Iver Mysterud

One name for the evolutionary baby?: A preliminary guide for everyone confused by the chaos of names

Evolutionary studies of human behavior and design are increasing in popularity. There are now few topics or disciplines where an evolutionary perspective is not applied. For the past 40 years, evolutionary approaches to human behavior and design have been given many names, e.g. human ethology, human sociobiology, human behavioral ecology, evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary psychology. This diversity may be confusing when one first becomes interested in evolutionary studies. Different names have come and gone – often because they have become unpopular in someone’s mind – while some names have survived and remained, but are often used with different meanings. This article presents the preliminary result of a scrutiny of names used in the evolutionary literature and what they mean. I also briefly discuss why there is a surplus of names and consider if we should attempt to find one name for the field(s) or if we should continue with the diversity.

An Evolutionary Interpretation of Gift-Giving Behavior in Modern Norwegian Society

We have studied gift giving at Christmas among 50 graduate students in Norway. The students invested more the closer the coefficient of relatedness. However, partners ranked highest, which is natural for people at the start of their reproductive career. All students gave to their parents, siblings, and children, most gave to their grandparents, and only a third gave to some, but not all, of their genetic aunts/uncles. Twenty percent gave to first cousins, and none to second or third cousins. Similar patterns for gifts received were found. There were also sex differences (e.g. women had larger exchange networks than men), and birth order effects. Firstborns spent more on relatives than laterborns. However, middleborns gave more to their male friends than both firstborns and lastborns. We conclude that the results are consistent with theories of kin selection, reciprocity, sex differences and birth order effects.

Reviving the ghost of broad ecology

Abstract Ecology is defined in slightly different ways, and the discipline has therefore evolved in several directions. Two main traditions are the holological and the merological research approaches. In a hological perspective, one focuses on ecological entities perceived as “super organisms” or “nature machines,” and the individual parts are connected through flows of energy and matter. The merological perspective is somewhat more delimited, and focuses more on demographic changes in plants and animals in time and space. Within the latter perspective we can talk about two traditions. One emphasizes the importance of statistical randomness, within the individual populations. The other perceives populations as parts of tightly knit communities, and claims that demographic changes are due primarily to interactions in deterministic biotic factors like competition and predation. We argue that such polarization within the discipline is no longer useful, that ecology today is a synthesizing science in which a multitude of theories and intellectual perspectives are already present. What we call a broad ecology is rapidly emerging. It incorporates the human being as a part of the system, and is a key science in securing human future survival.

Triumph of Sociobiology

The Triumph of Sociobiologyby John Alcock, Oxford University Press, 2001. £16.95/

Egoism and altruism.

25.50 (hbk) (x + 257 pages) ISBN 0 19 514383 3With Ullica Segerstrales Defenders of the Truth1xSee all References1, we were given an excellent analysis of the sociobiology debate, at least from the American and British research regimes. What readers of Segerstrales book might miss, however, is a general overview of the scientific field of sociobiology – in short, what the status is of sociobiology today. The Triumph of Sociobiology is such a book (hereafter Triumph) and the author, John Alcock, is an experienced and well-respected animal behaviourist who is not ashamed of or hesitant towards calling himself a sociobiologist. Alcocks text book Animal Behavior: an Evolutionary Approach2xSee all References2, was released in 1975, the year when all hell broke loose when Edward O. Wilson dared to speculate about human behaviour in the last chapter of his otherwise monumental and excellent synthesis Sociobiology3xSee all References3. However, Alcocks book received less attention and sparked no controversy. Animal Behavior has informed biologists about animal behaviour for decades, being one of the leading textbooks on the market (now in a sixth edition4xSee all References4). By keeping updated on the impressively broad field that his text book covers, Alcock is in a unique position to evaluate evolutionary studies of animal behaviour, including human behaviour, and the criticisms that are raised.In Triumph, in addition to presenting the scientific field, he discusses and debunks many myths and misunderstandings about sociobiology that have arisen since the sociobiology debate began. The misconceptions addressed include the incorrect propositions that:•sociobiology is a novel and idiosyncratic theory of E.O. Wilson;•sociobiology is primarily concerned with human behaviour;•sociobiology deals with the evolution of traits that benefit the species;•sociobiology is a reductionist discipline based on the proposition that some behavioural traits are genetically determined;•sociobiology makes use of capricious and selective comparisons between human behaviour and that of other animals;•sociobiology is a purely speculative endeavour, specialising in the production of untested, and untestable, just-so stories;•sociobiology cannot account for learned behaviour or human cultural traditions, only rigid instincts; and•sociobiology is a discipline that, by labelling certain actions ‘natural’ or ‘evolved,’ makes it possible to justify all manner of unpleasant human behaviour.By dealing with key misunderstandings, Alcock hopes ‘to demonstrate that the discipline employs a basic research approach that deserves our interest, respect, and even admiration as a potential source of improved understanding about ourselves and all other social species, from ants to antelopes’.One name appears regularly throughout the book, that of Stephen Jay Gould – Americas ‘Nobel laureate’ in evolutionary biology, whom Alcock considers to have caused major damage to the lay publics understanding of evolution in general and sociobiology in particular5xUnpunctuated equilibrium in the Natural History essays of Stephen Jay Gould. Alcock, J. Evol. Hum. Behav. 1998; 19: 321–336Abstract | Full Text PDFSee all References5. As a sociobiologist, Alcock argues that Wilson and his fellow researchers have essentially won the debate with Gould and his academic allies.The book is well written, entertaining, and hits its lay audience with interesting examples and thought-provoking discussion. It is ideal as background material for undergraduate students and seminars for graduate students. An important audience would be all those people who are involved in social sciences and humanistic disciplines – from undergraduates to professors. Misunderstandings flourish, but Alcock clears the road. He goes head on, never afraid of discussing human behaviour in sociobiological perspective. Actually, a large part of the book is devoted to the species that sparked the sociobiology debate.Let it be clear: this is a partisan book, but a highly needed one. Although the author is rhetoric at times, he is seldom uncritical or unnuanced. If the general arguments of Triumph could be taken as a point of departure and a minimum common ground, we would be spared all kinds of unnecessary controversies about misunderstandings or use of strawmen and instead be able to focus on the real disagreements and differences. Too much time and labour have been devoted to unnecessary discussions since 1975, and it is high time that we moved towards the remaining problems concerning evolution and behaviour that are unsettled, interesting and challenging6xSee all References6. With Defenders of the Truth and Triumph at hand, it will hopefully be possible for the lay public, students and academics in the social sciences and humanities to understand better what sociobiology is all about and the debates that it has raised.

