Sociobiology

Written by Anonymous If someone were to question the relationship between the fields of science and the humanities, a common answer would probably be that the two could not be farther apart. After all, while the former focuses on reason and what is observable, the latter abandons these principles for introspectiveness, and what we cannot observe. Yet, the gap that divides the two schools of thought is unnecessary. While society upholds science as the dominant method of inquiry, it could not survive without the humanities, and vice versa. In fact, their relationship is similar to that of a mutualistic symbiotic one. In his book, “The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister’s Pox”, Stephen Jay Gould presents an argument as to how the two split, but also how it is possible to close the rift between the studies and reach a point when they can be used together. He believes that this parochialistic viewpoint of science and the humanities stems from man’s instinct to dichotomize things, pitting the two studies against each other. While the two may seem far apart from each other, he hopes that the two can reach a consilience of sorts – a reunification to two longstanding forms of knowledge. As stated previously, Gould believed that a component of the splitting of science and the humanities was in part due to dichotomy. Gould traces the origins of splitting back into the Scientific Revolution, during which the supposed clash between “Ancients” and “Moderns” was taking place. With the…

Sociobiology is defined as the way in which human biology affects how we orchestrate our culture. It can affect how we interact with people and how we mate, both when and why. Sociobiology explains both logically and rationally why all cultures exemplify the same human sexual behavior. This being that men are encouraged to partake in sexual relations with multiple different partners, while females are discouraged from having coitus outside of marriage, and are even sometimes shunned. It is a…

Sahlins made a highly profound statement in an earlier portion of the book “in the void left in our understanding of ourselves by biology lays the whole of anthropology.” Now we are left to seek the validity of this statement. In Sahlins text The Use and Abuse of Sociobiology, he argues that certain elements of human nature and civilization cannot be reduced to biological principles; moreover the importance of anthropology as a science is its significant contribution to understanding the variety…

correlation)—(your best guess, make it up; strong correlation or weak, as you perceive it). Also, include a causal model diagram that expresses the relationship of the independent and dependent variables. Finally, explain your causal model in a thesis statement with appropriate propositions. Biological theory- Edward O. Wilson defined sociobiology as “the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior [that is] a branch of evolutionary biology and particularly of modern…

When it comes to sexuality theories such as biology, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, and social constructionism have different perspectives on the topic. On the Biological aspect of sexuality, we as human beings are attracted to each other. Genetically we all interpret sex differently and based on different levels of hormones and testosterone in each individual it affects our sexual arousal and sexual response. Biology is the key pillar that holds the structure of sexuality either in…

When Sahlins refers to both indeterminacy and autonomy in ethics he’s referring to the way the sociobiology has chosen to question the integrity of culture. The way the sociobiologist have tried to offer a biological determination to the ways some humans act and tied with evolutionary propensity. Also well as including aspects like genotypes to suggest that it was a reproductive and genetic process. The indeterminacy or the uncertainty of structure of the human discipline and how evolutionary…

5th Edition McGraw-Hill/Irwin 5) What is the general focus of sociobiology (also known as evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology)? How is this applied to human behaviors? Sociobiology is, defined by Park as, the scientific study that examines evolutionary explanations for social behaviors within species. (Park, 2011) This would suggest that behaviors are inherrited or genetically determined and directed towards maintaining reproductive success in most cases. Park goes on to…

In Tom Wolfe’s essay, “Digibabble, Fairy Dust, and the Human Anthill,” Wolfe utilizes his knowledge of sociobiology to explain the concepts of “convergence” and the “noosphere”, which are thought to be precursors to the World Wide Web, i.e., the Digital Universe. He found a specific interest in convergence. Wolfe states, “Thanks to technology, ‘the hitherto scattered” species Homo sapiens was being united by a single ‘nervous system for humanity,’ a ‘living membrane…a unified consciousness that…

Religion is always found on the side of culture; however, it is potentially imposed by our nature. For the evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson, "the predisposition to religious belief is the most powerful and complex force of the human mind and in all likelihood an inseparable part of human nature" (1978: 238). In some way, religion is anchored in general structures provided by the brain as a natural biological organ. Which does not mean that there is no particular content preprogrammed. The…

the behavior and aging in honeybees. She uses honey bees in her lab to study the origins of social behavior. She investigates the honeybee social structure in an effort to understand how social behavior evolved from ancestral solitary forms of life. She has expanded this research to aging and epigenetics as she and her research team gained a better understanding of honey bee social behavior. It is important to have more information on how behavior affects, and is affected by, the social…