Sociobiology and Creationism: Two Ethnosociologies of American Culture

One of the most important motifs in mythology is the animal-human distinction. The relationship between humans and nonhuman animals is also a major concern of both human sociobiology and "scientific" creationism. In this paper, we suggest that sociobiology and creationism function as ethnosociologies of American society and that neither can be completely understood until they are related to each other and to the key symbols of American culture. We argue that sociobiology and creationism are comments on the secular world view of American culture and exist as transformations of one another.     

Attitudes toward and knowledge of sociobiology among college science professors

Abstract

It appears that there is currently a great deal of renewed interest in the area of sociobiology. It therefore seemed appropriate to assess the attitudes and knowledge of college science professors who are primarily charged with disseminating information in this field. To this end, the present study was undertaken to determine the concepts and opinions held by scientists in various disciplines at the university level. Information was gathered from 79.3% of the 111 sample questionnaires sent out (i.e., 88 questionnaires returned). Respondents were familiar with one or more sociobiologists and felt that sociobiology was indeed a science, although a highly controversial one. A majority expressed the opinion that this science applies to other organisms, but has very limited application to the human species.     

Sociobiology and philosophical ethics: Narrowing the gap

Though there are good reasons for thinking that sociobiology is capable of contributing to the solution of one of the central problems of philosophical ethics, the problem of other-benefitting behaviour, philosophers have not welcomed the new discipline with open arms. This has been so for three reasons: it is said that sociobiology studies behaviour, and not its proximal causes, that sociobiology tells us about the evolutionary history of behaviour and not about its justification, and that sociobiology prescribes morally unacceptable ways of acting. I argue that the first of the objections is simply mistaken, and that when we realize this, the second loses some of its force. I also argue in favour of atwo-factor model of motivation with reason and the emotions engaged in a dialogue with each other concerning the morally relevant features of a given situation. This two-factor model helps us overcome the third objection above, namely to the morally unacceptable dictates of sociobiology, and also to weaken claims that sociobiology is committed to a lack of freedom of the will in human action. Broadly speaking, my argument suggest that the ethical framework most suited to accommodating sociobiological insights into human motivation is an Aristotelian structure.     

The future of sociobiology: Counting babies or studying proximate mechanisms

Much of the debate over applying the theory of evolution to the study of human behaviour has died down because most critics now realize that the political ramifications of sociobiology are no more, or no less, than those of behaviourism, psychoanalysis or cognitive science. But controversy remains. It is scientific, and concerns the 'proper' way to do human sociobiology. I contrast the perspective of those sociobiologists who use the approach of behavioural ecology, and who have come to be known as 'darwinian anthropologists' or 'darwinian social scientists', with their critics, who refer to themselves as evolutionary or 'darwinian psychologists', describe the research methods that each uses, and ask if those issues must also be confronted by those studying animals.     

Deconstructing Darwin: Evolutionary theory in context

The topic of this paper is external versus internal explanations, first, of the genesis of evolutionary theory and, second, its reception. Victorian England was highly competitive and individualistic. So was the view of society promulgated by Malthus and the theory of evolution set out by Charles Darwin and A.R. Wallace. The fact that Darwin and Wallace independently produced a theory of evolution that was just as competitive and individualistic as the society in which they lived is taken as evidence for the impact that society has on science. The same conclusion is reached with respect to the reception of evolutionary theory. Because Darwins contemporaries lived in such a competitive and individualistic society, they were prone to accept a theory that exhibited these same characteristics. The trouble is that Darwin and Wallace did not live in anything like the same society and did not formulate the same theory. Although the character of Victorian society may have influenced the acceptance of evolutionary theory, it was not the competitive, individualistic theory that Darwin and Wallace set out but a warmer, more comforting theory.     

Social Darwinism Lives! (Should it?)

Sociobiology has made a resurgence in recent years, but has become enmeshed in political controversy. Indeed, much of the work in sociobiology has been used to justify repressive or racist measures. It is argued that the unfortunate alliance of some sociobiologists and politicians is a poor basis for discrediting the field itself; that a science of sociobiology is possible and, if we seek to know the nature of our social heritage (if any!), needs be vigorously pursued.     

