BIOL 350 Exam

58) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management'- and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'self-deception'. Describe what 'self-deception' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

*self deception* -humans cannot bear very much reality *evolutionary roots* -susceptibilities to distractions and delusions -provide protection from the curse of consciousness --> evolutionary fitness -manipulation of others and deceive ourselves than know the truth -helps us deceive others - liar who believes in his own lie will get away with it *main implications* -people discount expertise associated with any opinion they would rather not hear -modern culture deny population and growth is cause of environmental degradation

In BIOL350 we considered that: (1) humans have evolved certain inclinations that apparently serve to buffer anxiety, particularly self-impermanence anxiety; but that (2) certain behavioural states commonly diagnosed as mental disorders may have conferred fitness advantages for at least some of our ancestors. Describe the main points in support of this second view.

'Abnormal' behavioural states conferring a fitness advantage: ● Some forms of mental illness have components that were probably adaptive for some ancestor (in terms of greater capacity for creativity and the ability to solve complex problems) ● Being mentally health = overly optimistic ideas about the world ● Depression: Can give people keener powers of perception and heightened abilities to assess complex or tumultuous situations' ○ Depression allows us to see the world for what it is. Whereas the model now assumes happiness to be mentally healthy. ○ Someone who has an acute grasp of reality would be a cognitive tool essential for survival ○ Person may not necessarily be sick if they think their existence is meaningless ● ADHD: Ancient humans did not have a society of "sit-down and work" until recently ○ Having a rapidly shifting and intense attention span was an advantage where we needed to adapt to novel and rapidly changing environments ○ "In short, having the profile of what we call A.D.H.D would have made you a Paleolithic success story." ● Psychopaths ○ Self-worth, persuasiveness, superficial charm, ruthlessness, lack of remorse, and manipulation ○ All these attributes can be used for personal benefit of the individual ○ More gene transmission success ○ These traits are common in many politicians and world leaders ● Schizophrenia ○ Creativity is "extra human", furthest from an animal ○ Refuses to accept cultural denials of real nature ○ Can provoke escapism if transferred to others through art (musicians, painters) ● Mental disorders are behavioural states that can provide a buffer against mortality anxiety and create a distraction that reduces susceptibility to anxiety/worry, thereby making an individuals mind relatively free of anxiety that can compromise one's likelihood of reaching reproductive maturity ● Mental illness genes bring benefits (and stay in our genetic pool) ● By embracing unique skills and attributes coming with unusual ways of thinking, humans became more inventive and adaptive, and eventually outcompeted all other species

Figure 3

-135 types identified via sequencing used to create the tree -outgroup method - chimps -Statistical tests Winning site -moved 1st non African to common ancestor -Asian- 11 more mutants to occur than AO Geographic site method -did the first 14 branches of mtDNA being from African persons happen by chance?

The march of progress for human civilization can be described as a story of energy conversion/ generation. Describe what this means.

-A Long time ago: energy from the sun was being stored in biomass (green plants and animals) was trapped by earth à stored energy in the form of fossil fuels (fixed carbon) -Time of Hunter Gatherers: still had plant and animal biomass being stored as energy in the form of fossil fuels, appearance of human biomass (takes energy from plant and animal biomass) -Agricultural Evolution: increase in human biomass, taking more energy from the plant and animal biomass à no energy from plant/animals/humans going into earth as stored energy (fossil fuels) -Industrial Revolution: major increase in human biomass, taking all energy from plant and animal biomass, beginning of harvesting of fossil fuels (stored energy) 300 years ago à human biomass greatly increased which cause a massive increase in CO2 into atmosphere

In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why polygyny has been the dominant model for marriage throughout human history. Describe these hypotheses and discuss the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where the culture of monogamy came from.

-Both males and females (but especially males) can benefit from a polygynous mating system whenever there is wide variation in male wealth -In many cases, a women's potential evolutionary fitness (capacity to leave descendants), as well as her quality of life, would have been greater as the 3rd or 4th wife of a wealth, high status man, than as the only wife of a poor peasant with no status or earning power -Where the culture of monogamy came from; 1. Monogamy may occur in the relatively unusual circumstance when there is very little variation between the wealth of males within society 2. Inequality among males is more social destructive, in ways that harm women and men, than inequality among women (a polygynous nation, in which large numbers of low-income men remain mateless, is not the kind of country many of us would want to live in)

The agricultural revolution provided benefits to humans but may also be responsible for many problems. Describe these main problems.

-Brought widespread infectious disease and parasites a people began living in large populations within close quarters -Got good at growing a small handful of crops a not as balanced diet --> malnutrition from a less varied diet -A greater risk of starvation and famine: if there was extended crop failure -Led to the dawn of the 'haves' and the 'have-nots': powerful people took over the control of food, that meant that there were people with less power a social inequality -Thought to have maybe exasperated sexual inequality: men are more powerful/stronger better at farming & Allowed women to have more children in quicker succession -More pressing need to expand borders as more land was needed to feed growing population a made larger armies to take over more land a war -Overpopulation, had more resources so more babies --> crippling environmental destruction (soil destruction, deforestation, contamination of water etc.) --> populations then moved and did this to other areas (vicious cycle)

In BIOL350 we considered something called the 'curse of consciousness', and we considered three evolutionary-based hypotheses that may account for it. Describe what this means, and describe these three hypotheses.

-Curse of consciousness: we are aware of our mortality as we are aware of time and possess a sense of self are perpetually scared of our ultimate demise -Three hypotheses: 1. Survival instinct: evoke behaviours that aid in our long-term survival/increase our reproductive success 2. Impulsive fear of the unknown: "just in case" there is danger lurking - avoid situations that could potentially cause death/injury that in turn could decrease reproductive success/survival 3. Favoured by natural selection: fear of failed legacy, offspring provide the vessel of mematic legacy - continuation of self-identifying traits.

Define Leisure Drive. In BIOL350 we considered a hypothesis for how Leisure Drive may have evolved in humans. Describe this hypothesis.

-Definition of leisure drive: Attraction to leisure (free time indulgence in pleasurable activities) -Hypothesis: --> Provided distractions from self-impermanence anxiety --> An escape from self --> Improved the likelihood of surviving long enough to reach reproductive maturity before self-impermanence anxiety has the opportunity to compromise gene transmission (reproductive success) --> Linked to the same kinds of pleasure modules that rewarded the reproductive success of ancestors, and manifesting today in a wide range of modern cultural norms -Prescriptions associated with pleasure-based meaning like carpe diem or live in the moment are normally only temporary remedies, because the modern human mind cannot live for long in the present -Humans don't like being alone with our thoughts as it is anxiety inducing

In BIOL350 we considered arguments proposing that war could be interpreted largely as a product of biological evolution. Describe the arguments in support of this view.

-Distinctly human part of human nature --> we are all the descendants of the winner's of war, those who were unsuccessful died and did not propel their genes -Unlike other animals we are not equipped to destroy/kill other animals --> these species also never/rarely attack/kill there own species -'Us and them': in and out-groups --> Dehumanizes war --> we see out opponents as unclean

15) Describe how each of three distinctly different consequences of our human culture represent examples of humans as a force of selection on other species, providing direct evidence for biological evolution- i.e. that species can change dramatically, because of their genes, through selection.

-Domestication: animals bred to help, proportions of animals changed according to fossil records -Pesticide resistance: insects, increased fitness for those who survived, -Drug resistance (antibiotics): bacteria and virus mutate and reproduce rapidly, resistant bacteria 10 years after exposure to drug

Describe what is meant by the metaphor that the human mind is like a jukebox and a human mind is like a colouring book.

-Evoked behaviour/ culture can be compared to a jukebox: The number of tracks (genes) are already stored in the machine (mind), and the buttons that get pressed (the environment's influence) provides the signal for which one is favoured for expression -The human mind is like a colouring book: --> With some guidelines drawn before birth and some spaces awaiting the artistic inputs of life experiences --> Genes represent the guidelines that give you a scaffolding of how behavior can unfold through development and environment --> Crayons are the environment and circumstances of social learning --> At the in-blending is where the mind comes in

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been proposed for the advantages resulting from the evolution of a sense of time and consciousness/ self-awareness

-Evolution of a sense of time --> Means a sense of both the past and the future --> A sense of time, together with language, allowed planning for the future -Evolution of self-consciousness/ self-awareness (theory of mind): Associated with the power of imagination --> Beings that are able to see beyond the actual to the possible are better equipped to handle the exigencies of life than those who are chained to the merely actual -Vastly expanded our social intelligences by promoting the ability to: --> Predict the behaviour of others --> Empathize and cooperate with others --> Gain trust and alliances and manage rivals --> Feel a sense of morality --> Deceive, cheat and lie --> Experience emotions such as pride and shame

Define evolutionary fitness. Does it apply to genes, traits or indivdiuals.

-Evolutionary fitness: commonly referred to as a property of individuals; those who leave more descendants have a higher fitness -Biological evolution is defined in terms of change in gene frequencies and hence a change in the genetic constitution of a population -Describes how well a species is able to survive and reproduce in its environment -Acts on genes -Genes with a high fitness are able to promote their representation in future generations --> Defined in terms of the number (or relative number) of gene copies residing in future generations -Transmission success in referred to as inclusive fitness, this explains why individuals are more inclined to help their own kin

Describe the main ideas that have been put forward for the early advantages associated with the discovery and use of fire.

-Fire could have been used to ward off predators -Provided light at night, which would have extended the length of daytime activities and also provided heat at nighttime which may have possibly facilitated the need for less body hair -Campsites could have provided a focal point for socializing

4) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'food' as a problem of 'input'.

-Population growth -Loss of topsoil -Water shortages -Climate change (rising temps) -No more room to cultivate land -Bio fuel > crops -Fisheries -Bee population -

What is the suggested reason for human hairlessness?

-climate change -traveling for food -ability to sweat -heat dependent organs would overheat if we had hair

Examples of mammals with little hair and why?

-elephants, rhino, hippo because they are at risk of overheating and have a larger surface area

What we already know?

-inconsequential mutations dominates molecular evolution -occurs at a steady rate in lineages

-How does sweating cool down the down? -Why is it effective in humans?

-production of liquid on the body that evaporated and draws heat energy from the skin -our skin is more watery rather than oily

45) In BIOL350 we considered that: (1) humans have evolved certain inclinations that apparently serve to buffer anxiety, particularly self-impermanence anxiety; but that (2) certain behavioural states commonly diagnosed as mental disorders may have conferred fitness advantages for at least some of our ancestors. Describe the main point in support of this second view.

-self-impermenance anxiety buffers: allowing one to think one is happy or that one will be happy regardless of the circumstances -schizophrenia: creativity -schizophrenia, autism, and bipolar disorder helpful: mental illness linked with genius, different skills and attributes associated with different ways of thinking -homo sapiens might have been successful because they included people with mental illnesses into society

-What is the importance of keeping cool in mammals? -What tactics do they employ?

-tissues and organ can become damaged by over heating especially our brain -sweating, panting, chilling

How does hair protect the head from heat?

-to protect against overheating -curly hair helps to increase the thickness and the surface area to cover the scalp and head

9) Describe the main trends and issues considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of urban mega-growth.

-urbanization -majority of olds population lives in urban areas -consequences environmentally (4) -problems - fewer farmers. How will they survive when oil runs out

We considered hypotheses for how a changing climate around 200,000 to 400,000 years ago was associated with a series of effects involving natural selection in favour of certain advantageous human traits, along with certain costs/tradeoffs that in turn favoured evolution of a series of additional traits. Describe these various human traits, their advantages / consequences and associated costs.

Bipedalism: Advantages: -More efficient for long distances, climate change --> rainforest was drying up into savannah: higher risk of heat stroke when you are closer to the ground, also beneficial to lose hair all over body -Allowed elevated posture for improved viewing: ground dwellings -Free arms for offspring, and carrying -Make tools and use them (free hands) Communicative gestures, threaten rivals, and diffuse tense situations **Tradeoff: need narrow hips for running --? narrow hips not good for giving birth to large brained offspring, resulted in 'pre-mature' birth à infants dependent on parents for a long time (cost) --> more male involvement with parental care, and more infant care assistance form extended family, and from others within the social group Larger Brain Advantages: -Behavioral flexibility --> able to acclimate to new environments -Group living; social intelligence --> protection from predators Takes a long time for infants to mature à have lots of elasticity in childhood, easily change which genes are expressed --> better behavioural flexibility **Tradeoff: premature birth à infants completely dependent on parents for first years of life, very vulnerable à more male involvement with parental care, and more infant care assistance form extended family, and from others within the social group

Describe the general patterns in brain size relative to body size evident in primates today, and in species of Homo over time — and distinguish two general hypotheses considered in BIOL350 for explaining the probable adaptive advantages associated with the evolution of a larger brain in our early ancestors.

Brain Size ● Primate brain size follows predictably from body size ● Humans are the prominent exception to this rule; with an abrupt jump in size about 2 mya and 500,000 years ago. (1) Brain Size-Environmental Change Hypothesis ● Larger brains, relative to body size, can confer advantages to individuals in the form of behavioural flexibility. ● Such enhanced behavioural flexibility is predicted to carry fitness benefits to individuals facing novel or altered environmental conditions (as early humans would have encountered when spreading out from africa). (2) Brain Size-Social Intelligence Hypothesis ● Primate societies seem to differ from those of other animals in the dependence on intense social bonds between individuals to give groups a structured appearance (cannot leave easily) and in that primates use their knowledge about the social world in which they live to form more complex alliances ● The social intelligence hypothesis is supported by a strong correlation between the size of the group (and hence complexity) and the relative size of the neocortex (for conscious thinking). ● The brain's ability to manipulate information about the constantly changing social domain may be limited by the size of the brain. ● In evolutionary terms, the correlation between group size and neocortex size suggests that it was the need to live in larger groups that drove the evolution of large brains in primates. ● There are many reasons why a species might want to live in larger groups, such as protection from predators, child raising help, food gathering, etc. ● To be socially smart had its advantages. Basically, as social intelligence increases, so does cranial capacity.

Evolution

Change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

New Paper aimed to...

Hypothesis: Common mtDNA ancestor lived in an African population 200,000 years ago This study included: Larger sample size More African populations Superior tree methodology Statistical analysis Update estimate of when human mtDNA ancestor lived

Figure 1

MtDNA 1122 base pair non coding segment Compared 610 bps of 189 people Findings 179 sites of substitutions 22 length changes

49) Define the 'blank slate' view of the human mind, and describe, based on our discussion in BIOL350, how this might be interpreted as a product of biological evolution.

SKIP THIS QUESTION

Haplogroups L0-L6

Seven Haplogroups L0-L6 Focus on L0, L2 and L3 L0 is most distinct Diverged over 190,000 ya Indigenous groups in southern Africa

Describe the main distinguishing features between the Standard Social Science Model and the Evolutionary Science Model.

Social Science Model: Our inherited genes influence who we are, and our culture influence who we are as well but the two do not influence each other Evolutionary Science Model: Genetic propensities expressed throughout development and interaction with environment (ecology) influence while culture is learned

Why does Africa have the highest level of diversity?

The genes with the most diversity, have the most mutations. They have had the most time to evolve, indicating that they have been here longer (bottleneck effect-less diversity as you move out of Africa).

Out of Africa Hypothesis

The hypothesis that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa and spread to other continents, replacing other Homo species without interbreeding with them. Fossil evidence showed that modern humans lived in Africa at the time of Eve

(19) Describe the major factors discussed in BIOL350 associated with what has been called the mind's 'big bang', or the 'human spark'.

The minds big bang and human spark were due to an enlightened sense of time, and self awareness. When humans began to interpret self as an actor in time and understanding that others had this same self-awareness. humans now were able to plan for the future, understand the possible existence of unseen others and understand events from the past that are just as real as the present. This meant seeing past actual to possible and to change ones actions dependant on the future outcomes. -time awareness (plan future and awareness of mortality, self impermanence) -Consciousness and sense of self esteem -Sentience (comparing thoughts of others minds)

(5) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'pollution' as a problem of 'output'.

