The Ongoing Emergence of Human Nature
Coevolution of Concerns and Structures in Anthropogenesis and History
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Beschreibung
This book presents a comprehensive scientific reconstruction of human evolution, offering an original and integrative explanation for the emergence of the traits that define our species. It explores the evolutionary roots of a remarkable range of human characteristics—from our hairless skin, nuanced facial expressions, and emotional vocalizations to male and female sexuality, language, creativity, consciousness, social norms, laughter, and sense of humor.
Rather than focusing on details of stone technologies and skull shapes, this theoretical study employs a rigorous evolutionary framework, grounded in explicitly stated principles, a coherent conceptual apparatus of psychological and social concepts, and a systematic methodology for evaluating evidence. Drawing on the extended evolutionary synthesis—including cultural drive, multilevel selection, and niche construction—the author weaves together insights from paleoscience, biology, psychology, and anthropology to trace the key forces and transitions that shaped our species.
The book introduces and synthesizes key concepts such as challenge-response dynamics, concerns-and-structures coevolution, trial-and-fixation mechanisms, self-domestication, operant conditioning, normativity, and internalization. It reconstructs the pivotal evolutionary phases of human development—from the “African springboard” to the transformative Upper Paleolithic revolution—highlighting how daily survival concerns, child-rearing, intergroup competition and alliance formation catalyzed evolutionary change.
Special attention is given to the role of group and sexual selection, the development of symbolic communication and social regulation, and the fixation of traits through genetic mechanisms. The book sheds light on often overlooked evolutionary phenomena, including the emergence of adolescence, life cycle formation, female mobility across groups, the difference between male and female eroticism, and the institutionalization of property and mating norms.
A concluding philosophical chapter portrays human nature as a paradoxical blend of the endless openness and deeply embedded ancestral legacies. The author offers speculative reflections on how the evolutionary past continues to shape contemporary challenges—religiosity, sexuality, ethnic conflict, organized violence, and even our capacity for laughter and humor.
This book presents a comprehensive scientific reconstruction of human evolution, offering an original and integrative explanation for the emergence of the traits that define our species. It explores the evolutionary roots of a remarkable range of human characteristics—from our hairless skin, nuanced facial expressions, and emotional vocalizations to male and female sexuality, language, creativity, consciousness, social norms, laughter, and sense of humor.
Rather than focusing on details of stone technologies and skull shapes, this theoretical study employs a rigorous evolutionary framework, grounded in explicitly stated principles, a coherent conceptual apparatus of psychological and social concepts, and a systematic methodology for evaluating evidence. Drawing on the extended evolutionary synthesis—including cultural drive, multilevel selection, and niche construction—the author weaves together insights from paleoscience, biology, psychology, and anthropology to trace the key forces and transitions that shaped our species.
The book introduces and synthesizes key concepts such as challenge-response dynamics, concerns-and-structures coevolution, trial-and-fixation mechanisms, self-domestication, operant conditioning, normativity, and internalization. It reconstructs the pivotal evolutionary phases of human development—from the “African springboard” to the transformative Upper Paleolithic revolution—highlighting how daily survival concerns, child-rearing, intergroup competition and alliance formation catalyzed evolutionary change.
Special attention is given to the role of group and sexual selection, the development of symbolic communication and social regulation, and the fixation of traits through genetic mechanisms. The book sheds light on often overlooked evolutionary phenomena, including the emergence of adolescence, life cycle formation, female mobility across groups, the difference between male and female eroticism, and the institutionalization of property and mating norms.
A concluding philosophical chapter portrays human nature as a paradoxical blend of the endless openness and deeply embedded ancestral legacies. The author offers speculative reflections on how the evolutionary past continues to shape contemporary challenges—religiosity, sexuality, ethnic conflict, organized violence, and even our capacity for laughter and humor.
Illustrates the evolutionary story of humankind Synthesizes evolutionary biology with sociological and psychological theory to build a unified model of anthropogenesis Offers evolutionary explanations for a wide range of human traits, from naked skin to symbolic thought
Autor*in
Nikolai S. Rozov
Themen in »The Ongoing Emergence of Human Nature«
Modern concepts of anthropogenesis Origin of language and consciousness Cognitive evolution Origin of human sexuality Sperm wars Female orgasm Origin of laughter and humor Origin of crying and depression Origin of facial expressions Out of Africa Self-domestication, violence and punishment in hominins Internalization and interactive ritual Upper Paleolithic revolution Cultural and social evolution Paleoclimate and paleogenetics