Producing Absolute Truth: CSI Science as Wishful Thinking

ABSTRACT  Forensic science has come to be assigned an important role in contemporary crime fiction. In this article, I analyze the cultural repertoire of forensic science conveyed by the popular television show Crime Scene Investigation (CSI). I argue that CSI science, in delivering an absolute "truth" about how and by whom crimes have been committed, is equated with justice, effectively superseding nonfictional forensic science as well as nonfictional judicature as a whole. Thus, CSI as a cultural performance adds to the mediascape a repertoire of wishful-thinking science with which to think about perceptions of and desires for crime and justice in nonfictional society. This repertoire seems to be considered relevant enough to nonfictional society to cause concern about the judicial system, as expressed in discussions of the so-called " CSI effect."     

A primer to ‘bio-objects’: new challenges at the interface of science, technology and society

Biotechnological and life science innovations do not only lead to immense progress in diverse fields of natural science and technical research and thereby drive economic development, they also fundamentally affect the relationship between nature, technology and society. Taken this seriously, the ethical and societal assessment of emerging biotechnologies as for example synthetic biology is challenged not only to constrain on questions of biosafety and biosecurity but also to face the societal questions within the different fields as an interface problem of science and society. In order to map this vague and stirring field, we propose the concept of bio-objects to explore the reciprocal interaction at the interface of science and society serious as well to have the opportunity to detect possible junctions of societal discontent and unease before their appearance.     

Sociobiology and the Comparative Approach: One Way to Study Ourselves

This paper is based on my lecture in a macroevolution course I team-teach with Profs. Daniel Brooks and David Evans at the University of Toronto. The lecture has undergone many revisions over the years as I grappled with problems discussing certain areas (e.g., rape as an adaptive strategy, gender “roles”). Eventually, I realized that the problem areas said more about my personal conflicts than they did about the science. This was one of those epiphany moments, a time when I recognized that I was less likely to accept hypotheses that contradicted the way I wanted the world to be and more likely to uncritically accept hypotheses that confirmed my world view. That epiphany, in turn, led me to realize that science is never separate from the personal biases/demons of its practitioners, especially when we are asking questions about the evolution of human behavior. That realization was not novel within the vast literature of sociology and philosophy. But it was novel for me. I was aware of discussions about personal biases clouding scientific interpretation; I just didn’t think it applied to me (I absorbed the philosophical discussions without making the connection to “my world”). So, on the heels of that epiphany, the following is a very personal take on the question of teaching sociobiology, based on where my journey, aided by my experience as an ethologist and phylogeneticist and colored by my own history, has taken me.     

Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology

Current sociobiology is in theoretical disarray, with a diversity of frameworks that are poorly related to each other Part of the problem is a reluctance to revisit the pivotal events that took place during the 1960s, including the rejection of group selection and the development of alternative theoretical frameworks to explain the evolution of cooperative and altruistic behaviors. In this article, we take a "back to basics" approach, explaining what group selection is, why its rejection was regarded as so important, and how it has been revived based on a more careful formulation and subsequent research. Multilevel selection theory (including group selection) provides an elegant theoretical foundation for sociobiology in the future, once its turbulent past is appropriately understood.     

中国南方第四纪哺乳动物群所反映的自然环境变迁

<正> 现代哺乳动物的地理分布,显示出世界各大陆的动物区系同地球上气候分带是密切相关,根据我国现代动物区划(郑作新、张荣祖,1959),可将全国分二界,七个基本区,最主要是东洋与古北二界。南方地区可以划分为西南、华中及华南三亚区,这三亚区基本上是属于东洋界。一些属于东洋界的属种,仅分布于长江以南地区,而华北地区分布很少或     