There are millions of deaths each year due to pollution. There are many sources of pollution with industry and transportation being the main two. The four major pollutants include: ground level ozone, high levels of mercury, acid rain and excess nitrous oxide emissions which have all increased since the 80s. Excess nitrogen have caused dead zones in oceans and acid rain. Oil spills are a major concern as well. Lack or recycling, filling of landfills, deforestation all lead to pollution which can cause diseases and illness. while also contributing to greenhouse gases and global warming/climate change which has many other side effects.

(6) The 'tipping point' is a concept recently associated with the problem of climate change. Describe what is meant by the 'tipping point' and describe the main factors that have been identified that suggest we may soon reach (or have already passed) the 'tipping point'.

a point when global climate changes from one stable state, to another stable state. After the tipping point has been passed, a transition to a new state occurs. The tipping point may be irreversible, comparable to wine spilling from the glass: standing up glass will not put the wine back in the glass Main factors suggesting we are reaching the tipping point: overpopulation, fresh water sources being depleted, rising temperatures and sea levels, arctic and antarctic ice melting fossil fuel burning leads to melting ice sheets and rising water levels, lead to droughts and forest fires (increased temperature)

Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to where?

all different climates

Humans are the most adaptive species bc.....

climate instability aligns with the emergence of new species

Coastal Movement

driven by the need to survive needed an abundance of food (50,000 years ago. Then out of Africa into Eurasia 25000. Western and Eastern branches. Then moving into more northern latitudes to Siberia 20000.

Humans have the capacity

for culture, to share information, pass on knowledge, and it sets us apart from earlier ancestors bc it gives us the ability to adjust to new situations

Hominidae

great apes and humans

The ability to adjust to new situations is an evolved characterisitic

in the form of brain plasticity

challenge for humans now

its pace is so fast so we will have to see if the humans have the ability to adapt quickly

Skin does not preserve as fossils so how did researchers estimate when hairlessness evolved?

ligament structure

When we gained more technological advancements- clothing and shelter Store and heat water and food

movement:Then moved to North America-there used to be a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska- 13,000-16,000 ya Pacific islands- 10,000 ya

Humans gained the ability to

navigate climate shifts and colonize new habitats

restriction analysis

recognition of SNPs and cutting of DNA

(35) Describe how the culture of gossip can be interpreted as a product of evolution by natural selection.

they could learn from legends and stories about the possible of consequences and they become better equipped to respond effectively when the possible became real. The great survival value or story telling for our ancestors probably accounts for the universal popularity of entertainments like tv, movies, books. This explains our sense of self-esteem and moral and empathic natures, cultures and ethics, virtue and gossip. Why we evolved emotions of shame and guilt

Map 2

within Africa itself, there is a variation in UVR. There is heavy UVR at the equator then as you get more north or more south, it becomes less of a UVR concentration leading to different skin color differences in Africa

climate change led to

the evolution of humans

This is indicated by

the highest recorded diversity of hominin species the first appearance of Homo Major dispersal events out of E. Africa into Eurasia

M and N

• Diverged from L3 • Founding haplogroups for all other haplogroups outside of Africa

L3

• From South to Northern Africa • ALL non African haplogroups from people anywhere in the world outside of Africa trace to L3 • Powerful evidence of the single origin theory • People carrying L3 emigrated out of N. Africa 60-70,000 y.a. • Immigrated into west-central Asia

L2

• From South to West Africa • Most prevalent maternal African ancestry • Includes people who were taken from West Africa as slaves • Most African Americans in North and South America and Caribbean carry L2

Genetic Diversity and bottlenecking

• Most diversity in Africa • Subsets moved out of Africa • The further away the less diversity

Mitochondria

double membrane reproduces by binary fission circular DNA

50) In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for the attraction to sport in humans. Describe these hypotheses.

-legacy (accomplishment) and leisure (distraction) drives -social cohesion and social acceptance (acquiring more mates) -cooperation as a team to defeat enemies -athleticism is a fitness signal -social status

8) Many experts today believe that bio-fuel production causes more problems than it solves. Describe the main reasoning behind this view.

-loss of habitat / deforestation -depletes oil -accelerates climate change -exacerbates world hunger -adjacent forest decline due to decreased transpiration

59) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management'- and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'temporal discounting'. Describe what 'temporal discounting' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

*temporal discounting* -care about here and now, care less as they move away into their temporal horizons -ex: people don't have motivation to save planet if it doesn't affect them now *evolutionary roots* -focus on now rather than later -enhances individual survival -natural selection favours to tune out all big news and focus on immediate changes in your area *implications* -some say we need a catastrophe to break free of this view and to act

57) Describe, based on our discussion in BIOL350, how several products of cultural evolution, involving 'sacred human beliefs' can be interpreted as causing about a 300-year delay in the public acceptance of science.

*the root* -discount opinions they don't want to hear -science shows world how it is and not how we want it -disproving myths, going against religion *products of cultural evolution* -earth is centre of universe (heliocentricism) -human disease is judgement from gods (germ theory) -humans were made by god for earth (evolution)

56) Paul and Anne Ehrlich (2008) wrote, with regard to our imperiled civilization, that "The problem is simple: too many people; too much stuff". In BIOL350 we considered how both of these problems may be at least partially rooted in the intrinsic self-impermanence anxiety of humans. Briefly describe the main arguments behind this interpretation.

*too many people* -legacy (fame / recognition) and leisure (discovery and invention) drive -lead to population explosion *too much stuff* -leisure (buy stuff) and legacy (buy stuff that bolsters self-esteem - fitness signal) drives

3) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'water' as a problem of 'input'.

- 2.5% of Earth's water is fresh - 1% of this is easily accessible - Sanitation - Aquifers - Major causes of water shortages (3 factors) -Increasing use of water

2) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'land' as a problem of 'input'.

- 3% of land is being used to cultivate - no more -12% of Earth's land has no limitations - Drop in arable land (5 factors)

Define Leisure Drive. In BIOL350 we considered a hypothesis for how Leisure Drive may have evolved in humans. Describe this hypothesis.

- A state of mind that promotes distraction from the awareness of death - Attraction to leisure, i.e. free-time indulgence in pleasurable activities, thus providing distractions from self-impermanence anxiety (SIA) — an 'escape from self' — and thus improving the likelihood of surviving long enough to reach reproductive maturity before SIA has opportunity to compromise gene transmission (reproductive success) linked to the same kinds of 'pleasure modules' that rewarded the reproductive success of ancestors — and manifesting today in a wide range of modern cultural norms.

Describe the major factors throughout the journey of human evolution that resulted in the elevation of human carrying capacity.

- Agriculture and the industrial revolution that really elevated the human carrying capacity. - Agriculture produced food on a much larger scale, increasing life longevity as well as being able to provide for more people. This produced a much larger population also being able to migrate and spread out. - Industrial revolution came medical advances. Medical advances reduced death rates and increased birth rates. More and more children were reaching the reproductive years. Healthier people have more babies and this increase the population size. - Human population doubled from 1650 to 1850 and then doubled again by 1930

1) J.R. Richards discusses three different levels or 'depths' of Darwinism. Describe how these are distinguished

- Anti Darwinist -Non-materialist darwinist -Blank Slate darwinist -Sociobiology darwinist

Why is war almost exclusively a male enterprise? In BIOL350 we considered answers to this question based on interpretations involving the role of biological evolution. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

- Because of polygyny, there has always been much greater variance in reproductive success between males than between females. Hence, we are all the descendants of males who out competed other males in fierce competition for mates - much of it violent. - The fact that the ratio of male-male to female-female violence remains remarkably unvarying from place to place argues for its biological underpinnings because personal altercations were the stuff upon which prestige and social success - leading ultimately to biological success - were based. - The young male syndrome: Young men entering the mating arena show the greatest degree of risk taking and violent strategies. - The masculine warrior mentality is a sexually selected trait, bred into ancestral men by women who preferred warrior mates. If warriors were preferred mates, this may have caused genes for warlike behaviour to proliferate. - There is of course, a far less benign path to reproductive success in warfare: the act of rape. One of the perennial attractions of war is the opportunity to abduct or forcibly copulate with women. - Men feel the need to protect their own territories against male invaders and a need to have sex with female invaders, and this is built into the circuitry of the brain.

Many experts today believe that bio-fuel production causes more problems than it solves. Describe the main reasoning behind this view.

- Biofuel is fuel from plants and crops - Bio-fuels are usually deceptive (not as green as they seem), because their production is relatively costly and generates wastes - Causes loss of tropical forest and other natural habitats, depletes oil, accelerates climate change, and exacerbates world hunger - Burning of oil-based fuel and petroleum based fertilizers to grow biofuel crops (oil shortage) - Loss of carbon storage and carbon sequestration in forests and other natural habitats (climate change) - Money to be made in poor countries mainly, from cutting and burning forests to grow biofuels - Less cropland used to grow food crops - Demands for cutting and destroying more forest and natural habitat grow food crops - Large scale burning and cutting to grow crops - including biofuel crops - also causes adjacent forest decline

Define the 'blank slate' view of the human mind, and describe, based on our discussion in BIOL350, how this might be interpreted as a product of biological evolution.

- Blank Slate: we are born with a blank slate - a mind that develops patterns of thinking and behaviour unaffected by genes and shaped entirely by experience and learning - through our understanding of the world and the manner in which we think and behave are acquired only through learning from our environment - Evolutionary Science Model: because of genetic inheritance partially structured at birth the mind develops a degree of prepared learning; innately disposed to learn and reinforce

In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why polygyny has been the dominant model for marriage throughout most of human history. Briefly describe these hypotheses, and discuss the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where the culture of monogamy came from.

- Both males and females (but especially males) can benefit from a polygynous mating system wherever there is wide variation in male wealth - Polygyny with ''bride wealth" (male choice and competition for males: Males pay 'bride wealth' to secure rights to sexual access to women, to compensate her family for her lost labour and to make alliances with other groups. The wealthiest men can pay the most bride wealth and so can have the most wives. - Polygyny with "female choice": the optimal female strategy is to mate with the wealthiest available man. The critical factor determining whether monogamy or polygyny predominates is the amount of variation in the distribution of resources under male control. If male controlled resources are varied polygyny is the optimal strategy. This is explained by the concept of a polygyny threshold, that is, a point when a female considers the nth wealthiest unmated male and sees a superior option in mating with a wealthier, already mated male because one-half of the total resources he controls exceed the total resources controlled by unmated poorer males. Once this threshold is reached, it is better for females to mate polygnous rather than monogamously. - Where the culture of monogamy came from: 1) Monogamy may occur in the relatively unusual circumstance when there is very little variation between the wealth of males within a society (Why would women settle for half of a poor man who is already married when she can have all of an unmarried poor man?) 2) Inequality among males is more socially destructive - in ways that harm women and men- than inequality among women. (A polygynous nation in which large numbers of low- income males remain mateless, is not the kind of country many of us would want to live in)

The human mind, according to one metaphor, has been described as being like a juke box. Another metaphor compares the human mind to a colouring book. Describe what is meant by these two metaphors.

- Both metaphors underline the fact that gene expression is influenced by one's experience of environmental variation. Mind is NOT a blank slate with features only determined by what gets learned from outside inputs. - Juke Box: a number of tracks are installed (genetic instructions) into the machine (mind) environmental influence on the mind provides the signals about which tracks are favoured for expression. - Colouring Book: The mind has some pre drawn lines that are permanent (genetic instructions: drawn before birth these interact with different environmental inputs (different artists which different colours) which determines the final phenotype of the behaviour (the picture) - Humans are susceptible to social or cultural influence. Hereditary determinants are not fixed characters or traits but they're developmental processes.

7) The tipping point is a concept recently associated with the problem of climate change. Describe what is meant by the tipping point and describe the main factors that have been identified that suggest we may soon reach (or have already passed) the tipping point.

- Too late? -Irreversible cascade of events -Rising heat -Rising populations --> forests lost --> co2 -irreversible for 1000 years? -mega droughts -ocean acidification

Describe the main trends and issues that we considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of species extinctions.

- Current extinction rate is 1000X higher than the fossil record: wildlife populations are plummeting, oceans are at risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine life, pesticides spark broad biodiversity loss - Maintaining a population of 6 billion humans costs 40-50 species per day - Loss of habitat due to anthropogenic causes such as clear cutting forests for timber, or changing arable land into cropland (monoculture) → species extinction due to biodiversity loss and increased competition for resources within remaining area, further stress on ecosystems which can lead to a reduction in heterozygosity among species, leaving them less able to deal with stress such as diseases due to climate change, as homozygosity is only beneficial in a static environment

In BIOL350 we considered something called the 'curse of consciousness', and we considered three evolutionary-based hypotheses that may account for it. Describe what this means, and describe these three hypotheses.

- Curse of consciousness = anxiety about one's imagined/eventual mortality at some unknown time in the future. Unique to human (to foresee one's own eventual death). Evoke terror. - = Ability to self-reflect on one's own past or future. Made us aware that lives are impermanent (A) Eventual mortality anxiety = ancient survival instinct gone away misemployed by a fitness trade-off of consciousness - maladaptive in terms of genetic fitness. - Time and self-awareness gives us knowledge of eventual mortality thus automatically deploys our primitive survival instinct. This triggers anxiety. - This anxiety = fitness cost for our ancestors but was worth it because fitness benefits of consciousness was greater. - The anxiety evokes behaviours minimizing mortality risks. - According to this hypothesis, humans inherit a survival instinct so over-powering that it also manifests as fear even in response to events that we know will only eventually happen, like death. Survival instinct so acutely primed that makes us anxious about own death even though it is only sometime in the future resulting from old age, without violence. (B) Eventual mortality anxiety = just neutral by-product of fear of the unknown neutral in terms of genetic fitness - Anxiety only has emotional cost, without any other fitness cost or benefit. - Imagining death = was and still is mystery. We have no idea how it will be --> good for gene transmission success because a general anxiety (just in case) about unknown things is prevent us from danger??? (C) Eventual mortality anxiety = directly favoured by natural selection - adaptive in terms of genetic fitness - Anxiety itself directly promotes gene transmission success in ancestors. - Anxiety not associated with eventual experience of death, but associated more directly with what eventually death imposes: self-impermanence. - Self-impermanence anxiety = worrying about one's life is absurd without purpose. Not because time brings eventual death, but because in bringing death, time inevitably takes all that we do, all that we are. - This anxiety leads us with the desire to leave something of oneself (a legacy) for the future. - Only genes have legacy, thus do offspring = vehicle of genetic legacy. Encourage people to reproduce!

In BIOL350 we considered that the human cultures defined by agriculture, and eventually medicine, combined with the scaling up of the Industrial Revolution served to kick-start the 'modern' project of civilization, involving a seemingly endless cycle of self-perpetuating interdependence. Briefly describe the basis for this view.

- Ever since we had agriculture, medicine and industry, it has caused problems in the form of crowded, hungry and sick populations. We have developed technology to combat these problems but instead of dealing with the root of the problem they only temporarily solve it which perpetuates even more sickness, hunger and crowded populations so that we have had to develop even more technology to combat it. Essentially, it has become a never ending cycle where the technology we develop allows for more of the problem to persist.

One common misconception about biological evolution is the claim that "evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable". Explain the main arguments considered in BIOL350 that refute this claim.

- Evolution is both observable AND testable. People tend to believe that science only involves controlled experiments in labs, whereas much of it is accomplished by gathering evidence from the real world and inferring how things work from the convergence of several lines of evidence. Though we can't go back in time and see things through our own eyes, we can make valid inferences by utilizing the available evidence. - It is comparable to a court of law, in which direct empirical evidence is not necessary to convict. All that is needed is a significant collection of clues that are all consistent with the charge. - The familiar sciences make use of both empirical evidence and the consilience of inductions to validate or invalidate a hypothesis.

In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for the attraction to sport in humans. Describe these hypotheses.

