wicked and useless.. Jews. Slavs. Blacks. Gypsies . Evolution & . Recall . ANTHROPOLOGY . Definition:. The scientific study of hominids and human culture over time . Focus on:. On hominids/humans as members of a species or cultural group. On humankind as a species, throughout time; . Chapter 21. You must know. How prokaryotic genomes compare to eukaryotic genomes.. Applications of bioinformatics to medicine, evolution, and health.. The activity and role of transposable elements and retrotransposons in generating genetic diversity.. (Dunbar . Ch. 1). Psychologists studied Rats…. And made inferences about humans. Biologists studied non-humans…. And didn’t. The matter of evolution and common ancestry was ignored or avoided. David G. Myers. PowerPoint Slides. Aneeq Ahmad. Henderson State University. Worth Publishers, © 2010. 2. Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity. Chapter 4. 3. Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity. Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences. Mechanisms of concerted evolution. Unequal cross-over. Gene conversion: non-reciprocal transfer of information between homologous sequences; the main mechanism invoked to explain concerted evolution. What you need to know:. The major goals of the Human Genome Project.. How . prokaryotic genomes compare to eukaryotic genomes. .. Applications of bioinformatics to medicine, evolution, and health.. The activity and role of transposable elements and . xxia@uottawa.ca. http://dambe.bio.uottawa.ca. Definitions. Genome: the . entire complement of genetic material carried by an individual. Transcriptome with two definitions:. the . entire set of . transcribable sequences from the genome (operationally all RNA sequences from annotated productive genes in a genome). Lecture Presentation by . Nicole . Tunbridge. and. Kathleen Fitzpatrick. Reading the Leaves from the Tree of Life. Complete genome sequences exist for a human, chimpanzee, . E. coli. , brewer. ’. s yeast, corn, fruit fly, house mouse, rhesus macaque, and many other organisms. Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution: A Synthesisis a textbook on human evolution that offers students a unique combination of cultural anthropology and genetics. Written by two geneticists---including a world-renowned scientist and founder of the Human Genome Diversity Project---and a socio-cultural anthropologist. Based on recent findings in genetics and anthropology that indicate the analysis of human culture and evolution demands an integration of these fields of study. Focuses on evolution---or, rather, co-evolution---viewed from the standpoint of genes and culture, and their inescapable interactions. Unifies cultural and genetic concepts rather than rehashing nonempirical sociobiological musings. Demonstrates that empirical genetic evidence, based on modern DNA analysis and population studies, provides an excellent foundation for understanding human cultural diversity. Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution: A Synthesisis a textbook on human evolution that offers students a unique combination of cultural anthropology and genetics. Written by two geneticists---including a world-renowned scientist and founder of the Human Genome Diversity Project---and a socio-cultural anthropologist. Based on recent findings in genetics and anthropology that indicate the analysis of human culture and evolution demands an integration of these fields of study. Focuses on evolution---or, rather, co-evolution---viewed from the standpoint of genes and culture, and their inescapable interactions. Unifies cultural and genetic concepts rather than rehashing nonempirical sociobiological musings. Demonstrates that empirical genetic evidence, based on modern DNA analysis and population studies, provides an excellent foundation for understanding human cultural diversity. In Becoming Human, noted anthropologist and renaissance man Ian Tattersall explores what makes us uniquely human, the qualities that set us apart from our ancestors, and the significance of our knowledge. A worldwide tour of discovery, Tattersall takes the reader from 30,000-year-old cave paintings in France and anthropological digs in Africa, to examining human behavior in a New York restaurant. And by offering wisdom gleaned from fossil remains, primate behavior, prehistoric art, and archaeology, Tattersall presents a stunning picture of where humankind evolved, how Darwin\'s theories have changed, and what we reliably know about modern-day human\'s capacity for love, language, and thought. Widely praised in the media, and an Amazon.com Top-10 bestseller, Becoming Human is an amazing trip into the past and into the future.