Tibetan Fraternal Polyandry: A Test of Sociobiological Theory

This paper tests sociobiological hypotheses regarding the way practitioners of fraternal polyandry in a Tibetan population in Nepal may enhance their inclusive fitness. Demographic data demonstrate higher mortality and lower survivorship of offspring in fraternal polyandry than monogamy. Moreover, the probability of allele transmission for an ego is lower in fraternal polyandrous unions than in monogamous unions. On the basis of the measured parameters, Tibetan fraternal polyandry does not appear to enhance the fitness of individuals who practice it and, in fact, seems to entail substantial reproductive sacrifice . [sociobiology, fraternal polyandry, inclusive fitness, demography, Tibet]     

中国基因技术领域战略规划框架与研发现状分析及建议

文中简要介绍中国政府和中国科学院在基因技术研究领域的科技战略框架,以及在此指导下,中国研究人员取得的卓越进展,并通过文献计量和专利分析的方法揭示中国基因技术研发现状。无论在论文数量和质量,还是专利申请数量方面,中国都有了显著提升,但在国际合作和产学研结合方面仍有待加强。未来中国还需要抓好顶层设计,加强政府引导和监管,引入企业和社会的多方投资,加大科普宣传力度,预防生物安全和生物安保风险等。基因技术领域的创新和突破将为现代化产业的可持续发展提供主要的技术推动力,为中国生物经济发展注入新的活力。     

An early chapter in behavioral physiology and sociobiology: the science of Martin Lindauer

The fields of behavioral physiology and sociobiology enjoyed spectacular success in post World War II Germany. One of the major contributors to this blossoming in behavioral science was Martin Lindauer, who furthered the research approach of his mentor (Karl von Frisch), made numerous seminal discoveries, and nurtured a strong next generation in the area of neurobiology and behavior. We review the scientific development of Martin Lindauer within the German academic system in the years surrounding World War II, examine his research approach and achievements, and discuss his unusually successful methods of scientific pedagogy.     

Beyond the DP/DSS controversy

Paul Turke's “Which humans behave adaptively, and why does it matter?” shows, if he we are to take him as being representative of “Darwinian social science” in general, that his school of thought has moved surprisingly close to that of its “Darwinian psychology” critics in accepting the importance if not the primacy of the psychological level of explanation in applying evolutionary theory to human behavior. Disagreements continue over whether the adaptiveness of current behavior should be viewed as an occasionally interesting question because of the light it can shed on evolved psychological mechanisms, or whether, as Turke maintains, it is the central question for human sociobiology. In any event, the “vertically integrated approach,” utterly ignored by Turke, incorporates Darwinian Psychology and is far more powerful than is Turke's approach in explicating the relationship between genes and culture, thereby rendering the current debate pointless.     

Similarities and Varieties: A Brief Sketch on the Reception of Darwinism and Sociobiology in Japan

This paper discusses the reception of Darwinian evolutionary theory and sociobiology in Japan. Darwinism was introduced into Japan in the late 19th century and Japanese people readily accepted the concept of evolution because, lacking Christianity, there was no religious opposition. However, the theory of evolution was treated as a kind of social scientific tool, i.e., social Spencerism and eugenics. Although evolutionary biology was developed during the late 19th and the early 20th century, orthodox Darwinian theory was neglected for a long time. In the mid 1980s, sociobiology was introduced but it was ignored and criticized by a large part of the ecologist-evolutionist community in Japan. This hostile attitude was due to the absence of Darwinism among these scientists. Compared with the reception of sociobiology in English-speaking countries, there were both similarities and differences in Japan.     

Empirical modeling and appraising of saving society: The case of China

In the late 2004th year, the new strategy of building a saving society (SS) in China has attracted the main attention of experts and researchers from governments, universities and institutes. It is important, therefore, to model and evaluate the SS.Focusing on the designing of an indicator system, the paper aims to evaluate the saving states of China. Within the framework it has included five sub-systems of resources, economy, society, technology and environment, as well as 39 indicators. The method of entropy-value was used to decide the weights of every indicator. Moreover, two very important indexes, saving development index (SDI) and saving coordination index (SCI), were also set up to examine the development of the saving society in general and coordination situations of five sub-systems.Therefore, an empirical analysis on the historical evolution of China's saving society from 1990 to 2004 was carried out. It was argued that over the past 15 years there have been great changes in the saving society of China, but it mainly fell into the ranges of the modest saving development, whilst its five sub-systems keeping relatively least coordination. This implies that there will be a long way for China to realize its saving society in the future.     