- Evolutionary hypotheses: Satisfies the need to 'belong'? (survival drive)— for self-esteem, to be socially accepted, promoting the fitness benefit associated with reciprocal exchanges available through group membership, and associated with the advantage of acquiring social acceptance in order to attract mates. - Courtship display? (sex drive): Male display of physical strength and skill — as through athleticism — was a fitness signal for our female predecessors during mate choice (correlating with male ability to protect and provide), and so rewarded the reproductive success of our male ancestors; males therefore have an intrinsic attraction to (and curiosity about) such displays in other males as potential sexual rivals. - Satisfies leisure drive?: providing entertainment, connected to the fitness benefit of being distracted from self-impermanence anxiety - Satisfies legacy drive: he need — as a sports team fan — to be a part of something 'larger-than-self' plus the drive to 'win' games of all kinds may represent a delusional substitute for legacy through other domains (e.g. career accomplishments and other forms of meme transmission), that is particularly attractive to males because of uncertainty of paternity. Legacy drive engenders a notion of 'struggle' and 'challenge' and goal- directedness, and sport allows one to be engaged in that sense of striving for a goal, and so to satisfy that inner drive to achieve something significant before death, even though it might only be membership on the winning team at a pick-up hockey game played in an empty arena - Social groups: We all have a need to belong, so it is good for self esteem to be on a team/affiliate with a team

In BIOL350 we considered arguments proposing that war could be interpreted largely as a product of biological evolution. Describe the arguments in support of this view.

- We are all the descendants of the instigators and winners of war. A penchant for war rewarded reproductive success for our predecessors by: Securing more resources and wealth to support survival; Securing more access to females for reproductive subjugation; Securing a heroic reputation with the home tribe, thus attracting more mates, and also appealing to the intrinsic attraction to legacy. - The losers of wars, and those who generally preferred to talk things over peacefully rather than go to war, were generally less successful historically in propelling their genes into future generations. - Selection then has favoured in humans a brain that in certain circumstances seeks out opportunities to impose violence on neighbours, through collective planning and group-based missions. - Selection has favored in humans and chimps a brain that "in certain circumstances" seek out to attack other members of their own species (most of the time its planned)

Define a 'fitness signal'. Describe three examples of fitness signals and/or mating tactics that humans commonly display, that we considered in BIOL350.

- Fitness signals are hard-wired perceptions that signal good genes that can be passed on to children, but they are perceptions that occur intrinsically without conscious intent involved in their associated behaviours. Basically the signal, at least historically, have always been associated with high fitness potential which is why attraction to them does not need to be accompanied by any awareness - Three examples are: 1) Attraction of females to men who can provide resources or offer protection (for her and her offspring) or who can withstand environmental stimuli. This is linked to the tendency in males to compete for opportunities to display resource providing and athleticism and other protection-indicating abilities 2) Women commonly use cosmetics as tactics designed to look younger. Men care about a partners age more than women do, with men generally preferring partners younger than themselves but women also commonly preferring older partners - because a women's fertility declines more sharply with age, whereas a man's ability to provide increases with age 3) Men generally have more prolific accomplishments in art and music as a courtship display for females, by signaling cognitive fitness through the display of intellectual and manual skills through artful displays. Musicians, artists and writers are notorious for their large number of sexual partners.

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'pollution' as a problem of 'output'.

- Ground-level ozone reduces plants' ability to harness sunlight for growth harming both natural ecosystems and agricultural crops - People are responsible for doubling the rate of nitrogen entering the active nitrogen cycle over the last half century. → expected to increase by 65% by 2050 - 7 million premature deaths linked to air pollution - Mercury, acid rain and excess nitrogen are damaging ecosystems

Describe the main factors considered in BIOL350 connected with concerns about current and possible future declines in the quality of available health care.

- Human diseases are on the rise - 40% of world deaths are due to environmental degradation - Prevalence of human diseases is rapidly increasing: population growth, pollution of water, air, and soil (environmental degradation, population growth, and current malnutrition of about 3.7 billion people around the world) are contributing to number of worldwide diseases - Climate change may make insect-borne diseases harder to control - Risks of healthcare collapse from climate change and peak oil consumption - Health hazards created by global warming/climate change: 1) extreme weathers such as heavy rainfall can trigger disease outbreaks 2) hotter summer days lead to increased rates of asthma-inducing smog 3) increased rainfall & temp can influence malaria, west nile virus - make insect-borne diseases harder to control - Health hazards created by peak oil: undependable power source risks: electronic medical records, radiology, laboratory, and many other health services depend on an uninterrupted power supply, rising energy cost of health care: hospitals use twice as much energy per square foot of building space as office buildings, uncertain future for petroleum-based, processed, and transported products: needed for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment are produced for a one-time, non-reusable use. Petroleum derivatives also found in computer equipment/electronic equipment (i.e X-rays) - Health officials fear we may be entering a post-antibiotic era: diseases are developing resistance to virtually all antibiotics (world is going to become a place where infections and minor injuries can once again cause death), trends suggest some diseases may not have effective therapies in 10 years, antibiotic discoveries peaked in the 1960s, have declined since then

12) According to the Living Planet Report, countries seem to be capable of having an acceptable 'human development index' or an acceptable ecological foot print, but not both. Illustrate this using a simple labeled graph, and describe the main factors that are used to assess the magnitude of these two indices for a given country. Also, describe the main factors that affect whether a country falls within the 'acceptable' values for these indices.

- Human impact: I=PAT -HDI: indicator of well being -ecological footprint: global area required to supply goods and services -1.5 earths of supplies to sustain Earth's needs -biocapacity: total supply of an area -technology increases use which increases ecological footprint -sustainability needed through less exploitation and population and different technology -poor vs developed countries HDI

5) Many authorities have serious doubts about the ability of alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels. Describe the main issues associated with these doubts.

- Importance of oil -Hydrogen? -Nuclear energy? -Problem with renewables?

Do we have greater personal obligation to the welfare of some individuals over others? In BIOL350 we explored answers to this question that can be understood in terms of evolutionary roots. Discuss the main arguments concerning this.

- In practice, yes we do have greater personal obligation to the welfare of some indiv over others. Greater sense of obligation to kin than to non-kin. - In general, obligation to others falls off as genetic relatedness decreases. E.g. most people would save life of sibling but perhaps not if have to risk own life (we share only about 50% of our genes). However, more willing to risk own life if could save 2 siblings. - Identical twins feel greater obligation to each other than other siblings (100% genetically related) - Most of us would sacrifice own life to save our children. Might seem contradicting since only share about 50% of our genes but because own individual welfare will come to an end, we would do it. - Offspring and grand-offspring = only vehicle that can propel direct copies of one's genes into future generation. - Also, more likely to save same race people (in-group bias), same religion, etc

One common misconception about biological evolution is the claim that "evolution supports the idea that 'might makes right' and rationalizes the oppression of some people by others". Explain the main arguments considered in BIOL350 that refute this claim.

- In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a philosophy called "Social Darwinism" arose from a misguided effort to apply lessons from biological evolution to society. - According to this view, society should allow the weak and less fit to fail and die, and that this is not only good policy, but morally right. - Supposedly, evolution by natural selection provided support for these ideas. - Pre-existing prejudices were rationalized by the notion that colonized nations, poor people, or disadvantaged minorities must have deserved their situations because they were "less fit" than those who were better off. - This misapplication of science was used to promote social and political agendas. - The "science" of Social Darwinism was refuted. - Biological evolution has stood the test of time, but Social Darwinism has not.

In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why most cultures historically have had a preference for male offspring, but also why some cultures have had a preference for female offspring. Briefly describe these hypotheses.

- Male Preference: When wealthy there has been a tendency to favour male offspring for inheritance because they have greater potential reproductive value (through polygyny) and so providing them with wealth allows them to buy more wives (bride wealth) thus improving the wealthy families son's chances of maximizing their own reproductive success in the following generation. A drive to have a son will cause a drive to continue reproduction when a daughter is born which maximizes family size. Also having sons maximizes the total number of grandchildren, because sons can father more offspring than what daughters can bear. Together these maximize the number of future descendants. - Female Preference: In feudal times peasants were more likely to give possessions to their daughters. While their feudal superiors killed or neglected daughters or banished them to convents peasants left them more possessions. Lower down the social scale daughters are preferred even today. The sister should out-reproduce her brother if both are poor because the sister can marry up while the poor brother is unlikely to win any mates at all. In these circumstances women are better grandchildren production devices than sons.

(16) (a) Define natural selection. Does natural selection act on genes, traits or individuals? Explain your answer. (b) Does the definition of evolutionary fitness apply to genes, traits, or individuals? Explain your answer.

- Natural selection: refers to the process by which the frequency of heritable traits in a population changes over time, as a result of differential success in reproduction. This is because some genotypes are more successful than others in leaving descendants, and they have higher 'fitness'. - Natural selection acts on traits. Natural selection is represented by the failure of certain individuals to leave descendants, which occurs most proximately because these individuals lack certain phenotypic traits. - Evolutionary fitness applies most PROXIMALLY to individuals - those who leave more descendants have higher fitness. However, the reason some people leave more descendants is partially because of genes influencing particular traits. Fitness, applies ULTIMATELY to genes. GENES: number of gene copies residing in future generations (bio. ev. also defined in terms of change in genetic constitution of a population- results when genes propelled into future generations at different frequencies)- # gene copies directly correlated with # descendants that one leaves from direct lineage)

Describe the major factors discussed in BIOL350 associated with what has been called the mind's 'big bang', or the 'human spark'.

- Our ancestors started to become equipped for profound enlightenment: discovered a sense of time and self-awareness - Consciousness and imagination = human spark = mind's big bang - = (a) sense of time (including awareness of own mortality) and (b) sense of self-esteem (including anxiety about own self-impermanence) - = interpret self as actor among many on the stage of life as it passes through time (and with recognition of this same self-awareness in others). - This leads to capacity to plan future and to envisage existence of unseen others and events from the past that was understood to have been just as real as the present - Meant being able to use abstract / symbolic thinking and insight to see beyond just the present while anticipating outcomes of one's actions (e.g. resisting temptations in expectation of delayed but larger gratification) - Time-awareness allowed to perceive one's own inevitable self-impermanence (mortality) - Self-consciousness allowed to deliberately control one's behaviours and to be able to compare oneself to own standards and to other people

Describe the main trends and issues considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of urban mega-growth.

- People move to cities as countries develop: Urban population size will increase dramatically, Frenetic urban growth is a big cause of environmental change. It drives the loss of agricultural land, changes in temperature, and biodiversity loss - Fewer farmers feeding larger populations: From 1960-2000, the proportion of world population engaged in agriculture plummeted from 60% to 40% - Major issues concerning urban mega-growth: How will mega-cities survive when oil, food, soil, and water run out; Can they survive the effects of climate change, increasing resource competition, dwindling supplies and civil/international strife that threaten distant sources of food, energy, and other crucial resources; urban growth promotes increased urban sprawl (suburbs), which leads to an increase in commuting, which increasing emissions leading to climate change and about 90% of all commuters travel by themselves in their own car

In BIOL350 we considered how 'pleasure-based meaning' in humans can be understood from an evolutionary perspective. Discuss the main points in this argument.

- Pleasure-based meaning as a product of natural selection... - By associating the child-like sense of wonder and discovery about life and nature with pleasure, our ancestors' genes (including those involved in associating it with pleasure) were propelled into future generations - Pleasure = satisfying curiosity, calming fears of the unknown and bolstering confidence and self-esteem → motivation (and reputation) for discovering additional practical solutions to the mysteries of life and nature, and hence survival and reproduction → these acts improved chances of survival → and rewarded reproductive success - Pleasure = belonging to a social group, identified by shared motivation to solve the unknown and other problems → acceptance and admiration by others in the social group → elevated social status → greater attractiveness to mates → rewarded reproductive success

Describe how the culture of gossip can be interpreted as a product of evolution by natural selection.

- Prehistoric ancestors had to cooperate with in-group members for success against out-groups but they also have to recognize that those same in-group members were the main competitors when it came to dividing limited resources. Have to remember who was reliable exchange partner, who was a cheater, who would be a valuable mate - Success in this environment required ability to predict and influence behaviours of others and the intense interest in private dealings of others = favoured by natural selection - Thus people fascinated with lives of others more successful than those who were not - Also explains why humans are attracted to sensational news stories - Gossip = useful social function in bonding group members together. Help us survive and thrive - "Us vs. Them" (in-group bias) = Favouring in-group members over outsiders is beneficial because: - It helped protect against foreign diseases → increases chance of survival and gene transmission - Protects one's personal sense of identity and meaning, and sense of being able to leave a legacy - (a) Nepotism: favouring family members because they share genes - Increases likely of gene transmission - (b) Xenophobia: bias toward people of same social group or community - (c) Ethnocentrism: being partial to people who resemble them in behavior or appearance - Signals that individuals are likely to share your genes and/or be members of their community

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been considered in accounting for the probable or possible advantages of early Homo sapiens over Homo neanderthalensis.

- Reasons remain uncertain but according to popular hypothesis, sapiens were responsible for the Neanderthals extinction (from a combination of murder, competition for resources and territory, disease epidemics). - Neanderthals had perhaps higher physical strength but homo sapiens were smarter & slimmer and knew how to use tool to do the work for themselves, which was major advantage. - Neanderthals had shorter limbs and stockier frame therefore slower running speed and 30% more energy needed (which gives them a disadvantage in battle). - Neanderthals had diff pelvis this much harder for them to absorb shock and to bounce off from one step to next - Neanderthals practiced little or no labour division whereas sapiens had men involved in dangerous work of hunting large game and women and children involved in safer activities of foraging, gathering, and campsite organization. Thus, it is likely that the Neanderthals women who were involved in hunt were killed thus couldn't bear more children. - Neanderthals did not have the tools needed for killing large animals at distance (could only strike at close range) therefore more likely to be injured or killed when hunting. - Neanderthals had higher mortality risks because of living in harsher climate affected by impact of ice ages in Europe. They had generally shorter average lifespan. Therefore, natural selection may have favoured faster childhood development to reach adult size and reproductive maturity earlier thereby leading the Neanderthals (compared to the sapiens) to have less time for creative childhood play and curiosity and thus less opportunity for developing certain learning skills and social skills prior to meeting adulthood challenges. - Moreover, the longer average lifespan of the sapiens means that grand-parenting was more significant part of their culture. Therefore, greater capacity for accumulation and transmission of knowledge across generations (including important survival skills). Also means supplemental maternal care from grand-offspring.

Describe, based on our discussion in BIOL350, how several products of cultural evolution, involving 'sacred human beliefs' can be interpreted as causing about a 300-year delay in the public acceptance of science.

- Sacred human beliefs: Earth is centre of universe - Scientific indications: Astronomy - Heliocentrism: Earth is one of nine planets circling one of billions of stars - Years between initial hypothesis and public acceptance of science: 325 - Sacred human beliefs: Human diseases and epidemics are divine judgments on the wickedness of humans - Scientific indications: Biology - Germ theory: Disease is caused by microbes - Years between initial hypothesis and public acceptance of science: 340 - Sacred human beliefs: Humans were specially created by God, and the earth was made for humans and belongs to humans - Scientific indications: Biology - Evolution: Humans evolved along with millions other species; humans and all other species belong to the earth - Years between initial hypothesis and public acceptance of science: Almost there... by 2018? (ca. 1718) - Sacred human beliefs: Human history had been a long tale of benefits accrued from progress and growth - Scientific indications: Archaeology/anthropology - Human history has been long tale of misery from resource shortage and starvation, and warfare and genocide, environmental destruction and mass extinction - Years between initial hypothesis and public acceptance of science: Not there yet. By 2250? (too late) (ca. 1950)

Do we need religion in order to have an objective basis for moral standards? In BIOL350, we considered that the answer to this question is 'no' when hypotheses based on biological evolution are applied to this question. Describe the main points in support of this view.

