On Human Nature : The Biology and Sociology of What Made Us Human

In this book, Jonathan H. Turner combines sociology, evolutionary biology, cladistic analysis from biology, and comparative neuroanatomy to examine human nature as inherited from common ancestors shared by humans and present-day great apes. Selection pressures altered this inherited legacy for the ancestors of humans—termed __hominins__ for being bipedal—and forced greater organization than extant great apes when the __hominins__ moved into open-country terrestrial habitats. The effects of these selection pressures increased hominin ancestors’ emotional capacities through greater social and group orientation. This shift, in turn, enabled further selection for a larger brain, articulated speech, and culture along the human line. Turner elaborates human nature as a series of overlapping complexes that are the outcome of the inherited legacy of great apes being fed through the transforming effects of a larger brain, speech, and culture. These complexes, he shows, can be understood as the cognitive complex, the psychological complex, the emotions complex, the interaction complex, and the community complex. "This new book by the distinguished sociological theorist Jonathan H. Turner combines sociology, evolutionary biology, cladistic analysis from biology, and comparative neuroanatomy to examine human nature, as it was inherited from the common ancestors that humans shared with present-day great apes. This inherited legacy was altered by selection pressures on these ancestors of humans-termed hominins for being bipedal-to get better organized than extant great apes as they were forced from the forest canopies to open country terrestrial habitats. The effects of these selection pressures made humans' hominin ancestors more social and group oriented by increasing their emotional capacities. This, in turn, enabled further selection for a larger brain, articulated speech, and culture along the human line. Turner elaborates human nature as a series of overlapping complexes that are the outcome of the inherited legacy of great apes being fed through the transforming effects of a larger brain, speech, and culture. These complexes, he shows, can be understood as the cognitive complex, the psychological complex, the emotions complex, the interaction complex, and the community complex"-- Cover 1 Endorsements 2 Half Title 4 Series Page 5 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Dedication 8 Contents 12 Illustrations 14 Tables 15 Boxes 16 Preface 18 Acknowledgment 22 1: Humans by Nature? 24 Approaches to Understanding Human Nature 25 Searching for Human Universals 27 Darwinian Selection and Biological Analyses 30 Sociobiology and Genic Selection 32 Evolutionary Psychology 36 Some More Purely Sociological Approaches 39 Gerhard Lenski's Evolutionary-Ecological Approach 39 Speculations in Sociological and Related Social Science "Theories" 40 Christian Smith's Analysis of "Personhood" 43 Nicholas A. Christakis's "Social Suite" of Universals Necessary for Societies 46 What Is Human Nature vs. What Are the Outcomes of This Nature? 48 Conclusion 50 2: Before Humans 51 The Power of Cladistic Analysis 51 Monkeys and Great Apes 61 Why Are Monkeys and Apes So Organizationally Different? 63 The Liabilities of Being a Great Ape 64 Preadaptations and Behavioral Capacities 66 Preadaptations 67 Behavioral Capacities and Propensities 71 Conclusion 74 Notes 75 3: Why Humans Became the Most Emotional Animals on Earth 76 Natural Selection and the Forces of Evolution 77 Natural Selection and Emotions 79 Expanding the Range of Variations of "Primary Emotions" 79 First-Order Elaborations of Primary Emotions 88 The Language of Emotions 90 Additional Preadaptations for Spoken Language 94 Brain Growth, Second-Order Elaborations of Emotions, Spoken Language, and Culture 98 Conclusion 102 Notes 103 4: Why and How Did the Human Family Evolve? 104 Community as the Structural Basis of Social Organization 105 Community as the Natural Social Form 105 Low Levels of Grooming and Reliance on Cognitive Mapping 106 Life History Characteristics of Great Apes 108 Mother-Infant Bonds 110 Lack of a Harem Pattern in Mating 112 Play among Young Mammals 114 The Evolution of the Nuclear Family 115 The Primal, Pre-Kinship "Horde" 115 From Horde to Nuclear Family 116 Conclusions 119 Note 122 5: Interpersonal Skills for Species Survival 123 Inherited Capacities for Interaction and Solidarity 124 Early Imitation of Facial Gestures Revealing Emotions 124 Reading of Face and Eyes 125 Capacities for Role-Taking and Empathizing 126 Rhythmic Synchronization of Interaction 128 Collective Emotional Effervescence 129 Seeing Self as an Object 131 Reciprocity and Calculations of Justice 132 