6. Mismatch / Technology Influence on our Biology

Describe the 3 big phases our human ancestors have gone through. Which have we or have we not adapted to?

1. Started as hunter gathers

   • unpredictable food

   • small group

   • no agriculture/tech

   • we adapted very well to this way

2. ~ 8k years ago: agriculture

   • reliable food

   • bigger groups

   • less moving around

   • issue of waste build up

3. ~ 3k years ago

   • make machines

   • automation

   • we haven adapted to living like this

How has our environment become alien to us?

• Today’s environment is alien relative to our EEA

• we don’t have the capacity to produce our own:

  • food

  • medicine

  • homes

  • sanitation system

  • shoes

What is EEA? What can help make up for our mismatch with our EEA

EEA → environment of evolutionary adaptedness

• small groups and unreliable foods

Culture can help us survive

What is culture? What can it do?

Culture → transmission of information via extra cellular means

• ideas change peoples behavior and don’t have to be passed on genetically

CULTURE CAN (not always does) FREE US FROM BIOLOGY

What is an instinct?

Instinct → don’t require any environment input, no learning involved

Give 7 examples of how culture can reduce the usefulness of our instincts, aka mismatches with out world and EEA

1. food distribution, whenever you want it

2. birth control reduces cuckoldry: sexual jealousy

3. day care reduced need for partner investment

4. hard to be a teenager: biology calls for sex earlier than you logically want

5. firearms reduce ned for strength

6. armies can fight out battles for us

7. reduces reliances on others: messes with reciprocal altruism

Explain the rat example about constrained learning? Give another example.

• a group blast light anf then give the rats a shock

  • the rats stopped drinking the water then the lights went off to avoid the shock

• other group had weird taste of water and then nausea

  • rats stoped when they tasted the weird flavor to avoid nausea

• however, when these rats switched the punishment, the rats never picked up on it

  • somethings can’t be learned easily

Learning Language

• in the EEA it useful to speak the lang of your groups, so you learn it quick young

• it would not happen where at your adult age you’d need to al the sudden need a new one

What is the fundamental reproductive eqation?

sex = pregnancy = babies = maternal child care = loss of female economic power = loss of female political power

How can culture override this fundamental reprodutive equation

• sex doesn’t mean pregnancy - birth control

• pregnancy doesn’t equal babies - abortion

• babies don’t mean maternal child care - rubber nipple on bottle

• maternal child care doesn’t mean los of female economic power - paid for family medical leave

• loss of female economic power doesn’t mean loss of female political power - voting assesibility for all; democracy

true or false: because of how culture can break down the fundamental reproductive equation, culture can lead to equality

TRUE