- Secular laws promote morality without requiring any adherence to religious belief - Moral standards, which promote group cooperation, founded primarily on societal imperatives. Religion has been used as a tool to enforcing moral societal imperatives. Religious imperatives often used to justify immorality - Most humans have an intrinsic moral sense. - Religion is not needed in order to have an objective basis for moral standards. Religion entirely a product of biological evolution - Morality is in our genes. It is in our religion only because it is in our genes. - Reproductive success of predecessors was rewarded by moral thinking thus natural selection can explain moral standards - Social groups espousing moral standards in our ancestral past were generally more prosperous than those that didn't. Our predecessors who had the dispositions to be kind and helpful left more descendants than those who did not. - Emotions like sympathy, empathy, and compassion enable us to experience perspective of others and bind communities together. - When we help, these acts of kindness are visible to others, thus one's reputation is enhanced this earn social privileges and signal to potential mates that we are likely to be caring and reliable partner (therefore a good dad). Helping also indirectly ensures future reciprocity (If I help, I'll get help when I need it)

In all successful species — including humans prior to the start of the Anthropocene— birth rate and death rate have always been relatively high, because evolution by natural selection always maximizes gene transmission, usually associated with maximizing fecundity, thus keeping populations at 'carrying capacity' (defined by the resource-supplying power available from natural ecosystem services), where deaths balance births. Describe how this situation for humans has changed since the start of the Anthropocene, and also discuss the prospects that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where birth rates and death rates, and population size, may be headed in the future.

- Since start of Anthropocene, population growth rates have stayed relatively the same however death rates have gone down significantly - fertility rates are below replacement level in many countries - however population will continue to grow throughout the 21st century although more slowly than recent decades - world population doubled in 40 years to reach 6b in 1999 and expected to reach 9b by 2044 an increase of 50% over 45 years (population is increasing but slowly) - recent female empowerment and genes from females that were forced to reproduce might be gone soon, thus creating strong parenting drive - we have to look at our ancestors to see what genes are passed down, so those alive today will not chose to be childfree

14) One common misconception about biological evolution is the claim that "evolution supports the idea that 'might makes right' and rationalizes the oppression of some people by others". Explain the main arguments considered in BIOL350 that refute this claim.

-It does not make statements about right and wrong -Humans decide whats ethical and moral -We are not slaves to our genes / characteristics -Cicilization trying to thwart killing, but it is also in our nature -Social darwinism

In BIOL350 we considered that: (1) humans have evolved certain inclinations that apparently serve to buffer anxiety, particularly self-impermanence anxiety; but that (2) certain behavioural states commonly diagnosed as mental disorders may have conferred fitness advantages for at least some of our ancestors. Describe the main points in support of this of this second view.

- Some forms of mental illness have component that were probably adaptive for some ancestor (in terms of greater capacity for creativity, and solve complex problems). - Being mentally healthy = overly optimistic ideas about world; being depressed = give people powers of perception and increase abilities to assess complex situations - Some psychopath traits (e.g. superficial charm, lack of remorse, manipulation of others) shared by politicians and world leaders - E.g. having rapidly shifting but intense attention span and taster for novelty = advantage in environment where had to adapt to ever-changing environment where dangers were unpredictable (hunter). ADHD - success - Depression = someone who have a particularly acute grasp of reality (=cognitive tool essential for survival). Someone is not necessarily sick if thinks existence is meaningless - "Mental disorders behavioural states" provide mortality anxiety buffer/distraction that reduces susceptibility to anxiety/worry thereby giving indiv a mind relatively free of anxiety that can compromise indiv's likelihood of reaching reproductive maturity - Mental illness genes bring benefits (hence stay in our genetic pool) - By embracing unique skills and attributes coming with unusual ways of thinking, humans became more inventive and adaptable, and eventually outcompeted all other species

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that we discussed in BIOL350 concerning proposed advantages resulting from the evolution of spoken language in humans.

- Spoken language is an advance over symbolic language, linked to: Larger brain capacity, Altered brain structure, Development of the larynx, tongue, and associated muscles - With being able to speak, individuals could rapidly communicate to plot a strategy for hunting, brainstorm about how to devise a better tool, and how to interpret a cave painting. Evolution of language also allowed communicating complex information to their children and grandchildren (such as storytelling). - The advantages through language could allow humans to master the art of living in larger units of social organization that developed with the advent of agriculture. Language also allowed commanding attention and persuasion of large groups for political and military goals: Plot strategy for hunting, Brainstorm about how to devise a better tool, How to interpret cave paintings - Allowed learning from what others have experienced elsewhere or in the past; humans could now communicate complex information to their children and grandchildren - Learning about and understanding the possible through stories likely makes one better equipped to respond effectively if/when the possible becomes reality

In BIOL350 we considered some of the main features associated with the formation of the first cities. Describe these features.

- Stability of the land made it possible for farmers to farm the same land for many generations. This allowed people to settle down and build permanent homes, developing stable governments and channels of trade and commerce. - The ability to store food meant that only a few individuals in the community had to be involved in the agriculture. This allowed some citizens to devote time to politics, commerce and technology, and military. These things all being the basis for modern civilization.

According to the Living Planet Report, countries seem to be capable of having an acceptable 'human development index', or an acceptable 'ecological footprint', but not both. Illustrate this using a simple labeled graph, and describe the main factors that are used to assess the magnitude of these two indices for a given country. Also, describe the main factors that affect whether a country falls within the 'acceptable' values for these indices.

- The data show that human societies can have an acceptable human index (above the 0.8 threshold) OR an acceptable ecological footprint (within the world average biocapacity) BUT NOT BOTH because as HDI increases from acquiring technology so does Ecological footprint from acquiring technology - The main factors that determine whether a country falls within the acceptable values are: 1) Ecological footprint - humanity's demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. This is affected by effects of population size on exploitation and effects of technology on exploitation. 2) Biocapacity - the total supply of productive area. 3) HDI - indicator of well-being, calculated from life expectancy, literacy and education, and per capita GDP. This is affected by population size and the availability of technology.

The 'march of progress' for human civilization can be described as a story of energy conversion / generation. Describe what this means.

- The march of progress is a term used to describe the conversion of coal into energy to start the industrial revolution, and the change of lands into croplands for the generation of food energy - marks the beginning of the fossil fuel party. - Creation of coal fired plants, coal fired power plants allowed the population to rely less on wood as a source of energy, and thus more land previously devoted to wood could now be cleared for agriculture (the generation of energy). - Fabrics could be made from oil, there was less need for land for sheep to graze and for cotton growth, this land was turned into cropland. This allowed the population to grow further. - The growth here still focussed on feeding us, and fighting them. - Those who farmed the land worked an extra 12 hours a day for pennies. - Millions lived in unimaginable conditions in the slums. Uprisings began, and people were no longer willing to go to war over religion. Millions of people died in the uprisings, but progress was made.

The 'tipping point' is a concept recently associated with the problem of climate change. Describe what is meant by the 'tipping point' and describe the main factors that have been identified that suggest we may soon reach (or have already passed) the 'tipping point'.

- The tipping point is the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development - Since 1960, CO2 emissions have increased by 3-fold worldwide & by 5-fold in Asia alone - Global surface temperature is on the rise - Ice sheets are melting and have shown signs of disintegrating during the past two decades - Sea levels are on the rise. Just partial melting of these ice sheets will raise sea level several meters. For example, the impact of a 5-meter sea ice could be disastrous for the state of Florida. Pacific islands could be wiped out entirely - Flood events have increased dramatically since the 1950's with a huge impact on the economy (dramatic economic losses) - Abrupt shifts in ocean circulation patterns, as well as abrupt shifts in vegetation and marine productivity.

According to Pulitzer Prize winning author Phyllis McGinley (1956): "Women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are able to produce our own immortality...". How then can we account for the growing popularity of the 'childfree culture'? Describe the evolutionary hypothesis that we discussed to address this question in BIOL350.

- Women gained independence - Women embracing domain for legacy through accomplishment, that was largely denied to their maternal ancestors - Men usually "unfulfilled sex" because they have more parental uncertainty, so they would generally seek accomplishment

(32) In BIOL350 we considered how gene-environment interaction is likely to account for several common features of human mating behavior. Describe examples of this that we considered in BIOL350.

- adaptive trait variation caused by gene expression that is contingent (dependent) upon environment or context, e.g. age, physiological stage , represented by the notion of 'context sensitivity' or 'evoked culture' - In these cases, behavioural flexibility is subserved by evolved psychological mechanisms that take particular classes of cue (e.g. pathogen prevalence) as input, and output different behaviours or motivations - a requirement for context sensitivity is that humans have experienced a range of environmental conditions recurrently over evolutionary history - Human societies are remarkably variable in terms Of their size, complexity, social Structure, marriage systems and norms. This diversity has sometimes been raised as an obstacle to taking an evolutionary approach to human behaviour. However, a substantial proportion of the variation between human societies might represent local adaptation to ecological conditions and would thus be very much amenable to evolutionary explanation. I review recent studies correlating inter-population differences in humans with ecological factors, specifically pathogen prevalence. Many questions remain unanswered, such as whether we correctly understand the causal pathways and what the mechanisms producing local adaptation are. but the strength of correlations between social and ecological parameters is striking.

In BIOL350 we considered how some human motivations / goals can be interpreted in terms of 'blended drives' that involve 'purposeful toil and mundane routine'. Describe what this means, and illustrate with two examples that we discussed in the course.

- doing something that seems purposeful including because it just needs to be done can evoke a sense of leaving something of oneself for the future and/or it can also feel good because it requires keeping busy thus creating a diversion - helping others - giving to others - signalling to others that you can be counted on for support - reaped greater access to resources (survival) and attractiveness for potential mates (reproduction) - parenting drive: creating children - legacy drive through children by shaping their ideas, values and beliefs - leisure drive: diversion from depressing thoughts or worries, the pleasure is in the distraction

In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management'— and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'temporal discounting'. Describe what 'temporal discounting' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

- evolution has ill-equipped to respond effectively in advance to things that might in the future (despite that we have evolved some capacity to predict what the future is likely to bring) - only motivated with priority to problems today as opposed to problems tomorrow - ecological crisis is always set for tomorrow, we are not well-equipped to act for the future - slippery slope as tomorrow will always be tomorrow and that tomorrow will never come - temporal discounting as an adaptation to enhance individual survival and reproductive success - squirrels that spend too much time prepping for winter vs addressing needs now will be less likely to make it through winter - discounting the future makes sense because it is a never certain outcome - natural selection long favoured our brain's tendency to habituate to tune out all but 'big news' recent changes in the world or nearby events - has to be a drastic change

In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management'— and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'self-deception'. Describe what 'self-deception' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

- evolution has not given us the ability to filter self-deception - evolved more to manipulate others and deceive ourselves than to perceive the truth - a liar that believes his own lies is far more convincing than one who doesn't - human brain did not evolve primarily to discover the truth, evolved to maximize the reproductive success of its owner and sometimes deception and manipulation often rule - sometimes pays not to know too much about your own agenda - skeptics discount science by casting doubts on scientist expertise - trust scientists but not their findings, they simply discount the expertise associated with any opinion they would rather not hear - modern culture is to deny that both population and economic growth are causes of environmental degradation - you need economic growth in order to feed the addiction to consumerism and materialism and you need population growth in order to have economic growth

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'food' as a problem of 'input'.

- food crop production has more than doubled and price has been halved since 1960s - number of undernourished people climbing - food production has peaked and prices are rising - warming world is a threat to our food supplies - seed stock for over 90% of the varieties available in 1903 for many food crops have been abandoned - the number & percentage of undernourished people in the world's 70 least developed countries are climbing while the world's backup food supply of carryover stocks (the amount of grain in the bin when the new harvest begins) is declining - populations are expanding fastest in regions where it is the most difficult to grow food - Reasons → Loss of Topsoil, Spreading Water Shortages, Rising Temperatures

Evolutionary theory predicts that the traits of a species that are common tomorrow will include those of its predecessors, alive today, who are leaving the most descendants. If this is true, who, can we predict, will be the parents of the future? In other words, what basic drives or motivations might we expect them to have? Discuss the answer to this question that we considered in BIOL350.

- selection against weak parenting drive may soon be ramping up - within a generation or two could mean the end of the childfree culture - parents of the future will have a high parenting drive - female empowerment, available birth control, higher living standards leads to low to zero lifetime fertility (currently) - in the future people will probably have less legacy and leisure drive while they will have more parenting drive - In the near future, the childless culture will lead to a low level of gene transmission and a high level of meme transmission. Women have inherited a high level of legacy drive and attraction to leisure from their fathers, which both interfere with parenting drive. - FUTURE: - Sex drive: NO selection for strong sex drive in either sex, as technology has eliminated the uncertainty of parenting and contraceptives have altered whether or not a strong sex drive will actually lead to gene transmission. Also, a strong parenting drive will eliminate the need for a strong sex drive - Leisure and legacy drive: Selection AGAINST strong leisure and legacy drive that promotes side-tracking into accomplishment-based memetic legacy transmission. These both promote low lifetime fertility. Legacy drive that does not distract from childbearing will PERSIST in terms of memetic legacy to offspring. - Parenting drive: Will be STRONGLY SELECTED FOR, and potentially along with an attraction to memetic legacy through parenthood. In a population where birth control is widely available, only those with strong parenting drive will actually leave descendants. Also, parenting drive must be strong because the population now has been shaped by earlier selection to have a strong leisure and legacy dive (through female subjugation) as those both interfere with fertility.

Define 'Legacy Drive', and describe its evolutionary roots, its three main components, and four particular common examples of domains for legacy through human accomplishment that we discussed in BIOL350.

- self-impermanence anxiety buffer based on attraction to delusional domains for extension of self - through transmission of symbols (memes) representing one's self-identity/importance/purpose through the minds of others - and delusions for meme transmission to the future through the minds of offspring, as copies of "self", vehicles for self-transcendance 1) Parenthood: perceptions of offspring and parenthood provide deep-seated symbolism for immortality 2) Accomplishment: striving for personal accomplishment has overshadowed religion and parenthood 3) Religion: a sense of legacy from religion is associated of course with faith in doctrines that promise some kind of afterlife Example 1. Art - Early personal adornments/ornaments (ie. necklaces made from perforated shells) were probably worn as symbols for (truthful) advertising of status and skill - Evolution of attractiveness for these features would have rewarded reproductive success/gene transmission - Producing art then because a fitness signal of a high quality mind and acquiring or owning art = symbol of status - Satisfies legacy drive Example 2. Religion Belief in everlasting life Religion/culture/language? - The passing on of a collection of ideas, values, beliefs and customs that reside in the minds of individuals belonging to a particular local population → genes transmitted between, and within, generations as a result of communication and learning Example 3. Leadership of all kinds - The transmission of one's ideas, values, beliefs and customs from one's mind to the minds of others - Fame, notoriety Example 4. Reputation

Paul and Anne Ehrlich (2008) wrote, with regard to our imperiled civilization, that "The problem is simple: too many people; too much stuff". In BIOL350 we considered how both of these problems may be at least partially rooted in the intrinsic self-impermanence anxiety of humans. Briefly describe the main arguments behind this interpretation.

- self-impermanence anxiety leads to leisure drive (escape from self through distraction) and legacy drive (extension of self through delusion) - Too many people - leads to agriculture (intellectual pleasure from discovery and invention, diverting a worried mind) and medicine (fame/recognition from accomplishment in science and technology) which leads to more people getting fed and more people living healthier longer lives and finally leads to population explosion - Too much stuff - buy stuff for fun/ diverting a worried mind and buy stuff that bolsters self-esteem/reputation and social status which shows wealth and fitness signals, leads to going shopping - then you need a job, need to make stuff and need stuff to buy which leads to trashed planet

In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what might be called 'moral enhancement'. Describe the main argument for why this might be needed, and discuss the main components that might be deployed for promoting moral enhancement in the future that we discussed in the course.