Exchange and Reciprocity 132 Calculations of Justice 134 The Capacity to Make Attributions 136 Fluid and Episodic Hierarchies 139 Friendship and Fellowship Behaviors 142 Conclusion 143 Note 145 6: The Elaboration of Humans' Inherited Nature 146 The Vulnerability of Hominins and Early Humans 146 Separating the Biological from Cultural 149 Brain Growth, Speech, and Culture as an "Elaboration Machine" 151 Conclusion: Visualizing the Evolved Nature of Humans 158 7: The Evolved Cognitive Complex and Human Nature 161 The Nature of Brain Functioning during Action and Interaction 161 Still Foundational Insights into Cognitive Functioning from Early Theorists 162 Mind and Thinking 162 Significant Symbols, Mind, and Role-Taking 163 Emotions, Cognitions, and Self 165 Cognitive Capacities, Self, Emotions, and Defense Mechanisms 166 Ordering Stocks of Knowledge Used in Interaction 170 The Emotional Basis of Memory and Experience in Ordering Cognitions 170 Ordering Memories and Creating Stocks of Knowledge at Hand 173 Future/Potential Salience as an Ordering Mechanism 173 Abstraction and Response Generalization as Ordering Mechanisms 174 Framing as an Ordering Mechanism 175 "Chunking" Information as an Ordering Mechanism 175 Gestalt Dynamics as Ordering Mechanisms 177 Cognitive Congruence and Consistency 177 Contrast-Conceptions 178 Expectation States 178 Attributions 179 Conclusion 180 8: The Evolved Emotions Complex and Human Nature 186 Brain Growth, Language and Speech, Culture, and the Elaboration of Emotions 187 Emotions and Reflexivity 190 Emotions and Social Control 191 Emotions and Self 193 Emotions and Social Structures 195 Conclusion: The Emotions Complex 199 9: The Evolved Psychology Complex and Human Nature 205 Need-States to Verify Levels of Identity Formation 207 Person or Core Identities 208 Categoric-Unit Identities 209 Corporate-Unit Identities 211 Role Identities 212 The Loose Hierarchy of Human Identities 213 Need-States for Positive Exchange Payoffs Perceived as Fair 215 Need-States for a Sense of Efficacy 216 Need-States for a Sense of Group Inclusion 218 Need-States for Cognitive and Emotional Congruence 219 Need-States for Sense of Trust 221 Need-States for Experiencing Positive Emotions 222 Conclusion: The Evolved Psychology Complex 224 10: The Evolved Interaction Complex and Human Nature 230 Elements of the Evolved Interaction Complex 230 Evolved Capacities for Identity Formation and the Presentation of Self 232 The Evolved Complexity of Role-Taking and "Theory of Mind" 239 Role-Taking and Role-Making 240 Status-Taking and Status-Making 240 Identity-Taking and Identity-Making 241 Structure-Taking and Structure-Making 243 Culture-Taking and Culture-Making 244 Situation-Taking and Situation-Making 245 Emotion-Taking and Emotion-Making 247 Framing and Interaction 248 Erving Goffman Simplified 248 Keying and Rekeying of Frames 249 Frame-Taking and Frame-Making 249 Language, Rhythmic Synchronization, Ritualizing, Totemizing, and Exchange 252 Language and Rhythmic Synchronization 252 Shorter-Term Rituals 254 Longer-Term Interaction Rituals 254 Totemizing 256 Exchange 258 Conclusion: The Evolved Interaction Complex 260 11: The Evolved Community Complex and Human Nature 265 Community as the Basic Organizational Units of Great Apes and Hominins 265 Inherited Traits and Effects of the "Elaboration Machine" 266 Conclusion: The Elaborated Community Complex 270 12: Human Nature and the Evolution of Mega Societies 276 Human Nature and the "Social Cages" Created during Societal Evolution 277 Why Do Humans Prefer Modernity? 282 Human Nature and Species Survival 285 More Misery for Humans, Masquerading as Technological "Advancement" 288 Recapturing Our Humanity in Complex Societies 291 Bibliography 295 Subject Index 313 Name Index 318 On,Human,Nature On Human Nature Human by Nature? -- Before Humans: Looking Back in Evolutionary Time -- Why Humans Became the Most Emotional Animals on Earth? -- Why and How Did the Human Family Evolve? -- Interpersonal Skills for Species Survival -- The Elaboration of Humans' Inherited Nature -- The Evolved Cognitive Complex and Human Nature -- The Evolved Emotions Complex and Human Nature -- The Evolved Psychology Complex and Human Nature -- The Evolved Interaction Complex and Human Nature -- The Evolved Community Complex and Human Nature -- Human Nature and The Evolution of Mega Societies: Implication for Species and Personal Survival on Planet Earth Combining sociology, evolutionary biology, cladistic biology, and comparative neuroanatomy to examine human nature, Turner sees human nature as a series of overlapping complexes that are the outcome of the inherited legacy of great apes being fed through the transforming effects of a larger brain, speech, and culture.