Humanity and natural selection

In some modern biological images of the human species human action is reduced to a consequence of natural selection, that is, to a tendency to maximize fitness. The precise nature and scope of the theory of natural selection are, however, undecided; yet in evolutionary interpretations of human society neodarwinism is often treated as a dogma, and natural selection sometimes becomes a transcendental force. There are instances of changes in gene frequencies, in human as well as other populations, that conform with neodarwinian (“socio-biological”) presumptions; but it is not known to what extent the evolution of the human (or other) species has been due to such changes. There is still less ground for explaining the diversity of human societies in this way.The image-makers also make illegitimate use of the comparative method: familiar features of human conduct, such as favoring kin and reciprocation, are used in accounts of animal behavior, and are then rediscovered among human beings; during this two-way transfer, the meanings of words are changed; altruism, egoism, and deceit lose their moral content, and the complex human idea of kin is reduced to a measure of genetical similarity.The intention of neodarwinists is to reveal a human nature determined by evolutionary processes, but one of the most important distinctive features of our species is the plasticity of our behavior, attitudes, and intentions. Moreover, if neodarwinian premises are accepted, to speak of intention is misleading, and there are no independent criteria by which neodarwinian (or any other) arguments may be judged: all one does is regulated by the need to maximise one's inclusive fitness. Hence much writing in this field wavers between an uncompromising reduction of human action to considerations of population genetics, on the one hand, and a recognition that there are other kinds of authentic knowledge about human beings, on the other. Among the latter is historical knowledge.The neodarwinian images of humanity emphasize human depravity. In their misanthropy they reflect the outlook of conservative pessimists who have influenced European thought for two and a half millennia, and whose views imply that most attempts to improve the human condition are against nature and so must fail.An alternative, which corresponds to the facts of everyday life and of history, is that human beings are capable of rejecting what is conventionally held to be inevitable, and of determining their destiny by conscious, deliberate action.     

Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity

Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Roy A. Rappaport. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.536 pp.     

生物系统学与自然保护

生物系统学的知识是自然监测和保护的基础。随着自然保护观念由强调重点物种或代表性生态系统保护转向强调保护地球上生物多样性,生物系统学将在自然保护中发挥更大的作用。     

数学模型与自然保护科学

日益加剧的人类干扰和景观破碎化已危及全球的生物多样性。自然保护成为人类所面临的最重要也最富有挑战性的任务。指导这一实践的理论和原则极为需要。本文试图综述与自然保护科学有关的几个学科在理论和实际研究(尤其是模型)方面的近期成果以及发展趋势,从而提出自然保护模型的发展方向。文中涉猎基于不同方法论、不同组织水平的模型,并对数学模型在自然保护科学中的作用和实用性加以讨论。     

Punishment and cooperation in nature

Humans use punishment to promote cooperation in laboratory experiments but evidence that punishment plays a similar role in non-human animals is comparatively rare. In this article, we examine why this may be the case by reviewing evidence from both laboratory experiments on humans and ecologically relevant studies on non-human animals. Generally, punishment appears to be most probable if players differ in strength or strategic options. Although these conditions are common in nature, punishment (unlike other forms of aggression) involves immediate payoff reductions to both punisher and target, with net benefits to punishers contingent on cheats behaving more cooperatively in future interactions. In many cases, aggression yielding immediate benefits may suffice to deter cheats and might explain the relative scarcity of punishment in nature.     

The fractal nature of nature: power laws,ecological complexity and biodiversity

Underlying the diversity of life and the complexity of ecology is order that reflects the operation of fundamental physical and biological processes. Power laws describe empirical scaling relationships that are emergent quantitative features of biodiversity. These features are patterns of structure or dynamics that are self-similar or fractal-like over many orders of magnitude. Power laws allow extrapolation and prediction over a wide range of scales. Some appear to be universal, occurring in virtually all taxa of organisms and types of environments. They offer clues to underlying mechanisms that powerfully constrain biodiversity. We describe recent progress and future prospects for understanding the mechanisms that generate these power laws, and for explaining the diversity of species and complexity of ecosystems in terms of fundamental principles of physical and biological science.