Abstract
In this concluding chapter, we discuss the important difference between theories that focus on consequences and ones that focus on processes. Most theories in anthropology rest on generalizations about consequences and, as such, cannot be reconciled with the natural sciences or a Darwinian approach to hunter-gatherers. The neo-Darwinian theories presented in the previous chapters are theories of processes that allow for a truly evolutionary approach to cultural change in which ideas and the motives of individuals—the most distinctive part of the thing we call culture—have an active part and in which selection can play a definable role. Human behavioral ecology and cultural transmission theory differ primarily in the locus and mode of operation of the opposing forces of selection and reproduction.
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Notes
- 1.
Sex ratios are a case in point. Simple adaptive logic suggests that efficient sexually reproducing populations should have many fewer males than females (only enough to fertilize all females) yet in most sexually reproducing species there are as many males as females. A simple model explains why this is so (Fisher 1958). Suppose sex of offspring is genetically controlled (which it is). Suppose further that for some reason in a population there are many more females than males. This situation favors individuals who tend to produce males because when males are rarer they individually have more opportunities to mate than more numerous females. This advantage for male-producing genotypes persists until the sex ratio becomes even. For the same reason, when there are more males than females, female-producing genotypes will be favored.
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Bettinger, R., Garvey, R., Tushingham, S. (2015). Hunter-Gatherers: Problems in Theory. In: Hunter-Gatherers. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7581-2_9
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