城市可持续发展新型定量研究方法进展

城市体现了集约化的发展方式,以仅占陆地3%的面积承载了世界一多半的人口,因此城市是人类社会可持续发展的主阵地,城市可持续发展是区域可持续发展的重要实践。研究试图从可持续发展的基本内涵着手,聚焦于城市尺度的研究,梳理了相关理论和概念演变历程,着重对新型定量方法——评价指标体系法、复杂系统建模、资源环境可持续性探索等进行综述。研究发现指标体系法常用于传统的城市可持续发展评估,大多是针对表象的分析,隔离了系统内部的组织关联,对系统机理探索不够。资源环境对人类社会的发展起到基础支撑作用,从资源环境可持续性出发研究可持续发展诞生了一些较为创新的方法,但研究集中在描述人类对自然的压力和影响,而对于自然对人类的反馈以及人对自然的积极改造探索不足,也很难直接表达系统整体的可持续性。弹性思维和复杂系统科学近年来被多次用于解释城市运行的灰箱模型,但研究稍浅。研究提出可将弹性思维和复杂系统科学结合起来,借助数据科学和计算科学的新兴方法,分析城市的可持续发展,深入探索可持续性的科学表达和深层机理,为解决复杂的城市问题提供科学指导,为城市可持续发展提供理论依据。     

Global trends in plant transgenic science and technology (1973-2003)

Transgenic science and technology are fundamental to state-of-the-art plant molecular genetics and GM crop improvement. Monitoring the scale and growth of this area of science is important to scientists, national and international research organizations, funding bodies, policy makers and, because of the GM debate, to society as a whole. Literature statistics covering the past 30 years reveal a dramatic increase in plant transgenic science in Asia during the past decade, a sustained expansion in North America and, recently, a slow down in the rest of the world. With the exception of the output of China and India, publications focusing on the development of transgenic technology have been slowing down, worldwide, since the early mid-1990s, a trend that contrasts with the increase in GM crop-related studies.     

Female dispersal and male kinship-based association in southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

Generalizations about sociobiology require investigations of species with diverse ecological roles and phylogenetic affiliations. The southern hairy-nosed wombat ( Lasiorhinus latifrons ) is valuable here, in that it is a marsupial of semi-arid habitat, and one of the largest burrowing herbivores (commonly attaining 26 kg). Its sociobiology is poorly understood because the species is nocturnal, shy, and difficult to observe or capture nondisruptively. To investigate aspects of the species' sociobiology in continuous habitat, we applied high-intensity, temporally replicated, noninvasive sampling and genotyping of hairs to identify individuals and their sex. Spatial relatedness (kinship) structure was estimated, and related to patterns of burrow-use. To understand the association of kinship with burrow/warren-sharing and preferential colocation between wombats, > 100 genetically 'tagged' individuals at Brookfield Conservation Park (Murraylands, South Australia) were 'tracked' through multiple seasons between 1999 and 2001. Dispersal was female-biased, and may be performed by females after breeding. Conversely, males were philopatric. Male kin relationships were characterized by preferential burrow- and warren-sharing among closely related males, often in associations lasting for years. In contrast, females under-associated with their close female relatives and did not form matrilineal groupings with potential for favourable kin interactions. This fundamental departure from the predominant mammalian pattern raises questions about the origins and maintenance of the system, which is now known from all three species of wombat. The present study provides starting points to address those questions by adding to our knowledge of longitudinal spatiotemporal associations and habitat use of a marsupial with the unusual system of female-biased dispersal, and by outlining robust methodologies.