- significant moral enhancement of the human species appears to be necessary in order to ensure the survival of human civilization in the long run - it hurts our pride to acknowledge our moral deficiencies and as a consequence to shoulder a possibly burdensome duty to get rid ourselves of these deficiencies - more convenient to believe that the solution to the overwhelming problems is external and could use politics or technology to solve them - Moral education: achieved through a revised social learning environment within the public education system, maybe if we get to them when they are very young and brainwash them - moral instinct: attraction to morality and susceptible to shaming, utilizing social pressures to help pressing issues, people care about their reputation

In BIOL350, we considered what has been described as a "law of population", stated as follows: "Overpopulation is an inevitable product of natural selection". Explain what this means.

- the benefit of producing more than one reproducing offspring (higher fitness) is always enjoyed exclusively by the parent - cost of the extra offspring (increased crowding) is shared with other parents - per capita magnitude of [benefit-cost] greater for individuals with more children compared to individuals with less in the same population - Therefore, regardless of the cost to the population, natural selection will always favour traits that promote high fecundity relative to neighbours - If you don't have a high fecundity you'll foot more of the cost than someone who does

Over the past century or so, human societies have responded to the problem of world hunger using solutions that serve inevitably to create more problems. Describe the main points in support of this view that we considered in BIOL350, and also describe the so-called 'risk-free' solutions that are currently being promoted.

- to target world hunger we have increased crop yields - increased crop yields led to use of fertilizers and pesticides which hurt the environment and genetically modified agriculture - risk of genetically modified agriculture leads to environmental risks and health risks - in the meantime we continually see population growth - risk free solutions might be: - fifth law of population - over population is an inevitable product of natural selection - benefit of producing more than one reproducing offspring (higher fitness) is always enjoyed exclusively by the parent - if the cost of this extra offspring production (increased crowding) is shared with other parents then the per capita magnitude (benefit-cost) is always greater for individuals that produce more than one reproductive offspring than for other individuals in the same population that produce only one - natural selection will always favour those individual traits that promote high fertility relative to neighbours, even among impoverished individuals that are already crowded at carrying capacity - if you fail to maximize your ability to reproduce, one of your neighbours will inevitably maximize hers, which assuming all else is equal immediately increase her fitness relative to yours - those with the highest fitness are always those that contribute the most to causing overpopulation - the average individual leaves exactly one descendant but natural selection continually favours individuals that leave more - agro-ecology revolution - solutions lie not in feeding the world, but allowing the world to feed itself with sustainable, ecologically-sound systems combined with equitable food distributions - population-ecology revolution - solutions lie not in feeding more and more people, but controlling the number that need feeding

Describe the main reasons for why world food production has peaked and prices are skyrocketing.

-4 main key factors that are responsible for the food shortage crisis we are seeing: 1.Loss of topsoil 2.Spreading water shortages 3.Rising temperatures 4.Escalating population growth -Other possible reasons to explain shortages: Arable land has peaked, rising oil prices, using more land to grow bio-fuels instead of crops Pollinators (bee population) have been decreasing in population, much of the world depends on fish as a staple in their diet but the fish stocks have been exploited and are decreasing

In BIOL350, we considered an evolutionary hypothesis for why so many women in wealthy countries choose to be childless, despite that childlessness means zero fitness from direct lineage. Briefly describe this hypothesis.

-Advances in women's rights and birth control --> without a strong parenting drive, you wont have children -Legacy drive --> dont need kids to have a legacy, you can do this via. your career -Strong leisure drive --> kids dont allow for this (they are costly to raise and are time consuming) -No need for kids in modern society --> no need for larger family to help work on the family farm, dont need offspring to care for you in your old age and we live far away from our parents so we dont have help

In all successful species—including humans prior to the start of the anthropocene—birth rate and death rate have always been relatively high, because evolution by natural selection always maximizes gene transmission, usually associated with maximizing fecundity, thus keeping populations at 'carrying capacity' (defined by the resource-supplying power available from natural ecosystem services), where deaths balance births. Describe how this situation for humans has changed since the start of the anthropocene, and also discuss the prospects that we considered in BIOL350 regarded where birth rates and death rates may be headed in the future.

-Anthropocene so far: maintained a steady, relatively high birthrate and a rapidly declining death rate -Technological advancements throughout the Anthropocene has allowed us increase agricultural yields to allow us to support more people - increased our carrying capacity allowing us to increase our population -Increasing population is a product of our evolution --> if you do not succeed at increasing your fecundity, someone else will --> they will reproduce more --> their children will leave more offspring -Currently have less additions to the population each year - but the damage is done

Describe fossil fuels as a problem of input.

-As a civilization we have been sustaining ourselves on oil for the past 300 years but this is a nonrenewable resource and it will run out -We know that we must switch off of fossil fuels not only because they are going to run out but also because they are horrible for the environment -Unlikely we will switch of because in order to feed the rapidly growing numbers of starving and malnourished people we need massive amounts of fertilizer and pesticides and these require petro-chemicals which are non-renewable resources

Evolutionary theory predicts that the traits of a species that are common tomorrow will include those of its predecessors, alive today, who are leaving the most descendants. If this is true, who, can we predict, will be the parents of the future? In other words, what basic drives or motivations might we expect them to have? Briefly describe the answer to this question that we considered in BIOL350.

-Because females are empowered and have a choice in when to have children, and because contraception is widely available, the parents of the future will be those with a strong parenting drive, or a want to have children, therefore there will be selection FOR parenting drive -Predictions for the future: -Sex drive: NO selection FOR strong sex drive in either sex because technology has removed the uncertainty of paternity, plus even strong sex drive does not lead to offspring because of contraception, and people leaving descendants will have strong parenting drive, regardless of sex drive -Legacy and leisure drive: Selection AGAINST both of these that promote side-tracking into accomplishment-based memetic legacy transmission- as these promote low lifetime fertility. Legacy drive may persist, but largely through drive in memetic legacy transmission through offspring

Does Darwinism mean that we cannot be held accountable for our actions? In BIOL350, we considered arguments proposing that the answer to this question is 'no'. Describe the nature of these arguments in support of this position.

-Behaviours are the result of both genetics and environment (and the interaction between the two) -Behaviours that have a genetic basis can be modulated and redirected with exposure to a particular environment -Cultural evolution has the freedom to modulate behaviours with prescribed environments that are designed to promote acceptable behaviours and discourage unacceptable ones (in the best interest of the public good) where the definition of acceptable is sanctioned and enforced by the prevailing culture itself -Hence, humans can (and always have been) held accountable for not following the standard prescribed by the environment / culture that they were trained with -Recognizing that genes can affect behavior and that some components of behavior may be a product of natural selection, therefore, does not excuse immoral behaviours, and does not prevent societies from passing judgement on these behaviours in the best interests of the public good

What is the main reasoning behind the view that bio-fuel production causes more problem then it solves.

-Causes a loss of tropical forests and other natural habitats, depletes oils, accelerates climate changes and exacerbates word hunger -The​ ​burning​ ​of​ ​oil-based​ ​fuel​ ​and​ ​use​ ​of​ ​petroleum-based​ ​fertilizers​ ​to​ ​grow​ ​biofuel crops​ ​--> ​oil​ ​shortage​ ​and​ ​climate​ ​change -Leads​ ​to​ ​less​ ​cropland​ ​used​ ​to​ ​grow​ ​food​ ​crops​ ​a-->​ ​world​ ​hunger -Decreased​ ​cropland​ ​for​ ​food​ ​production​ ​leads​ ​to​ ​cutting​ ​and​ ​destroying​ ​more forests​ ​and​ ​natural​ ​habitat​ ​areas​ ​to​ ​grow​ ​food​ ​-->​ ​habitat​ ​loss -Deforestation​ ​-​ ​accounts​ ​for​ ​20%​ ​of​ ​all​ ​carbon​ ​emissions --> cutting​ ​down​ ​rainforest​ ​also​ ​decreases​ ​the​ ​rainfall -Now​ ​trying​ ​to​ ​use​ ​yeast,​ ​algae,​ ​and​ ​bacteria​ ​to​ ​make​ ​fuels --> potential​ ​to​ ​generate​ ​nearly​ ​4x​ ​the​ ​greenhouse​ ​emissions​ ​from​ ​regular​ ​diesel -Energy​ ​needed​ ​to​ ​farm​ ​algae​ ​would​ ​leave​ ​a​ ​larger​ ​carbon​ ​footprint​ ​than​ ​that​ ​of regular​ ​diesel -Nitrous oxide is released by farming biofuel crops and these are known to further spur global warming and potentially neglect any advantage from reducing CO2 emissions

Explain how morning sickness in pregnant women can be interpreted plausibly, through the 'consilience of induction' as a product of evolution by natural selection.

-Consilience of induction is a test of the truth of a theory in which it occurs -Because nausea is typically the body's response against eating toxins, it can be hypothesized that morning sickness is the body's way of protecting the developing fetus from harmful toxins → this is Profet's hypothesis -Plant toxins in dosages that adults tolerate can cause birth defects and induce abortion when ingested by pregnant women -Morning sickness begins at the point when the embryo's organ systems are being laid down and the embryo is most vulnerable to teratogens (birth defect - inducing chemicals) but is growing slowly and has only a modest need for nutrients -Morning sickness wanes at the stage when the embryo's organ systems are nearly complete and its biggest need is for nutrients to allow it to grow -Women with morning sickness selectively avoid bitter, pungent, highly flavoured, and novel foods, which are in fact the ones most likely to contain toxins -Pregnancy sickness is universal across human cultures -Women with more severe morning sickness are less likely to bear babies with birth defects -The consilience of induction can therefore be used to support Profet's hypothesis because there is a large collection of strong clues that support the hypothesis

18) Describe the major factors promoting the dramatic range expansion of humans between about 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the major implications of this range expansion during this time period- as discussed in BIOL350

-Factors that made them leave: big game hunting, utilization of fire, and the development of specialized tools -Implications: isolation of societies, xenophobic hostility, and extermination of neanderthals -Homo sapiens also started to interpret themselves: great leap forward, human spark, and discovery of self, self-awareness

Describe the major factors throughout the journey of human evolution that resulted in the elevation of the human carrying capacity.

-Factors throughout the journey of human evolution that have resulted in the elevation of human carrying capacity include the following from the old stone age to present -Portable firearms use, including for harvesting meat -Invention of agriculture and domestication of animals for consumption -Development of irrigation technology for agriculture production -Large ship-building allowed colonization of new continents and hence, access to resources of the new world brought back to support the rising carry capacity of Europe -The industrial revolution begins: with the discovery of coal, there was less reliance on wood from forests for heating: hence more land could be cleared for agriculture

In BIOL350 we considered some ideas for the evolutionary roots of the culture of 'cool'. Briefly describe these.

-For our ancestors it was a signal of high fitness potential to mates and potential rivals including mate competition. -Perhaps a defiance of mortality --> in our ancestors, potential mates that were cool were signalling that they were well equipped to care and provide for one's offspring and that they are likely to be formidable adversaries for rivals -Selection is likely to have favoured dispositions and presentations of many sorts that portray that is it possible to be confident, calm and collective despite knowing the impermanence of life

Define 'Legacy Drive', and describe its evolutionary roots, its three main components, and four particular common examples of domains for legacy through human accomplishment that we discussed in BIOL350.

-Legacy drive: a self impermanence anxiety buffer based on attraction to delusional domains for 'extension of self' through transmission of of symbols representing one's self identity/importance/purpose through the minds of others and particularly delusions for meme transmission to the future through the minds of offspring, as copies of self; vehicles for self-transcendence -3 main componenets 1. Parenthood 2. Religion 3. Accomplishment

Describe the pattern in brain size relative to body size that is evident in primates today. Distinguish between 2 the general hypothesis discussed for brain size in BIOL350.

-General pattern- for the most part in primates, brain size follows body size, humans are the exception to this rule, we have a much bigger brain than we do body -An​ ​abrupt​ ​change​ ​in​ ​brain​ ​size​ ​can​ ​be​ ​seen​ ​here,​ ​which​ ​coincides​ ​the​ ​success of​ ​this​ ​new​ ​species​ ​of​ ​homo,​ ​as​ ​they​ ​became​ ​introduced​ ​into​ ​new,​ ​novel​ ​environments.​ ​This additionally​ ​led​ ​to​ ​fitness​ ​benefits,​ ​and​ ​behavioural​ ​flexibility Hypothesis 1: Brain size environmental change hypothesis -Large brains confer advantages in the form of behavioural flexibility, predicted to carry fitness benefits to individuals facing novel or altered environmental conditions, necessary when climate changed Africa into a savannah to expand and survive. -Moving around needed more energy, so we ate more meat and our brains evolved Hypothesis 2: Social intelligence hypothesis -Need to live in larger groups that drove the evolution of large brains in "homo" species of primates -We have more complex alliances and social bonds than other animals and thus need big brains to manipulate information about constantly changing social domain -Since humans acquired the memory needed to remember the complex relations first, we were able to outlast and destroy the other 'homo' species.

In BIOL350 we characterized "hard-core Darwinism". Explain what this involves, and briefly discuss the main reasons that we considered regarding why Darwinism is unlikely ever to become a dominant cultural world-view.

-Hard-core Darwinism is the idea that we as human beings are a product of evolution, composed of genes that evolved with no distinct purpose - no evolutionary meaning to being alive, we simply just are - we are a life form like any other on the planet -Darwinism will never become a widely accepted view because: --> Religion: **Our psychology has evolved us to believe in 'a life after' - part of our buffer against self impermanence anxiety **Intellectual pleasure --> pleasure from wonder, success would have been promoted by ideas that may or may not have been correct à things that could not be 'explained' attributed it to a 'power' out there, solve the problem à people who were good at explaining this, had elevated social status, attracted more mates had more offspring and propelled these genes **Religion is a product of natural selection --> is here to stay

Describe the main factors used to assess the human development index and the ecological footprint. ALSO describe the main factors that affect whether a country falls within the acceptable value for these indices.

-Human development index is the indication of well-being --> Factors that are used to assess the magnitude of human development: life expectancy, literacy and education, and per capita GDP --> Affected by: population size and availability of technology -Ecological footprint is the humanities demand on the biosphere --> Factors that are used to assess the magnitude of ecological footprint: area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste --> Affected by: effects of population size on exploitation and effects of technology on exploitation (defining consumption per capita and direct negative effects on ecosystems)

Describe the main points for the following: certain behavioural states commonly diagnosed as mental disorders may have conferred fitness advantages for at least some of our ancestors

-Hypothesis: human tolerance allowed the genes associated with different kinds of brain development and mental illness to flourish, kick-starting a revolution Depression -Could be a mental adaptation that focuses the mind to better solve complex problems -People who are mentally healthy actually have overly optimistic ideas about their place in the world -Being depressed can give people keener powers of perception and heightened abilities to assess complex of tumultuous situations Bipolarism -Being bipolar can make people more creative, resilient, and in tune with their environment ADHD -It was not until we invented agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, that we settled down and started living more sedentary lives -Having a rapidly shifting but intense attention span and a taste for novelty would have provide highly advantageous in locating and securing rewards -Having the profile of what we now call ADHD would have made you a Paleolithic success story Schizophrenia -The creativity of these people is a creativity that springs form the inability to accept the standardized cultural denials of the real nature of experience -The schizophrenic is supremely creative in an almost extra-human sense

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been proposed for the advantages resulting from the evolution of spoken language.

-Individuals could rapidly communicate -Allowed to learn about what others have experienced elsewhere or in the past -Reading of literary fictional texts improves 'mind-reading' skills à ability to better understand others mental states -Allowed for living in ever larger social groups (agriculture also helped with this) -Allowed for commanding attention and persuasion of large groups à for political and military goals

Describe how the interpretation that our journey through history is a tale of benefits from progress and growth can be debated based on the major events between the 1700's-1900's.

