Lecture notes for the course Evolution of Humankind, taught by Jeroen Bruggeman during the second semester, block 1.
Sociology, University of Amsterdam 2019
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari - Part 4: The Scientific Revolution
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari - Part 3: The Unification of Humankind
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari - Part 2: The Agricultural Revolution
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Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
Sociologie
Evolution of Humankind
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Evolution of Humankind – Lecture 1 05/02/2019
Introduction: gene-culture and co-evolution
What is important in social life? The 3 most important things, having the largest impact on
the largest number of people:
- Cooperation: provide benefit to others at an effort for one self
- Culture: all information obtained from others including the making and handling of
objects
- Conflict, in particular violence
How do we study all these things coherently? -> Tree of life – Evolution
The Tree of life shows species, rather than individual organisms. It is a coarse-grained image
of evolution. A more fine grained, and different, image is by looking at individual organisms
and their interactions e.g. making children, eating other animals and plants. All interactions
together form a dynamic network.
Evolution, traditionally (Darwin)
New species and individuals come about through reproduction (replication) by parents.
New genes combinations plus random mutations increase the variation of genes. Individuals
die right away or enter the environment where they compete for scarce resources. This
depends on the natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Those well-adapted (based
on genes and learning) have higher FITNESS which means they are well-being or a high
number of children who make it to adulthood. Selection keeps the well-adapted and wipes
out the badly adapted.
Unpack selection in terms of specific interactions: each food item and help from others
increases fitness. Each parasite, bite from predator, conflict with competitors, poisonous
mushrooms and so on, instead, decrease fitness. Selection is the consequences of all
interactions with others and with the environment. It can be seen as a fine grained network.
Evolution of culture?
Darwin (1871): “The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs
that both have been developed through a gradual process, are curiously parallel”. Can we
have a tree of culture as well? Most culture of the past is unrecorded, therefore no
complete tree (neither for organisms), but that’s not necessary for the understanding of
cultural dynamics.
Difference between genetic and cultural evolution
Human genes: parents -> offspring. Complete package at birth; subsequently some
epigenetic.
Human culture: acquired over lifetime, sometimes from people no longer alive. Selected by
people often deliberately. Subsequently natural selection.
Evolution of genes and culture in general – Stefen Thurner and Stuart Kauffman
New entities through combination or transmission from one organism to another. They
enter the natural or social environment where they or their users interact. As a result, their,
,or their users’, fitness is affected. Some genes/culture have neutral fitness effect. If entities
survive or are used, they are part of the environment and thereby change it.
Note:
- Genes and culture are two complementary information systems that we use
- Evolution does not mean progress in any moral sense and serves no higher purpose
- It does not yield optimal adaptation unless the environment is stable for very long.
Optimal adaptation is rare. Mal-adaptations, like believing in fake news, are as
interesting as adaptations.
Culture and cooperation in other species (example of the chimpanzees)
Distinguish culture from genes: behavior of multiple individuals in group that does not occur
in another group in similar environment.
Cooperation and conflict: it can be genetic, cultural, both or learned, as any other behavior.
We shape our environment culturally and by doing so this imposes constraints on further
evolution. Changed environment (“niche construction”) through self-organization, no
centralized control.
Studying humans
The difficulty when studying humans is that it is impossible to experience social life at
evolutionary time scale. The interpretations of social life are biased by the brain and
background (e.g. moral framing, categorizing and filling loopholes with fantasy).
Given a question, interpret social life using available theory, look for patterns, try to explain
and predict them while watching out for exceptions. Then you can critically reflect on the
results and methods and pose new questions. “It is better to be approximately right than to
be exactly wrong.”
Scientific tool: network analysis
Social tie refers to any kind of interaction or interdependence between two individuals.
Density: proportion of actual number of ties in network to maximum possible number of ties
(minimum 0. Maximum 1).
Cluster: relatively dense inside, sparsely connected to other clusters.
, Evolution of Humankind – Lecture 2 07/02/2019
Humankind: foragers and evolution
Sapiens are a branch of the human tree.
Neanderthals: 600.000 – 30.000 BCE
Neanderthals were possibly as smart as Sapiens. They domesticated fire in and used it to
cook which in turn made it possible to process and digest food better. This led to have a
smaller intestine and smaller bellies.
They had stone, bone and wooden tools and weapons. They were the first to use glue.
They probably spoke a language but there is no concrete evidence.
They had burials, jewelry and paintings.
They probably engaged with Sapiens in trade: cultural exchange and carnal relationships
(sex).
Homo Sapiens were hunter-gatherers or foragers. They roamed around the world and went
outside the Afro-Asian territory. Australia, for example, was reached by foot through Asia
[not with boats like Harari claimed in Sapiens]. The sea level was much lower back then.
Different cultural adaptations depending on the living environment. These adaptations were
faster than genetic adaptation. Settlements, equipment and clothing were different based
on the area of the world, south Africa vs north Europe, for instance.
Cultural evolution
People invent and modify tools, huts and practices and transmit them to one another. They
use them in their environment for food and shelter, affecting the users’ fitness. Cultural
elements that are kept are part of the (cultural) environment and change the collection of
items available for subsequent innovations.
Ongoing innovations by foragers: further refined stone tools and projectile weapons. They
had boats, pottery and they started baking bread from wild cereals.
It is hard to transmit a skill (like tool making) without verbal communication. Language is
crucial when it comes to transmitting culture. No transmission of tools without language.
Trade-offs: hunting – foraging, staying – moving, small – large group
Trade-off: going after nutritious but difficult to find or after less nutritious but easier to find.
Social network
Camp groups with 10 – 25 people, all together forming a tribe. Ties between groups: friends,
siblings, affinities. Nested structure of groups: humankind, ethnic group, tribes, camp
groups, families. The size of camps groups mattered: more resources to share versus more
competition for them when the groups are larger.
Group culture : The collection of all cultural items (socially obtained information) of the
group members at some moment in time.
Group culture is contained in objects, language, memory or other media and symbols.
The extent to which information is shared varies: rituals done together vs specialist hunters.
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