Taboos and evolution

For a long time now, I have been trying to find out why things are the way they are. And for the most part, I look towards the theory of evolution for explanations. To me, virtually everything we do, want, aspire to can be explained as a survival mechanism, which I will define here as a genetic response to circumstances that existed in the past. Countless articles and books must have been written on this subject, but I have yet to find one that deals with the totality of human existence in this way. This little blog will not be the exception - it would probably require hundreds or even thousands of pages to cover everything that I would want to cover, but what I can do is offer some piecemeal observations, on isolated issues that have caught my attention, in the hope that this will inspire others to make a more concerted effort. And the reason I think this is worth doing is that I think that understanding the causes of our own behavior goes a long way towards solving some of the problems that we deal with every day. 

(For those of you who are wondering why our survival mechanisms - which are by definition solutions - can be problems, the answer is that circumstances change more quickly than and our genes or our behavior. Behavior that is completely appropriate in one situation may be completely inappropriate in another). 

For today, I want to offer some thoughts on taboos. Of late, it seems to me, taboos are being seen more and more as unwanted obstructions to our freedom, as throwbacks from more primitive, less civilized times. I do not disagree with this, but I am not in favor of simply jettisoning all taboos in favor of "rational behavior", for two reasons. Taboos, to me, are nature's system of "keep out" signs, and they were put there for a reason. We should think carefully before pulling them up and throwing them on the bonfire. And secondly, just because we would like to act differently doesn't mean that we can (see also a previous blog entry on life and death). Nonetheless, I do have problems with the "reptile brain" aspect of taboos, that is, the fact that our reactions are hard-wired, and I am quite content to try to dismantle that part. 

One taboo I am thinking about specifically is the one on ending life (murder, suicide, abortus). The gut reaction to this is rejection, which is perfectly logical if we accept the maxim that the main purpose of life is to "go forth and multiply". But of course overpopulation has made it necessary to rethink our attitudes on that. Even rationality itself could be seen as a survival mechanism, because it allows us to survive conditions that did not exist in the past, and notably the ones created by overpopulation. 

From Darwin to Dawkins

Today, Darwin's theory, just like Freud's theories, great works of art, and who knows what else, is mostly taken for granted by most people who learnt it in school. Now I am certainly not against standing in awe of great achievements, but personally, I have always found the future more interesting than the past, which in my case means focussing less on the achievement or the person and more on the possible consequences of that achievement. 

In the case of the theory of evolution, the potential is huge. Not so much because of the conclusions he came to, but more as the seed for a new branch of science that I think will have an even more profound effect on us than the truth about our less-than-celestial origins: evolutionary psychology. And the reason I think this is because I think it will allow us to reframe how we see ourselves. In the past, organized religion gave some very good metaphors to help us understand our own nature and how we should act. But their explanations as to why we are the way we are didn't cut the grade, as far as I am concerned. 

Now, in evolution, we have the basic mechanism that in the long run should help explain just about everything we do, because it is all about the survival of our genes (see "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins). Of course, for our genes to survive, individual human beings have to procreate - which explains why that is first and foremost in the minds of most young adults. And once you have done your duty in that department, you have to give your children a good chance of doing the same - which explains the nesting instinct, our obsession with money and control, and the lengths we will go to protect our children and other relatives. 

As a species, we have become very successful in "procreating and going forth". So much so, that we have had to change our behaviour just to survive. Modern society no longer tolerates the sort of behaviour that we found completely appropriate only a few thousand years ago. But genes do not change that fast: like legislation, they adapt, but are always several steps behind the actual situation. And that makes me feel a little better about my reactions when some lunatic driver endangers my life and/or that of my family just to shave a few seconds off his ETA.