-Industrial revolution: had major advancements due to the first use of coal and then oil --> advancements came with many detrimental costs to people in the lower classes (exploitation of women and children in factories, widespread homelessness for the lower class) -People become angry (revolted) was met with brutality, suppression and tyranny → had mess death during these revolts/ uprising -Advances in medicine allowed for people to live longer and have more children → massive increase in population over a short time → increased the breeding grounds for human disease (more death) -Technology advancements in agriculture made us dependent on crops as a food source → had massive crop failings → starvation/ death -With the commercial production of coal and eventually oil (in the mid 1800's) industry and agriculture went into high gear for fossil fuel energy, giving the human carrying capacity a boost

Over the past century or so, human societies have responded to the problem of world hunger using solutions that serve inevitably to create more problems. Describe the main points in support of this view that we considered in BIOL350, and also describe the so-called 'risk free' solutions that are currently being promoted.

-Issues --> don't address our growing population, just how to feed more people (doesn't fix the problem just magnifies it Ie. the green revolution, and biotechnology revolution (GMOs) -Risk free solutions: 1. 'Agro-ecology' revolution: solution lie not in feeding the world but letting the world feed itself with sustainable, ecologically-sound systems combined with equitable food distribution 2. "Population-ecology' revolution: solution lie not in feeding more people, but limiting the number of people who need feeding

Describe what the bane of being male in terms of what it means and how its effects are evident today.

-Males face paternal uncertainty → no guarantee that your genes are being propelled --> THIS IS AN UNSETTLING THOUGHT -Those male predecessors that left the most descendants included those that could minimize their uncertainty of paternity, through traits promoting the subjugation of females, especially dominant control over their fertility and sexual activity, and including the acquisition of multiple sexual partners and conceptions through polygony, concubines, mistresses, rape, and the generation of dynasties wile conquering other societies (promoted also through strong sex drive) -Pregnancy itself can be used to control a mate's fertility and her sexual activity -Examples today: child marriages, honour killings, rape, monogamy

Historically male power= prolificacy. Describe the evidence and provide examples.

-Males traits are those that: --> the number of copulations and number of partners -->Minimized uncertainty of paternity (through subjugation and coercion, to control female fertility) -Power = status + wealth --> attracted women to choose them as reproductive partners Example 1: Niall of the Nine Hostages -Irish kind from the 5th century -Reportedly had 12 sons, many of whom become powerful kings -Recent genetic evidence suggests he may be the forefather of approximately 3 million men in the world today · Example 2: Giocangga -Research into an unusually high prevalence of a particular set of gene sin China has suggested that 1.5 million Chinese men are direct descendants of Giocangga who lived in the 16th century and was the grandfather of the founder of Qing dynasty -His extraordinary number of descendants concentrated mainly in north-east China and Mongolia, are thought to be a result of the many wives and concubines his offspring took Example 3: Gnehis Khan -Ruled the Mongolian empire from 1206-1227 -1 in 200 men direct descendants

In BIOL350 we considered that a new and improved project for future civilization might include prescriptions that involve moral enhancement. Briefly describe our discussion of the main components of this prospect and some of the challenges that it might face.

-Moral enhancement: will have some roadblocks to get past - can do this with moral enhancement to allow us to extend of empathy to a global scale rather than our own 'tribe'. --> Need moral education: deeper and broader awareness of the moral responsibility that we have to out environment and our globe --> Moral instinct: very powerful tool for implicating social constructs --> Institutional redesign using incentives --> Exploit our ability to be shamed --> Pharmaceuticals - make use of things/develop things that make you feel good about exhibiting moral behaviours --> Genetic engineering/designer babies --> Trans-humanism - will never die (self impermanence no longer an issue) -If we are going to use all these things to create a new human nature we will no longer be the kind of human being we are believed to be - affects self permanence as it will no longer be around -Challenges: --> Politics will be key - need to get them on board --> Need widespread acknowledgment of our moral deficiencies - no one wants to think that they are the problem and/or morally inept

In BIOL350, we considered the general changes that have occurred recently in the popularity of marriage, and how this might be interpreted in the context of the various historical motivations for marriage that have affected humans. Describe these

-Most of the drives were geared towards males, as women had a complete lack of rights (outlook was bleak without marriage) -Today women have rights and no longer are dependent on men to provide for themselves or their offspring --> correlates with the decrease in married individuals as traditional/historical drives of marriage have disappeared -->Societal views of single women have changed: no longer viewed as "virginal spinsters who spent their pathetic nights alone" but as strong, sophisticated women who can do what they please -Advancements in society and technology have made the main reasons for marriage/procreation obsolete - no longer need to marry someone to take care of you in old age or look after your offspring

16) (a) Define natural selection. Does natural selection act on genes, traits or individuals? Explain your answer. (b) Does the definition of evolutionary fitness apply to genes, traits or individuals? Explain your answer.

-Natural selection favours *traits* that promote descendant production (heritable) -Favoured vs disfavoured traits -genes are favoured indirectly through traits -Evolutionary fitness applies proximally to all individuals, but ultimately to *genes* -fitness relies on individuals with certain traits --> relies on genes -evolution happens when genes are propelled into future generations at different frequencies

Define natural selection. Does natural selection act on genes, traits or indivdiuals.

-Natural selection: the process by which organisms that are better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring -Natural selection acts on traits --> acts because of inferior traits -Favours traits that promote descendant production in those that bear them, by disfavoring those traits that do not -While when a trait is favored by natural selection, and its expression is influenced by some genes and therefore those genes also increase or decrease in frequency as a result, natural selection only acts on things it can see and therefore does not act on genes -Genes however are said to be indirectly favored by natural selection depending on how they influence the expression of a trait

Describe the major possible risks involving health care collapse from climate change and peak oil.

-Oil scarcity will impact health systems, including by affecting the availability of medical supplies and equipment, transportation, energy supplies, food, and incomes to afford health services. -Many pharmaceuticals are produced from feedstocks based on oil derivatives --> Although most of these drugs can be synthesized through alternate chemical pathways, these alternatives may increase production costs at least marginally, and they could require much time until drug regulating and supervisory agencies approve of any changes in synthetic pathways -Many medical supplies are made with plastics, such as bandages, prosthetic devices, syringes, tubing, radiological dyes, prostheses, toothbrushes, dental care products, corrective lenses, glasses, eye care supplies, and hearing aids → Consequently, oil scarcity will increase the prices of medical supplies and equipment as a result of declining supplies, shortages, and abrupt supply interruptions

23) It is commonly viewed by the general public that our journey through history is a long tale of benefits accrued from 'progress' and 'growth'. Describe how this interpretation is debatable based on major events associated with the period in history involving the dawn of 'empire' and 'imperialism'

-empire -dawn of writing -power retention -slavery -quality of life -famine, disease, rulers

The 'human journey' can be described in one sense as 'the evolution of an extraordinary social animal'. Describe the main points that we considered that support this interpretation of what makes humans special in terms of their social intelligence.

-One of the greatest hallmarks of our ancestor's success in leaving descendants, relative to other hominids, was linked to their unparalleled ingrained capacity (under genetic influence) for socialization - cooperative interaction within one's social group -Cooperating within a group is found in other species, but human social evolution was far more sophisticated, made possible by a larger brain, a particular brain structure, and emerge from these, the capacity for complex language, consciousness, and empathy -These in turn allowed group-level traits and accomplishments that gave our species advantage over competition with (and predation from) other species, including other homo species, which probably accounts for why we are the only surviving homo species, and why other apes have been held back from evolving the same cognitive capacities that we have -If our ancestors were rewarded with reproductive success by being social, then it makes sense that we get pleasure from it (we are happier and healthier when we have it)

Describe forests as a problem of input and the main reasons why forests have an important value in providing ecosystem services.

-Provide fuel, fiber, and lumber but the harvesting of these resources combined with clearing of forests for agriculture and urbanization have resulted in a 20% loss of tropical rainforest/ woodland -Forests are important in terms of their value for providing ecosystem services for humans because: 1. They are a carbon sink (capture, store and decrease atmospheric carbon levels) 2. They are essential for the hydrological cycle (up to 50% of water that ends up in the clouds comes from forests) 3. They are home to a vast store of the earth's biodiversity

Describe the main current concerns associated with soil loss as a problem of output.

-Soil loss does a lot more than support agriculture and forestry -Soil stores carbon, filters water, transforms nutrients and maintains biodiversity

Describe the IPAT equation and how it relates to the concepts of ecological footprint and world biocapacity. ALSO describe how the relationship between world biocapacity has changed since the great revolution.

-The I=PAT equation measures our ecological footprint such that: I (Impact): environmental impact of humans on the ecosystem services (resource depletion/ waste accumulation) P (Population): size of human population, affecting total consumption, waste production and demand for space A (Affluence): consumption per capita T (Technology): allowing affluence but with negative effects ie. pollution -Ecological Footprint- is the impact that we have based on resources that we take and the waste that we dump. This is based on how much the planet can handle (its capacity) and how much it has to give (how much we are taking from it) -In more developed countries the Human Development Index is higher, not just because population density is lower but also because of the greater affluence supported by higher rates of consumption per capita and availability of modern technologies that are required for energy production and resource extraction --> These impose large ecological footprint -Biocapacity​ ​-​ ​the​ ​amount​ ​of​ ​biologically​ ​productive​ ​land​ ​and​ ​sea​ ​area​ ​that​ ​is​ ​available​ ​to provide,​ ​regenerate​ ​and​ ​recycle​ ​the​ ​ecosystem​ ​goods​ ​and​ ​services​ ​that​ ​humanity​ ​makes demands​ ​on​ ​and​ ​to​ ​sequester​ ​the​ ​CO2​ ​that​ ​it​ ​produces -Not possible to maintain/ achieve an acceptable Human Development Index with the rising population without imposing an ecological footprint that exceeds the global capacity to be regenerated -As​ ​a​ ​result​ ​of​ ​the​ ​great​ ​acceleration​ ​humanity's​ ​ecological​ ​footprint​ ​has​ ​exceeded​ ​the planet's​ ​biocapacity --> Human​ ​demand​ ​is​ ​more​ ​than​ ​50%​ ​larger​ ​than​ ​what​ ​nature​ ​can​ ​renew

In BIOL350 we considered how 'pleasure-based meaning' in humans can be understood from an evolutionary perspective. Discuss the main points in this argument.

-The accumulation of pleasure rewards, pursued for their own sake is triggered in most cases by actions related in one way or another to those that must have rewarded the reproductive success of ancestor Sensual Pleasure: -The taste of nutritious foods (promoting survival) -The enjoyment of sex (promoting reproduction) Social Pleasure: -Romantic love, parental care, and love of family (connected with sex and gene transmission) -Striving for and attaining an edge over a rival (promoting success in competition for limited resources, including mates) -Seeing opportunities to cultivate social alliances, or to exercise philanthropic, virtuous, empathic, or moral behavior Intellectual Pleasure: -From learning through curiosity and imagination -From the sense of wonder in science -For the Darwinist, associated with a sense of finding, through the lens of Darwinism, a greater depth of understanding of nature Pleasure based meaning as a product of natural selection: 1. Pleasure associated with satisfying curiosity calming fears of the unknown and bolstering confidence and self-esteem 2. Motivation (and reputation) for discovering additional practical solutions to the mysteries of life and nature, and hence survival and reproduction with (for some) the mind's restless curiosity settled satisfactorily by conferring instead of spiritualism or deity 3. Pleasure from belonging to a social group, identified by shared motivation to solve the unknown and other problems

Describe what forms of early art are represented in the Upper Paleolithic. Describe the main ideas and hypothesis for the advantages of the evolution of art.

-The appearance of cave paintings, necklaces and pendants, fired clay ceramic sculptures, stone-carved figurines, and musical instruments ranging form flutes to rattles -Art (including stories, dance, and music) possibly facilitated social cohesion and hence group survival - and hence individual survival - providing a distinctive cultural identity for a group -Hypothesis- that the evolution of art is rooted in attraction to extension-of-self, providing a sense of symbolic self-identity (being able to leave a symbolic post-self immortality of one's mind that can survive death) -Producing art then became a fitness signal of high quality mind, ad acquiring / owning art became a symbol of status, with benefits therefore in attracting mates and for use in bride payments (and for leaving a post-self reputation after death)

Describe how the interpretation that our journey through history is a tale of benefits from progress and growth can be debated based on the major events of the Middle Ages.

-The dark ages (600-1050) was a harsh period of suffering from famine, starvation and disease: symptoms of overcrowding and poor sanitation -The church of Rome with its vast bureaucracy and influence over spiritual life, acted in shifting political alliances with secular rulers to provide the only unifying force among those European countries previously united under Rome's secular rule -After the dark ages (1050-1300), life was less harsh but there was more corruption and religious wars (the crusades) -(1300-1600): more protracted warfare, famine, and pestilence -->The black death (caused by a bacterium transmitted by fleas from rats to humans) was the worst plague in human history --> It lasted for over 200 years, and killed an estimated 75 million people world-wide, reducing the European population by about 50% -All lead to the development of Salvationist religions in order to show them how to understand and deal with the inevitable discomfort of being alive

Why may it be too late to stop climate change even if we stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow?

-The degradation of ecosystems is in large part due a product of the rapid growth of the human population size and this is not something that we can reverse even if we stopped the use of fossil fuels -The earth has a tipping point, and once we reach this point we may see irreversible consequences, so even moving off of fossil fuels might not be enough to save us from this tipping point because there are multiple factors that are involved in getting us to this point of no return -Factors include... 1.Too many people on the earth 2. Fresh water is being depleted 3. Rising temperatures and sea levels 4. Arctic/ Antarctica melting 5.Burning of fossil fuels, melting ice sheets and rising water levels, increased droughts and forest fires all contribute to increase in temperature

Describe the main current concern wth population as a problem of output.

-The major concern from humans is not about running out of oil but instead the instabilities that will shake the complex systems of our daily life as soon as the demand for oil exceeds the supply -As the population keeps growing we continue to live our lives in a destructive manner in ways such as... 1. The way we produce food 2. The way we travel 3. The way we occupy land 4. The way we conduct commerce and trade -Humans are exploiting almost every single input ie. forests, land, soil, fisheries and water and as the population continues to grow we will only continue to do so, we are showing no signs of switching our lifestyles that are currently sustainable

Describe the main components of the life-history strategy theory defined in terms of trade-offs. Give 3 examples.

-The principal aim of life history theory, a branch of evolutionary ecology, is to explain the remarkable diversity in life histories among species -Life history theory seeks to explain how natural selection and other evolutionary forces shape organisms to optimize their survival and reproduction in the face of ecological challenges posed by the environment -Optimal tactics will vary depending on gender, age, and socio-cultural / economic environment 1. Trade-off between somatic effort (growth and survival) and reproductive effort (reproduction) 2. If choose to reproduce, trade-off between mating effort (producing new offspring) and parenting effort (investing in existing offspring) 3. If choose to mate, trade-off between courtship effort (attracting a new mate or mates) and mate guarding effort (retaining an existing mate)

Describe the main conditions required for evolution by natural selection to occur and explain why genetic variation always exists within a population.

-There are 3 main conditions required for evolution by natural selection: 1. Individuals display variation in certain traits; the variants are called phenotypes 2. Some of the variation results from differences in genes; the variants are called genotypes and so the associated phenotypes are heritable 3. Some of the traits affect differential success in reproduction either directly or indirectly -There are 3 main reasons why genetic variation virtually always exists with a population: 1). Mutation → mutation is the main source of genetic variation. Results from changes in the structure of genes caused by environmental factors ie. chemicals or by random mistakes in replication and re-assortment of genes during cell division or gamete formation Many mutations are neutral or bad but some of these mutations are beneficial 2). Sexual reproduction → causes a mixing of the different genes and their alleles that affect different traits 3). Genotype X Environment Interaction → some environments disfavour the reproductive success of certain genes/ genotypes while favoring others, some genes can be turned on or off because of different environments, some genes affect more than one trait, and traits are commonly affected by more than one gene

6) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'pollution' as a problem of 'output'.

-Transportation -Human health -Industrial revolution -Impacts of 4 major pollutants -Problems with nitrogen increase

In BIOL350 we considered how something called the 'hedonic treadmill' has a parallel in something known as the 'Red Queen' hypothesis of natural selection. Describe what is meant by this.

