Sociobiology

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Sociobiology

• E. O. Wilsons Sociobiology (1975)
• the systematic study of the biological basis for
  all social behavior
• Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene (1976)
• an organization is merely a genes way of making
  more genes
• sperm galore few high-cost eggs
• ? men, promiscuous, women monogamous

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Evolutionary Psychologists

• less emphasis on animal observations
• look for cross-cultural universals of human
  behavior
• postulate that behaviors have genetic origin
• hypothesize why this developed, why it was
  adaptive
• Culture is a manifestation of the genetic
  predispositions of individuals in the culture

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some Evo-Psych assertions about gendered
behaviors

• By instinct
• men want younger women
• men compete and take risks to get access
• men are sexually jealous, women emotionally
  jealous
• women want men who have resources
• Men recognize high hip-to-waste ratio as sign of
  high reproductive value
• rape is a natural, biological, and evolved
  strategic behavior
• men prefer lighter-skinned women signifies
  fertility

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some questions

• animal observation?
• universal behaviors?
• everythings in the genes?
• denying the influence and realities of culture?
• are these the only stories we can tell?
• but what about Evolutionary Biology?

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Whats the point?skepticism

• why do journalistic media focus on these
  back-to-biology arguments?
• why do sociobiology and evo-psych sound so
  familiar?
• since language and science are historically
  contingent social constructions, can anyone
  really ever get it right?