Evolution, Violence and Novel Environmental Factors

Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior by E. Sober and D.S. Wilson Harvard University Press, 1998.

Niko Tinbergen's life and work: a new approach to biology

19.95 hbk (394 pages) ISBN 0 674 93046 0.

A nursing mother's sugar intake causing restless babies: A case history

Aggressive behavior has several useful functions which were of particular importance to our ancestors’ survival and reproduction. However, some of the conditions in our novel environment which either lowered the threshold for aggression or released such behavior in contexts which were adaptive in our evolutionary past, no longer apply. Violence and aggression may be triggered by today’s nutritionally depleted foods, a nutrient intake that is much lower than what we are genetically adapted to, reactive hypoglycemia caused by habitual intake of foods with a high glycemic index (GI), food allergies/intolerances, and exposure to new environmental toxins (heavy metals, synthetic poisons).

Sociobiology alive and kicking

English The life and work of the eminent ethologist and Nobel laureate Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907—1988) played an essential role in the introduction of a new approach that is transforming the scientific understanding of animal behaviour, human nature and evolution. This article focuses on an extremely well-written biography of him, Nikos Nature, by Hans Kruuk, one of Tinbergens former students. Nikos Nature is more than a biography: it is a presentation and an evaluation of the main lines of European ethology and behaviour research in the 20th century up to the 1980s. Tinbergen suffered from depression most of his adult life, and if he had been a child today, he probably would have been diagnosed as hyperactive (ADHD). Tinbergen fits into a pattern of lifelong fatty-acid deficiency. I also discuss other possible causes of his problems (like protein intolerance, vitamin deficiency, genetics and novel environmental factors) and speculate how Tinbergen would have approached such issues if he were alive today. French La vie et l’oeuvre de Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907–1988), éthologue éminent et Prix Nobel, ont été essentielles pour l’apparition d’une approche nouvelle dans la compréhension scientifique du comportement animal, de la nature humaine et de l’évolution. Ce texte commente une biographie de Tinbergen écrite par l’un de ses anciens étudiants Hans Kruuk, Niko’s Nature. Niko’s Nature est plus qu’une simple biographie, il s’agit en fait d’une présentation et d’une évaluation des principaux courants de l’éthologie et de la recherche comportementale en Europe au 20ème siècle, jusqu’aux années 1980. Durant toute sa vie d’adulte, Tinbergen a souffert de dépression et s’il avait été enfant de nos jours, il aurait probablement été diagnostiqué comme enfant hyperactif (THADA). Tinbergen semble correspondre à un schéma de déficience durable en acides gras. L’auteur évoque aussi d’autres pistes explicatives (comme l’intolérance aux protéines, la déficience en vitamines, la génétique, l’apparition de nouveaux facteurs environnementaux) et s’interroge sur la façon dont Tinbergen aurait approché l’étude de ces questions s’il était encore vivant.

Evolutionary Health Promotion

A mother is described who observed her babies becoming restless during nursing whenever she had eaten foods containing sugar. The problem ceased almost instantly when she adopted a sugar‐free diet. The extensive literature on sugar, physical and mental illness and behavioural problems was reviewed. This phenomenon has not been described previously.