-We have an addiction to consumerism -Our self-impermanence anxiety causes us to have leisure and legacy drive, both of which encourage us to go shopping (whether we do so to divert the worrying mind or to bolster our self-esteem and social status) -The rat race of materialism and consumerism, where the average person never seems to really get ahead or to find greater happiness or contentment, despite continuing advances in technology, economic growth, and personal prosperity, has a parallel in the Red Queen hypothesis of natural selection -According to the red Queen, it takes all the running you can just to stay in the same place, so that on average, an individual will leave only one descendant, despite that natural selection continually favours individuals that leave more -Similarly, it seems, in the current project of human civilization, it takes all the materialism and consumerism that you can get just to stay content -This makes us question whether our culture is then locked into a kind of hedonic treadmill, a product at least partially of our evolutionary toors, where we are driven to stay committed to endless economic growth and the resource extraction and energy consumption needed to support it

In BIOL350, we considered that humans are generally well equipped to respond effectively to the immediate, clear and present problems, and that this can be accounted for by our evolutionary roots. Briefly describe the main arguments in support of this view, and also our discussion of the implications that this is likely to have in our efforts to address the challenges that we currently face for our civilization.

-We have evolved big brains that are smart enough to understand what the problem is And even smart enough to understand what can be done about it -But we don't seem to have evolved the motivation to actually do it --> But it makes sense that we haven't: the spatial and temporal scale of the problem is too big; there is nothing about having an instinctual motivation to save the planet that would have ever rewarded the reproductive success of our predecessors -Evolution has given human nature a lot of things and one of them is an ability to deal with the immediate: the clear and present problems -Unfortunately, this has left us ill-equipped to respond effectively in advance to things that might be in the future (despite that we have evolved some capacity to predict what the future is likely to bring) -Like our ancestors before us, we remain mostly motivated with priority to respond to the hear and now (because this was in the best interests of our ancestors' genes) -As long as the test for an ecological crisis is in the future, we become insured against seeing that we are immersed in it here and now. -Evolutionary theory views temporal discounting as an adaptation to enhance individual survival and reproductive success (those who were not equipped to deal with the clear and present problems did not contribute their genes to the next generation) --> Furthermore, discounting the future makes sense because individuals always face some uncertainty about whether potential future payoffs will ever be realized -Our ancient ancestors did not evolve mechanisms to allow them to perceive changes in the climate that took decades It seems likely that natural selection favoured our brain's tendency to habituate (to tune out all but big news' recent changes in the world or nearby events) and this tendency is still with us --> This process, in which we cancel out ongoing unchanging activity, allows us to focus on sharp and immediate changes, but it makes the environmental background seem even more constant than it is -Furthermore, our ancestors who had to be focused on dealing with those who were close biological kin, had no reason to be concerned about the fate of individuals beyond beyond their immediate bands --> Little to no reason to extend empathy beyond those with whom she had daily lifelong contact -Come say we need a catastrophe in order to change the direction of civilization --> Needed to break free from the grip of denial about hyper-individualism, endless economic growth, and the addiction to consumerism

26) In BIOL350 we considered that the human cultures defined by agriculture, and eventually medicine, combined with the scaling up of the Industrial Revolution served to kick-start the 'modern' project of civilization, involving a seemingly endless cycle of self-perpetuating inter-dependence. Briefly describe the basis for this view.

-agriculture and new technologies -industrial revolution -agriculture -medical advancements: larger populations

42) In BIOL350 we considered something called the 'curse of consciousness', and we considered three evolutionary-based hypotheses that may account for it. Describe what this means, and describe these three hypotheses.

-awareness of time and how our lives are impermanent -hypotheses: eventual mortality can be adaptive -mortality anxiety is a survival instinct gone awry: maladaptive to genetic fitness -mortality anxiety is just a byproduct of the unknown: neutral to genetic fitness -mortality anxiety is naturally selected for: adaptive to genetic fitness

54) In all successful species- including humans prior to the start of the Anthropocene- birth rate and death rate have always been relatively high, because evolution by natural selection always maximizes fecundity, thus keeping populations at 'carrying capacity' (defined by the resource-supplying power available from natural ecosystem services), where deaths balance births. Describe how this situation for humans has changed since the start of the Anthropocene, and also discuss the prospects that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where birth rates and death rates, and population size, may be headed in the future.

-before anthropocene: natural selection maximized gene transmission and successful species used resources to fullest extent - birth = death -change: industrial revolution --> increase in technologies --> decrease death --> more people reach reproductive age --> population skyrocketed -future: death rates stabilizing but birth rates decreasing. -demographic momentum: people of strong parenting drive -control: 1 child per person, avg. women age of birth = 30 -stabilization or increase due to change from childfree culture to parenting drive

27) Describe the main differences between 'cultural evolution' and 'biological evolution' in terms of the main entities, causes and processes involved.

-biological evolution - natural selection -cultural evolution - cultural selection

33) In BIOL350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why polygyny has been the dominant model for marriage throughout most of human history. Briefly describe these hypotheses and discuss the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where the culture of monogamy came from.

-both sexes can benefit from polygamy -women: increased evolutionary fitness and quality of life -male choice: wealthiest males can pay the most bride wealth, can have the most mates, -female choice: mate with men of greatest fitness -polygay vs monogamy under male control ultimately -no resource variation = choose any male without mate -resource variation = polygamy best option for females -monogamy rose from infanticide risk - guarding female from other mates, paternal care for offspring, protection from males

17) Describe the general patterns in brain size relative to body size evident in primates today, and in species of Homo over time- and distinguish two general hypotheses considered in BIOL350 for explaining the probable adaptive advantages associated with the evolution of a larger brain in our early ancestors

-brain size follows body size, except humans -2mBP and 500 000 years ago brain jumps -Incr. meat consumption -larger brains = more social intelligence -brain size -environmental change hypothesis: behavioural flexibility / adaptation. crucial when humans left Africa 1million years ago -Social intelligence hypothesis: correlation between size of social groups and brain size - driven by the need to live in bigger social groups -Advantages of group living

24) Describe the major factors throughout the journey of human evolution that resulted in the elevation of human carrying capacity

-carrying capacity? -bipedalism -big game hunting -energy through fire: cooking, warmth, protection, -specialized tools: killing from a distance -plant and animal domestication / irrigation -domestication of horses and invention of wheeled vehicles -development of metallurgy - incorporation into agriculture -expansion to colonies: firearms, technology -industrial revolution: discovery of oil

52) Evolutionary theory predicts that the traits of a species that are common tomorrow will include those of its predecessors, alive today, who are leaving the most descendants. If this is true, who, can we predict, will be the parents of the future? In other words, what basic drives or motivations might we expect them to have? Discuss the answer to this question that we considered in BIOL350.

-childfree culture: consumed by leisure or accomplishment, will not be parents of the future -strong parenting drive: descendants of women who are anxious/want to raise children, weaker legacy and leisure drives, these are the parents of the future -men with low fertility preferences will be selected for -due to contraceptives and women empowerment, women with strong parenting drives will be the future -sex drive < parenting drive

30) Some human behavioural traits can be understood (largely or entirely) as a product of 'genetic determinism', whereas other traits can be understood as a product of 'cultural determinism'. Describe the main features of these two categories.

-cultural determinism: social learning, ecology, phenotypic plasticity, transmitted culture -genetic determinism: unaffected by environmental variation, adaptive traits expressed, early genetic variation strongly selected against, pan culture universal traits

11) Describe the main trends and issues that we considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of species extinctions.

-destruction of habitats -since great acceleration, biodiversity decreased -extinction rate now vs. fossil record: 1000x -projected extinction rate = 10x higher -1% of species every year -pollution, farming, urban expansion, over fishing -1/3 of species are threatened -Ocean marine loss -pesticide use -6th mass extinction? -extinction rate proportional to population growth rate -

20) Describe the major factors discussed in BIOL350 associated with what has been called the mind's 'big bang', or the 'human spark'.

-discovery of self -evolution of sense of time - allowed planning for future -evolution of self-consciousness and self-awareness (theory of mind): imagination, seeing beyond, anticipating actions, expansion of our social intelligence (deceive cheat lie, empathize, gain trust) -sense of self-worth and self-esteem: development of anxiety -awareness of mortality

51) In BIOL350 we considered how some human motivations/goals can be interpreted in terms of 'blended drives' that involve 'purposeful toil and mundane routine'. Describe what this means, and illustrate with two examples that we discussed in the course.

-doing something purposeful gives sense of leaving something for your future self -keeping busy from the worry mind -delusions of legacy and distractions of leisure deployed separately ex: Helping others, pronatalist movements rooted in parenting drive helping others - being remembered and feeling good about it pronatalist - legacy and leisure drives

48) According to Pulitzer Prize winning author Phyllis McGinley (1956): "women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are able to produce our own immortality...". How then can we account for the growing popularity of the 'childfree culture'? Describe the evolutionary hypothesis that we discussed to address this question in BIOL350.

-domain of legacy through accomplishment rather than parenthood -female empowerment, effective birth control, and high standard of living -male ancestors coerced female ancestors -females who don't have a strong maternal extinct would have populated

41) In BIOL350, we considered how pleasure-based meaning in humans can be understood from an evolutionary perspective. Discuss the main points in this argument.

-enjoying life to the fullest: reproductive success -social pleasure: love, parental care, love of family (related to sex and gene transmission), virtuous, moral, and empathetic behaviour, striving for edge over enemies -Intellectual pleasure: understanding nature, pleasure associated with cognitive domain striving for answers, solving natures mysteries, discovery, dilemmas, avoiding predators

29) The human mind, according to one metaphor, has been described as being like a juke box. Another metaphor compares the human mind to a colouring book. Describe what is meant by these two metaphors

-environmental regulation can regulate gene expression -turn some genes on and off -mind is not a blank slate where what is learned is totally dependant on other inputs -juke box -colouring book: evolutionary science metaphor

22) In BIOL350 we considered some of the main features associated with the formation of the first cities. Describe these features.

-evolution of language -stability of the land -agriculture revolution: allows few to feed many, domestication, stable production of food -citizens specializing in certain tasks -emergence of culture, religion -diseases more prevalent

44) In Biol350 we interpreted conspicuous, addictive consumerism in terms of evolutionary roots. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

-fitness signal: social status -people are never satisfied: addiction is a competition to become the superior status -mortality anxiety -seeming "cool"

43) Define Leisure Drive. In BIOL350 we considered a hypothesis for how Leisure Drive may have evolved in humans. Describe this hypothesis

-freetime indulgence in pleasure activities to distract from our self-impermenance anxiety -escaping self long enough to reach reproductive age -leisure = well being, linked to reproductive success -dispel negative emotions -domains of leisure drive: releases from suffering and freedom from pain -domains: exploration, social status, family, aesthetic entertainment, nostalgia, escapism

31) Define a 'fitness signal'. Describe three examples of fitness signals and/or mating tactics that humans commonly display, that we considered in BIOL350.

-hard wired perceptions that signal good genes and are passed on -perceptions, accurate in describing high fitness models -these were attractive to ancestors and helped them produce more offspring -signals correlated with high fitness -ex: facial symmetry, mens jaws, waist to hip ratio, men prefer younger females while females prefer older men, athleticism and risk takers

38) Do we have greater personal obligation to the welfare of some individuals over others? In BIOL350 we explored answers to this question that can be understood in terms of evolutionary roots. Discuss the main arguments concerning this.

-helping behaviour evolves through kin selection -inclusive fitness is obtained by the helper if you are helping your kin -some of this helping spills over to non-kin -ones sense of obligation to other's welfare falls off with genetic relatedness (ex: would save our own life, 100% related, and would most likely help a sibling if it didn't mean we would die, 50%, but would probably risk our life to save two siblings) -obligation to kin vs non-kin is universal

39) In BIOL350, we considered arguments proposing that war could be interpreted largely as a product of biological evolution. Describe the arguments in support of this view.

-humans are always at conflict with an out-group -possibilities of war = motivation for technological advances -losing war = not good for genetic fitness -brain hard wired to impose violence on neighbours -war is a fight between us and them, fuelled by human biases -victories meant success, more resources, increase in confidence and self esteem -war secured more females for men -men are heroic

32) In BIOL350 we considered how gene-environment interaction is likely to account for several common features of human mating behaviour. Describe examples of this that we considered in BIOL350.

-if young men are scare they are more likely to play field than propose (promotes hookup culture) -the lipstick effect and the recession -why women don't want macho men (masculinity can come at a fair price): healthy vs diseased populations -romantic novels and women ideal interested -uncertainty of paternity

10) Describe the main factors considered in BIOL350 connected with concerns about current and possible future declines in the quality of available health care

-increased life expectancy -new diseases on rise -hard to control due to poor sanitations in poor countries - affected by peak oil -anti-biotic resistance / post-antibiotic era

13) One common misconception about biological evolution is the claim that "evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable". Explain the main arguments considered in BIOL350 that refute this claim.

-it is observable and testable -evidence is present -consilience of induction -In sciences nature -greatest proof: domestication via natural selection

40) Why is war almost exclusively a male enterprise? In BIOL350, we considered answers to this question based on interpretations involving the role if biological evolution. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

-males going to war = more women -heroic title earned males mates -masculine warrior is a sexually selected trait -sight of women make men crave war -males usually engage in violence to attract women and outcompete their rivals / competition -the young male syndrome - risk taking an violent displays -sex and violence go hand - in - hand

37) Do we need religion in order to have an objective basis for moral standards? In BIOL350, we considered that the answer to this question is 'no' when hypotheses based on biological evolution are applied to this question Describe the main points in support of this view.

-many cultures use secular laws to promote goodness / morality without religion -these laws coincide with religious practices -moral standards founded on societal imperatives -laws helped societies work better and were easier to enforce if god was watching -moral behaviour is found more prevalent in societies where there is a religious punitive component -religion justifying religious immortality -moral ancestors has the reproductive advantage and were selected for -morality is a result of evolution, not religion, and can be explained that way -acting altruistic boosted your image in the community, sexual signalling for mating choosing -morality is in our genes and religion, only because religion is in our genes as well

21) Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that we discussed in BIOL350 concerning proposed advantages resulting from the evolution of spoken language in humans.

-most important advantage: required physiological modifications -speech = rapidly communicate with others (plot strategies, brain storm better tools, transmit information to younger generations) -learning from other peoples experiences -masters the art of living together with people (agriculture, communication, etc) -allowed tribes to act coherently

60) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what might be called moral enhancement. Describe the main argument for why this might be needed, and discuss the main components that might be deployed for promoting moral enhancement in the future that we discussed in the course.

-needed to ensure survival in long run: easier to acknowledge problems external to us -deeper and broader awareness of our evolutionary roots and their effects on civilization give moral enhancement? -moral education: teach the youth, provide education, universal cores -public shaming: moral instinct, use this to influence others, social pressures will help prevent a tragedy -we want fairness and shame anyone who behaves selfishly

36) Describe how the culture of gossip can be interpreted as a product of evolution by natural selection

-needed to know the type of people you were dealing with (cheaters, loyal, reliable exchange partners) -interest in others' private dealings is evolutionarily advantageous - selected for -meeting strangers was rare, gossiping helped us survive and feed the action instinct -people who are infatuated with celebrities is evolutionary proof

34) Describe the various historical motivations for marriage that have affected humans

-nothing to do with love -fitness advantage -division of labour - necessary for a small species (at the time) -reduction of paternity uncertainty -spouse family = source of wealth -reliable outlet for satisfying sex drive -women secure basic provisions for children

35) In BIOL350, we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why most cultures historically have had a preference for male offspring, but also why some cultures have had a preference for female offspring. Briefly describe these hypotheses.

-sons > daughters preference is common -sons greater potential reproductive success (polygyny) -sons can father more children than females can mother -evolutionary -try for a son if female child is born -maximizes family size -daughters preferred in poorer countries -peasants more likely to leave possessions to daughters -the sister can marry up and would out produce male if resources are scarce -women can marry up into social class, not usually men

28) The ways that humans think and behave and the human cultures that arise from this have been interpreted according to two distinctly different models: the Standard Social Science Model and Evolutionary Science Model. Describe the main distinguishing features of these two models.

