scholarly journals The Evolutionary Origin and Biological Utility of Supernatural Expertise

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andrew Neil Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
Cognitive Capacities ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Optimal Theory ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Historical Origin

<p>Recent psychological and cognitive research has explored the evolutionary origins of human religiosity. In this thesis, I explore the historical origin and social function of supernatural expertise. I define supernatural expertise as the act of acquiring and expressing supernatural knowledge. I critique several recent theories from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science by assessing the extent to which they can explain supernatural expertise. Costly signalling theory is the view that religious costs are adaptations that signal the cooperative intent of individuals. This theory cannot account for supernatural expertise as expressions of supernatural knowledge are typically linguistic, and one can verbally misrepresent one’s supernatural beliefs. Sexual selection theory explains how physiological or psychological traits can become exaggerated over time if they are preferred by mating partners. Sexual selection can explain an increase in the cognitive capacities necessary for the acquisition of supernatural knowledge. However, it cannot account for the complex nature of supernatural information. Cognitively optimal theory predicts that the religious information which persists within human populations should be easily transferred and recalled. The theory cannot account for any supernatural information which requires considerable effort to acquire. The modes theory explains religion in terms of memory systems and the social arrangements that humans have developed to mediate the exchange of religious ideas. These result in two modes of religiosity. The doctrinal mode of religiosity explains why supernatural experts exist, but not how supernatural expertise originated. I conclude by arguing for an innovative theory for supernatural expertise. I employ cognitively optimal theory to explain why some supernatural concepts are difficult to recall. I explain the signalling function of supernatural expertise in terms of the costly effort invested in the acquisition of supernatural information. I propose that sexual selection for the cognitive capacities to acquire supernatural knowledge has enhanced the ability to acquire such information; this necessitates an increase in the complexity of supernatural information which ensures cooperative commitment remains a predominant motivation for the acquisition of supernatural knowledge, in spite of enhanced cognitive ability. I discuss several social conditions that result from the doctrinal mode of religiosity and how they solve cooperation problems in dense populations.</p>

scholarly journals The Evolutionary Origin and Biological Utility of Supernatural Expertise

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Andrew Neil Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
Cognitive Capacities ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Optimal Theory ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Historical Origin

<p>Recent psychological and cognitive research has explored the evolutionary origins of human religiosity. In this thesis, I explore the historical origin and social function of supernatural expertise. I define supernatural expertise as the act of acquiring and expressing supernatural knowledge. I critique several recent theories from evolutionary psychology and cognitive science by assessing the extent to which they can explain supernatural expertise. Costly signalling theory is the view that religious costs are adaptations that signal the cooperative intent of individuals. This theory cannot account for supernatural expertise as expressions of supernatural knowledge are typically linguistic, and one can verbally misrepresent one’s supernatural beliefs. Sexual selection theory explains how physiological or psychological traits can become exaggerated over time if they are preferred by mating partners. Sexual selection can explain an increase in the cognitive capacities necessary for the acquisition of supernatural knowledge. However, it cannot account for the complex nature of supernatural information. Cognitively optimal theory predicts that the religious information which persists within human populations should be easily transferred and recalled. The theory cannot account for any supernatural information which requires considerable effort to acquire. The modes theory explains religion in terms of memory systems and the social arrangements that humans have developed to mediate the exchange of religious ideas. These result in two modes of religiosity. The doctrinal mode of religiosity explains why supernatural experts exist, but not how supernatural expertise originated. I conclude by arguing for an innovative theory for supernatural expertise. I employ cognitively optimal theory to explain why some supernatural concepts are difficult to recall. I explain the signalling function of supernatural expertise in terms of the costly effort invested in the acquisition of supernatural information. I propose that sexual selection for the cognitive capacities to acquire supernatural knowledge has enhanced the ability to acquire such information; this necessitates an increase in the complexity of supernatural information which ensures cooperative commitment remains a predominant motivation for the acquisition of supernatural knowledge, in spite of enhanced cognitive ability. I discuss several social conditions that result from the doctrinal mode of religiosity and how they solve cooperation problems in dense populations.</p>

Long-term mating positively predicts both reproductive fitness and parental investment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Janko Međedović
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Fitness Indicators ◽  
Number Of Sexual Partners ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory

