Mind the Gap : Tracing the Origins of Human Universals

What makes us human? What made us become the way we are? One way to answer these questions is to identify the traits that all humans share, traits that are universal features of all human societies. Another way to do so is to ask how humans differ from other species, particularly from our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates. The contributors to this book pursue both approaches, in an effort to understand how evolution has shaped modern human behavior and societies. Primate Behavior And Human Universals : Exploring The Gap / Peter M. Kappeler [and Others] -- The Deep Structure Of Human Society : Primate Origins And Evolution / Bernard Chapais -- Conflict And Bonding Between The Sexes / Ryne A. Palombit -- The Unusual Women Of Mpimbwe : Why Sex Differences In Humans Are Not Universal / Monique Borgerhoff Mulder -- Dominance, Power, And Politics In Non-human And Human Primates / David P. Watts -- Human Power And Prestige Systems / Aimée M. Plourde -- The End Of The Republic (human Reproductive Strategies) / Laura Betzig -- Intergroup Aggression In Primates And Humans : The Case For A Unified Theory / Margaret C. Crofoot And Richard W. Wrangham -- Why War? : Motivations For Fighting In The Human State Of Nature / Azar Gat -- From Grooming To Giving Blood : The Origins Of Human Altruism / Joan B. Silk And Robert Boyd -- Evolved Irrationality? : Equity And The Origins Of Human Economic Behavior / Venkat Lakshminarayanan And Laurie R. Santos -- From Whence The Captains Of Our Lives : Ultimate And Phylogenetic Perspectives On Emotions In Humans And Other Primates / Daniel M.t. Fessler And Matthew Gervais -- Primate Communication And Human Language : Continuities And Discontinuities / Dorothy L. Cheney And Robert M. Seyfarth -- Language, Lies And Lipstick : A Speculative Reconstruction Of The African Middle Stone Age 'human Revolution' / Chris Knight -- Brain And Behaviour In Primate Evolution / Robin I.m. Dunbar -- The Gap Is Social : Human Shared Intentionality And Culture / Michael Tomasello And Henrike Moll -- The Evolution And Development Of Human Social Cognition / David F. Bjorklund, Kayla Causey, And Virginia Periss -- Deceit And Self-deception / Robert Trivers -- Human Universals And Primate Symplesiomorphies : Establishing The Lemur Baseline / Claudia Fichtel And Peter M. Kappeler -- Ape Behavior And The Origins Of Human Culture / Andrew Whiten -- The Coevolution Of Genes, Innovation, And Culture In Human Evolution / Richard Mcelreath -- Mind The Gap : Cooperative Breeding And The Evolution Of Our Unique Features / Carel P. Van Schaik And Judith M. Burkart. Peter M. Kappeler, Joan B. Silk, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-xix Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Primate Behavior and Human Universals: Exploring the Gap....Pages 3-15 Front Matter....Pages 18-18 The Deep Structure of Human Society: Primate Origins and Evolution....Pages 19-51 Conflict and Bonding Between the Sexes....Pages 53-83 The Unusual Women of Mpimbwe: Why Sex Differences in Humans are not Universal....Pages 85-106 Front Matter....Pages 108-108 Dominance, Power, and Politics in Nonhuman and Human Primates....Pages 109-138 Human Power and Prestige Systems....Pages 139-152 The End of the Republic....Pages 153-168 Front Matter....Pages 170-170 Intergroup Aggression in Primates and Humans: The Case for a Unified Theory....Pages 171-195 Why War? Motivations for Fighting in the Human State of Nature....Pages 197-220 Front Matter....Pages 222-222 From Grooming to Giving Blood: The Origins of Human Altruism....Pages 223-244 Evolved Irrationality? Equity and the Origins of Human Economic Behavior....Pages 245-259 From Whence the Captains of Our Lives: Ultimate and Phylogenetic Perspectives on Emotions in Humans and Other Primates....Pages 261-280 Front Matter....Pages 282-282 Primate Communication and Human Language: Continuities and Discontinuities....Pages 283-298 Language, Lies and Lipstick: A Speculative Reconstruction of the African Middle Stone Age “Human Revolution”....Pages 299-313 Brain and Behaviour in Primate Evolution....Pages 315-330 The Gap is Social: Human Shared Intentionality and Culture....Pages 331-349 The Evolution and Development of Human Social Cognition....Pages 351-371 Deceit and Self-Deception....Pages 373-393 Human Universals and Primate Symplesiomorphies: Establishing the Lemur Baseline....Pages 395-426 Front Matter....Pages 428-428 Ape Behavior and the Origins of Human Culture....Pages 429-450 Front Matter....Pages 428-428 The Coevolution of Genes, Innovation, and Culture in Human Evolution....Pages 451-474 Front Matter....Pages 476-476 Mind the Gap: Cooperative Breeding and the Evolution of Our Unique Features....Pages 477-496 Back Matter....Pages 497-503 This volume features a collection of essays by primatologists, anthropologists, biologists, and psychologists who offer some answers to the question of what makes us human, i. e. , what is the nature and width of the gap that separates us from other primates? The chapters of this volume summarize the latest research on core aspects of behavioral and cognitive traits that make humans such unusual animals. All contributors adopt an explicitly comparative approach, which is based on the premise that comparative studies of our closest biological relatives, the nonhuman primates, provide the logical foundation for identifying human univ- sals as well as evidence for evolutionary continuity in our social behavior. Each of the chapters in this volume provides comparative analyses of relevant data from primates and humans, or pairs of chapters examine the same topic from a human or primatological perspective, respectively. Together, they cover six broad topics that are relevant to identifying potential human behavioral universals. Family and social organization. Predation pressure is thought to be the main force favoring group-living in primates, but there is great diversity in the size and structure of social groups across the primate order. Research on the behavioral ecology of primates and other animals has revealed that the distribution of males and females in space and time can be explained by sex-speci?c adaptations that are sensitive to factors that limit their ?tness: access to resources for females and access to potential mates for males.