48
51
a
—
Last time, we said that discrimination could be a factor explaining why a group is rich
or poor, but is unlikely to be an explanation for a group being richer or poorer than the
table suggests.
3. List two additional factors of which this is true.
Department of Geography
Geography 212: Historical Geography of the US
Family Income Index (Sowell, p. 5) – Addendum
Last week, you listed some factors that explain why some ethnic groups are higher or
lower than the TOTAL US figure.
1. List these factors again, and for each, list also an ethnic group affected by it. State
.
whether its income is higher or lower as a result, and explain.
You also considered how the numbers in the table may not tell the whole story (as
before, assume the numbers are accurate).
2. List again the reasons you gave in answering question #6 last week, and for each
give an ethnic group, state whether it is richer or poorer than the numbers indicate, and
explain.
6) Europeans learned about this from whom?
TED
FI
建議
So, once again a cultural trait that diffused from another culture helped Europeans to extend their
power. Of assistance here was medical science: once they had learned about quinine, European
scientists studied the plant and eventually developed new compounds for treating malaria.
7) Modern science is a European cultural development, which has proven extremely powerful.
Along with many other Western traits, it now is being adopted all over the globe. Will it always
be a powerful advantage to cultures that employ it?
7
Evolutionary history proves that all adaptations are space and time dependent, that is, nothing
works in all situations for all time. Science developed after 1492, in the context of European
advantage over other regions, and then participated in the fossil fuel revolution
(Industrial
Revolution). But, when the oil runs out, it may prove to be no longer useful. In fact, there is
reason to believe it already has outlived its usefulness.
Euro-American culture
After 1492, Western Europe and even more so, the US became what are known as frontier
societies. Such societies favor individual rights, whereas most societies traditionally have
favored the interests of the group over that of the individual. (I am simplifying, as no society is
entirely individual or group oriented; all include a mix).
8) What is it about a frontier that might favor the rights of individuals more than other situations?
9) What other traits besides individualism
would you prediet might be characteristic of frontier
societies? (Think about how the US is different from other nations. Most of those differences
reflect its frontier orientation).
Different cultures today
In the past, cultures (or ethnicities) that have gained advantages over others (such as superior
military technology) have often conquered or otherwise abused their neighbors.
10) Currently, do you think cultures are more likely to gain advantages over others militarily, or
commercially?
At any rate, immigrants to the US come from highly variable backgrounds in terms of
commercial and educational values.
JI
Cultural Evolution
10
Despite the stress on the individual in our society, humans evolved as members of a group, and
remain completely dependent on society for survival. Human infants are more helpless for far
longer than other mammals, but almost from the moment they are born they are ready to look
into their mother’s eyes and begin the process of learning. Learning the rules for living: for
getting food, avoiding being eaten, finding or making shelter, etc. Along with those very
practical rules comes a set of beliefs such as about religion, music preferences, hair styles, and so
on. All this is called ‘culture’, and is the basis of Homo sapiens’ success. (Even your identity,
your sense of who you are, is culturally determined for the most part. Which is to say that in a
different culture you would feel like a different person.) Although originally, in hunter-gatherer
times, most cultural learning passed from parents and grandparents to offspring, even then it was
possible for cultural traits to be passed to unrelated individuals, making cultural “inheritance’
different from gene inheritance.
S
a
S
A Darwinian or evolutionary perspective recognizes that both genes and culture matter in terms
of which humans survive and which ones don’t, and in terms of who becomes wealthy or
influential, and who doesn’t.
1) After 1492, the American Indian population collapsed because of what genetic trait(s)?
ver
2) But Europeans also were able to conquer the Western Hemisphere, and enslave Africans,
because of cultural traits. What two in particular?
3) Were these indigenous to Europe, or did Europeans receive them through diffusion?
The point is that there is no evidence that Europeans were smarter than the people they
conquered, but they did have cultural advantages, especially in technology.
Europeans also probably had beliefs or values that were of no particular assistance to them in
conquering others.
4) Did the English language spread all over the world because it is superior to other languages?
If not, why did it spread?
This example illustrates the concept of ‘hitchhiking : cultural and sometimes even genetic traits
can spread even if they are of no advantage, so long as they are connected to some trait that is
advantageous. In fact, they can spread even if they are disadvantageous, so long as they are
linked to a trait whose advantages are greater than the disadvantages of the hitchhiking trait.
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5) Europeans were not able to conquer Africa until the nineteenth century, and then only because
of what?
Week 3 – Evolution
In this course we will adopt a Darwinian, that is, an evolutionary perspective.
Humans have evolved, like all other creatures on this Earth. The way we are today reflects our
evolutionary history. However, our evolution is more complicated in the sense that not only can
we evolve genetically, through natural selection, we also can evolve culturally, a somewhat
different process.
Darwin’s theory basically states the following:
a) more babies are produced than can survive
b) individuals are not all completely identical
c) although some mortality is random, some occurs because some individuals are not as well-
adapted to their environment as others
d) the individual who is able to produce more offspring who survive and reproduce will pass on
his/her genes to subsequent generations; the individual who dies without reproducing will not
pass his/her genes on. In this way, some genes spread and some die out, over time.
e) this is known as “natural selection”:
Natural selection is often stereotyped as causing the evolution of stronger, faster, smarter
individuals.
1) Who coined the phrase, “Survival of the fittest”?
No, he didn’t!
Because in reality, evolution isn’t just about stronger, faster, smarter. It’s about whatever works
at the moment. A good example is the opossum. It isn’t strong or smart, and it isn’t very fast.
But it’s very successful. One reason is how it avoids being eaten. It plays dead (*plays
possuin’). In humans, and animals, there is variation for bravery. Courage is great if you need it
to protect your offspring, but it can work against you if you get eaten by the leopard that you
bravely attack. Thus, depending on the circumstances, sometimes bravery is selected, sometimes
timidity is
2) In humans, there are well-known examples of evolution by natural selection. Name one.
Much of the way we are today reflects our evolution as hunter-gatherers long ago.
For example, apparently all humans divide the world up into “us” vs. “them”. This was probably
necessary when humans lived in small groups and the group over the hill was likely to kill you or
rape you (depending on your gender) if you weren’t careful. But in a global economy, practically
a global society, it can make things very difficult.
3) See the quotes from Deuteronomy (in the Old Testament of the Bible) on p. 21, especially the
last one. God commands the Jews to commit genocide! What other religion is frequently
mentioned in the media as supposedly supporting extreme violence against non-believers?
4) If all humans divide the world up into us vs. them, and cannot do otherwise, what does this say
about attempts to eliminate prejudice and discrimination?
5) List 5 examples of “us” vs. “them” in modern times,
6) Why is sex enjoyable or at least, something we desire?
Today, of course, sex no longer has to lead to reproduction.
Similarly, our craving for sweets was adaptive when we were hunter-gatherers, since sweet
things in the wild are also nutritious and don’t occur in quantities sufficient to cause negative
reactions such as diabetes.
7) List other things you crave. Try to list them all, by grouping them. Do this privately, on a
sheet of paper you will not hand in.
8) to think of (and write down in the space below) a craving that you or someone else has
which is not maladaptive.
All (almost all?) of these cravings were adaptive in hunter-gatherer society, but tend to be
maladaptive today. One could even call them “addictions“, depending on how you define that
term.
That’s right. Most of the things we like are actually not good for us, at least in our modern
society!

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