Abstract Empirical data on the relations between mating and reproductive success are rare for humans, especially for industrial and post-industrial populations. Existing data show that mating (and especially long-term mating) can be beneficial for fitness, especially that of males. This finding is in line with the hypothesis of sexual selection operating in human populations. The present research expands on previous studies by: 1) analysing additional fitness indicators, including having children with different partners; 2) including parental investment in the analysis as another important marker of sexual selection; 3) analysing several mediators between mating, reproductive fitness and parental investment, i.e. age of first and last reproduction and desired number of children. The data were obtained in 2019 from a sample of parents living in Serbia (N=497). The findings showed that long-term mating (duration of longest partner relationship) was positively related to parental investment and number of offspring and grand-offspring. Furthermore, the link between long-term mating and reproductive success was completely mediated by the age of first reproduction and desired number of children. Short-term mating (number of sexual partners) was marginally positively related to the number of children participants had with different partners and negatively related to parental investment. No sex differences in the link between mating, fitness and parental investment were detected. In general, the signatures of sexual selection were weak in the present data, but those that were detected were in line with sexual selection theory. The present findings provide a deeper insight into the adaptive function of mating and also the mechanism of how mating is beneficial for fitness.

scholarly journals Darwin's bawdy: the popular, gendered and radical reception of the Descent of Man in the US, 1871–1910

BJHS Themes ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Hamlin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Scientific Establishment ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Descent Of Man

Abstract Most studies of the American reception of Darwin have focused on the Origin. The Descent of Man, however, was even more widely read and discussed, especially by those outside the emerging scientific establishment. This essay maps the varied, popular and radical responses to the Descent and suggests that these unauthorized readers helped shape the formation of American scientific institutions (by encouraging scientists to close ranks), as well as ordinary Americans’ perceptions of gender and sex. I argue that the radical – freethinkers, socialists and feminists – embrace of sexual selection theory provides one explanation for naturalists’ scepticism of the theory.

More sires may enhance offspring fitness in Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica)

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 581-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Banger ◽  
Gabriel Blouin-Demers ◽  
Grégory Bulté ◽  
Stephen C. Lougheed
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Locomotor Performance ◽  
Conservative Estimate ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Map Turtles ◽  
Graptemys Geographica

Sexual selection theory predicts that males should be promiscuous to maximize their reproductive success, while females should be choosy. Yet females of many taxa often produce progeny sired by multiple males, indicating that promiscuity can be important for the reproductive success of females. Promiscuity may enhance the fitness of females if it increases the genetic quality, or the genetic variety, and thus the viability of their offspring. We quantified the number of sires per clutch in a population of Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica (LeSueur, 1817)) in Lake Opinicon, Ontario, Canada, and tested whether the number of sires affects several metrics of viability in hatchlings. Based on the most conservative estimate, at least 71% of clutches in this population are sired by multiple males, but there was no evidence that larger clutches are sired by more males. Clutches sired by more males had higher hatching success and survival, but the differences were not statistically significant. We did not find any effect of the number of sires on hatchling morphology or locomotor performance. Collectively, our results partially support the hypothesis that promiscuity can increase the reproductive success of female Northern Map Turtles.

scholarly journals Evolutionary insight from a humble fly: sperm competition and the yellow dungfly

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1813) ◽  
pp. 20200062
Author(s):  
Leigh W. Simmons ◽  
Geoff A. Parker ◽  
David J. Hosken
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
The 1960S

Studies of the yellow dungfly in the 1960s provided one of the first quantitative demonstrations of the costs and benefits associated with male and female reproductive behaviour. These studies advanced appreciation of sexual selection as a significant evolutionary mechanism and contributed to the 1970s paradigm shift toward individual selectionist thinking. Three behaviours in particular led to the realization that sexual selection can continue during and after mating: (i) female receptivity to remating, (ii) sperm displacement and (iii) post-copulatory mate guarding. These behaviours either generate, or are adaptations to sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexual conflict. Here we review this body of work, and its contribution to the development of post-copulatory sexual selection theory. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’.

The Enhanced Working Memory Model

2019 ◽  
pp. 406-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick L. Coolidge
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Genetic Event ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Temporal Sequencing ◽  
Cave Paintings ◽  
Cognitive Consequence ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Multicomponent Model

This chapter traces the origins and currents of Frederick Coolidge’s collaborations with archaeologist Thomas Wynn. It begins with their first article, in 2001, in which they traced a cultural explosion some 50,000 years ago in the archaeological record (as attested by the appearance of things like cave paintings, highly ritualized burials, depictive figurines) to enhanced executive functions (i.e., temporal sequencing, inhibition, planning, and organization) that perhaps resulted from an earlier genetic or epigenetic event not shared by Neandertals. As evidence of enhanced executive functioning in Homo sapiens, Wynn and Coolidge offered barbed points from Katanda, bow-and-arrow technology, agriculture, and the colonization of the Sahul. In their more recent papers, they labeled the cognitive consequence of this genetic event enhanced working memory, thus incorporating their ideas into Baddeley’s multicomponent model of working memory. The chapter ends with speculations on the evolutionary origins of learning and memory systems, looking back to the very beginnings of life on earth.

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