-standard social model: environment and social interactions, mind is a blank slate -evolutionary science model: affected by environment and genes, pre-structured minds, predisposition, mind is a colouring book

46) Define 'Legacy Drive', and describe its evolutionary roots, its three main components, and four particular common examples of domains for legacy through human accomplishment that we discussed in BIOL350.

-terror management theory, comes from our awareness of our own mortality -memetic legacy = genetic legacy -evoking meaning in ones life -components: religion, parenthood, accomplishment -volunteering, belonging to a group, financial wealth, and being a celebrity / having notoriety

19) Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been considered in accounting for the probable or possible advantages of early Homo sapiens over Homo neanderthalenis.

-they met in middle east -Homo sapiens in far greater numbers (travel was easy) -Homo sapiens were smarter: tools, harvesting, division of labour -Neanderthals were not built like Homo sapiens: expended more energy to do less, couldn't run as fast (advantage in battle) - there were discrepancies in pelvis structure -homo sapiens wiped neanderthals through murder, disease, and out competition -Volcano hypothesis -Homo sapiens outbred neanderthals, lived longer

25) The 'march of progress' for human civilization can be described as a story of energy conversion / generation. Describe what this means.

-uses stored sun -energy from sun, into earth, back into space -carbon storage: went into creating biomass (plants, animals). Fixed carbon / fossil fuels -animal / plant biomass --> human biomass -agriculture revolution: decrease in animal / plant biomass, more into human biomass, none into earth -industrial revolution: essentially everything (animal, plant, earth energy) is going towards human biomass -tomorrow: substantial human biomass production (everything goes into this)

47) Religion has both a 'vertical component' and a 'horizontal component'. Explain what this means, and describe the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 that propose how both of these components could be interpreted as products of biological evolution.

-vertical component: attraction to legacy (religion = domain for legacy), provides reassurance, our soul is everlasting even though our body isn't -horizontal component: the attraction to an organized group/religion - reinforces ones vertical component, incentive to behave in a way to promote pro social reciprocal exchange of benefits, and a source of memetic legacy

(2) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'water' as a problem of 'input'.

0.025% of the earths water is easily accessible because most of the land on earth is dryland or frozen. Water is a major concern because areas with water shortages also have poor sanitation. 40% of the worlds population has no way to properly dispose of their own waste. The vast majority of water use is for agriculture or industry which has increased 10 fold during this century. Major aquifers are drying up and the demand for water outstrips supply. Water in this century will be what oil was in the past century as severe water shortages begin to arise and increase from 8% to 38% by 2025 due to climate change causing loss of glaciers.

In BIOL350, we discussed the relationship between world population size and technological advancement and how each of these is associated with what can be called a "grand illusion". Briefly describe the issues involved here.

1) because resources are never unlimited, population size can increase only to a finite maximum (carrying capacity) 2) carrying capacity for the human population increases with increasing technological advancement but only to a finite maximum --> Grand illusion 1: the benefits of new technology (ex in good production and medicine) will always minimize the costs of increasing population size *Reality: no technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation (freedom to breed will bring ruin to all) --> Grand illusion 2: the benefits of new technology (ex. in energy production, transportation, manufacturing) will always exceed the costs of new technology *Reality: Not true, especially when the exploitation is by a large population within a wealthy society that can afford the technology 3) A population that is well below carrying capacity grows in size because the frequency distribution of number of reproducing offspring per capita is normal (or left skewed) with a mean of greater than one 4) For a population that is well below carrying capacity, the frequency distribution of individual quality of life is normal, and the mean is relatively high 5) Over-population is an inevitable product of natural selection *** If you fail to maximize fecundity, one of your neighbours will inevitably maximize hers, which, assuming all else is equal, immediately increases her fitness relative to yours

Describe the main hypothesis that have been put forward for the advantages of bipedalism in humans.

1). Solution for temperature: Lower danger of heat stroke because an upright body reduces the surface exposed for receiving heat from both the sun above and the ground below, plus it is more exposed to wind so you get cooling effects 2). Solution for predation: A more elevated posture for improved viewing of the open landscape including for spotting of both predators and prey and other resources 3). Solution for food scarcity: Greater efficiency for long-distance walking, permitting a nomadic/ migratory lifestyle For long distance running, which some have speculated is likely to have contributed to the skill of hunting large animals, by outrunning them over long distances to the point of exhaustion -Other advantages of becoming bipedal: Free arms to carry food, carry offspring and rescue offspring Free hands to make and use tools Freed hands could be used for more elaborate communication through gestures → most likely the birth of sign language

Describe 3 mechanisms for how non-kin helping behaviour could have evolved as a product of natural selection

1. 1) If non-kin helping behavior promotes social cohesion and hence group success 2. If non-kin helping behavior confers social status 3. If non-kin helping behaviour confers attractiveness to mates

In BIOL350, we considered two different evolutionary interpretations in accounting for human attraction to conspicuous consumption. Briefly distinguish these two interpretations.

1. A cure for mortality anxiety ultimately aiding in gene transmission 2. Cool and consumerism --> The act of discovering what's cool is what causes cool to move on

Describe the several hypotheses based on socio-cultural/economic factors for explaining why lifetime offspring production in females is typically lower in more developed countries, even to the point of generating below-replacement level fertility

1. Advancement in technology and medicine 2. We now live far away from our parents therefore grandparents are no longer assisting with child care - have less children as we don't have 'help' 3. Delayed family starts because of taking time off for education - women are pursuing careers that in the past have not been available to them. 4. Greater access to cheap and affordable healthcare - effective birth control that is easily attainable 5. Effects of technology of western society: affect fertility (especially sperm count in men) 6. Status anxiety: if you pass wealth onto one or children, maintain status of name more than if it were dispersed across multiple children

In BIOL350 we interpreted conspicuous, addictive consumerism in terms of evolutionary roots. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

1. Domain of leisure -> Drive as death defying distractions Linked to the same kind of pleasure modules that rewarded the reproductive success of our ancestors A way to distract ourselves from death "Conspicuous consumption may also be a vehicle for leisure - providing distraction from anxiety over mortality and uncertainty of paternity." from last year 2. Represents a fitness advertisement or signal conferring social status and attractiveness to potential mates

Describe how each of three distinctly different consequences of our human culture represent examples of humans as a force of selection on other species, providing direct evidence for biological evolution — i.e. that species can change dramatically, because of their genes, through selection.

1. Domestication: Recognized three ingredients of natural selection a. Individuals vary b. Some variants are more successful/desirable and c. like begets like - By selectively promoting the survival and reproduction of certain individuals in a population, humans have artificially domesticated plants and animals, and in effect changed the genes expressed in a population (i.e. grains became larger in size, cattle size changes) 2. Pest Resistance: The more we apply pesticides, the more resistant insects become, and continue to breed amongst themselves 3. Drug Resistance: Bacteria and viruses have rapid reproduction rates, and as such evolve rapidly well. Follows similar method as pest resistance, but additional clause that bacteria and viruses actively evolving to circumvent (avoid) antibiotics and other treatments we prescribe

(23) Describe the major factors throughout the journey of human evolution that resulted in the elevation of human carrying capacity.

1. Rise of agriculturalists: animal domestication-provide a surplus of food supply to support an increase in k, more ppl can be fed, more can survive to reach reproductive maturity and have babies, land be used for farming for several generations, can establish longer and more stable communities, cities with permanent houses, gov. 2. Fossil fuels-fabrics could be made from oil, decreased need for sheep-grazing land and cotton growing land, discovery of coal leading to less reliance on forests for heating, involved in advancing rates of technology for agriculture, industry and urban expansion, 3. Technology-many more people (kids) can avoid malnutrition and starvation, stay healthier and recover more effectively from injury, illness and disease (increase life expectancy) Big game hunting also fed more ppl fire led to warmth, warding off predators, longer days to accomplish more, heating food, led to more nutrients and increased tissue and brain size. specialized tools allowed for killing animals from a distance increased safety and amount of food agriculture: stable surplus of food supply of meat and crops. most important as this allows us to have few feed many in stable cities. Horses-increase efficacy in agriculture and better armies ships-tap into resources of new world with european tech industrial revolution: coal and oil allowed pop to double anthropocene: rapid unstoppable growth, development of tech to become more significant risk to env. destruction of natural resources too many ppl alive to support

According to Murray (2003, 'Human Accomplishment'), of the 4000 most accomplished people that ever lived over the 1150 years between 800 BC and 1950, only about 2% were women. In BIOL350, we considered two interpretations of this that are based on historical impact of natural selection in affecting human thinking/behavior. Briefly distinguish these two interpretations.

1. Women are the fulfilled sex. --> Through children they are able to produce their own immortality, so they lack the divine restlessness which sends men in pursuit of 2. Historically, many women who became mothers did so because men (1) wanted sex or (2) wanted to leave a legacy --> Men who had low fertility preferences always had the freedom to express those preferences, and so there was opportunity for selection to disfavor genes that might influence those preferences. By comparison, for women historically, the same freedoms and potential were essentially negligible -->Their was a societal belief that the noblest works and foundations came from childless men à women were not given the opportunity to childless and have 'noble pursuits'

Most profound period for hominid evolution happened

1.9 mya

53) In BIOL350, we considered what has been described as a "law of population", stated as follows: "Overpopulation is an inevitable product of natural selection". Explain what this means.

1st - population increases to a capacity 2nd - carrying capacity increases with technology to a higher capacity 3rd - there will always be individuals who can produce more than 1 offspring at capacity 4th - # of impoverished increases as capacity is approached 5th - overpopulation is inevitable due to natural selection favouring those who have high fecundity relative to neighbours, there will always be someone having more children than you

All single cells formed- All multicellularity formed-

4 bya 3 bya

natural selection

A natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment. the advantageous traits become more common, making the populations different than ancestral ones

(37) Do we have greater personal obligation to the welfare of some individuals over others? In BIOL 350 we explored answers to this question that can be understood in terms of evolutionary roots. Discuss the main arguments concerning this.

evolutionarily, we are more innate to have personal obligation to people you are more related to, ex. you would be more willing to save your own kid than a stranger because 50% of your genes are passed on into your kid, and in order for your genes to have reproductive success your kid needs to reproduce and stay alive long enough to do so, Kin selection. We also have more obligation to those who are more likely to help us (altruistic behaviour)

(40) In BIOL 350 we considered how 'pleasure-based meaning' in humans can be understood from an evolutionary perspective. Discuss the main points in this argument.

evolved because of their proximate effects on evolutionary fitness, promotes survival-resting ,eating nutritious foods, cultivating friendships and social alliances, learning and understanding through curiosity and imagination, using pretend playing games to sharpen social intelligence, practice social skills, rehearse war promoting reproduction: sexual arousal, courtship, romantic love, parental love and affection of kin

(36) Do we need religion in order to have an objective basis for moral standards? In BIOL 350, we considered that the answer to this question is 'no' when hypotheses based on biological evolution are applied to this question. Describe the main points in support of this view.

religion-all life can be completely understood by linking it to a higher deity, life has everlasting meaning and science only provides a partially legitimate domain for understanding When combined with science and tech, all life and beh. can be completely understood, life isnt absurd but it doesnt have intrinsic meaning other than being a product of natural processes

(57) Describe, based on our discussion in BIOL 350, how several products of cultural evolution, involving 'sacred human beliefs' can be interpreted as causing about a 300-year delay in the public acceptance of science.

sacred human beliefs can be interpreted as causing a 300 yr delay in public acceptance of science as those who strongly believe in religion are less likely to accept darwins theory of evo. the current cultural myth is that population and economic growth are causes of environmental degradation. This is due to human optimism.

(52) Evolutionary theory predicts that the traits of a species that are common tomorrow will include those of its predecessors, alive today, who are leaving the most descendants. If this is true, who, can we predict, will be the parents of the future? In other words, what basic drives or motivations might we expect them to have? Discuss the answer to this question that we considered in BIOL350.

selection against weak parenting drive, could drive away from childfree culture, high parenting drive without this people wont have kids, many women will have low parenting drive and higher legacy and leisure -wont have kids less sex drive kids will be descendants of women who are anxious to raise kids, and many kids

endosymbiotic theory

theory that eukaryotic cells formed from a symbiosis among several different prokaryotic organisms

(9) Describe the main factors considered in BIOL350 connected with concerns about current and possible future declines in the quality of available health care.

As climate continues changing we have more and more cases of heat stroke, or other environmentally related diseases and illness. that place a strain on our public health systems. Storm runoff is creating a breeding ground for more disease and creating more smog, creating respiratory illnesses. Tropical diseases are now spreading more easily across the world and due to increased antibiotic resistence, we have less resources to fight these new illnesses with. New antibiotic discoveries peaked in the 60s and the rate of new discoveries has been declining since. There is speculation of a number of chemicals that are used on crops, or in goods we purchase that may have negative effects on health as there is not particularly strenuous testing on many household products. Overprescription of drugs and meds leads to bacteria constantly evolving which could lead to superbugs which we will have no idea how to treat. We wont be able to use our drugs in order to cure these new diseases and viruses.

(30) Define a 'fitness signal'. Describe three examples of fitness signals /mating tactics that humans commonly display, that we considered in BIOL 350.

Fitness signals are essentially intrinsic perceptions that signal "good genes" that are heritable, associated w high relative fitness potential, accounts for the fact that attraction to them does not need to be conscious. these signals were attractive to our ancestors which promoted offspring production due to the fitness benefits associated with them and now it is subconscious but our mind understands it as having fitness benefits. ex. behaviour (what you find attractive-being kind, generous, caring-things that evolutionarily will be attractive in a mate), SES -fitness benefits for offspring, reputation of an individual, or facial symetry due to its link to health.

(7) Many experts today believe that bio-fuel production causes more problems than it solves. Describe the main reasoning behind this view.

Causes loss of tropical forest and other natural habitats, depletes oil, accelerates climate change and exacerbates world hunger. Burning of oil based fuel and use of petroleum-based fertilizers to grow biofuel crops leads to oil shortage and climate change. oil shortage and climate change --> search for clearner alternatives to biofuels. Money to be made in poorer countries from cutting and burning forest to grow biofuel crops. Leads to less cropland used to grow food crops leading to world hunger, decreased cropland for food production leads to cutting/destroying more forest and natural habitat areas to grow food. (habitat loss), deforestation accounts for 20% of all carbon emissions, cutting down rainforests also decreases rainfall. Air that passes over forests picks up moisture from trees and plants adding to rainfall, if there are no forests theres no moisture lead to drought and lack of food, accelerating tree death and exploision of termite population on dead trees and warming forest floor. Warm forest floor=accelerate decomposition of soil organic matter and release huge quantities of mehtane and CO2. We are now trying to use yeast, algae and bacteria to make fuels which has huge potential to generate 4x the greenhouse emissions from reg diesel, energy needed to farm algae would leave larger C footprint than reg diesel too

(31) Gene-environment interaction is likely to account for several common features of human mating behavior. Describe examples of this that we considered in BIOL 350.

Genes hold culture on a leash: leash is long but genes determine which cultures evolve Culture holds gene on a leash: env. affects which genes are expressed Interplay between 2 is necessary for species survival and evo., culture as a product of self-awareness: conundrum of consciousness-what does it mean to be self-conscious animals, terror management theory: humans are in constant danger of being incapacitated by overwhelming anxiety of impending death Morality anxiety and culture of legacy, culture of sacred human beliefs, culture of consumerism

(25) In BIOL350 we considered that the human cultures defined by agriculture, and eventually medicine, combined with the scaling up of the Industrial Revolution served to kick-start the 'modern' project of civilization, involving a seemingly endless cycle of self-perpetuating inter-dependence. Briefly describe the basis for this view.

Crowded hungry and sick pop ---(dev. of new tech)---> medical advances and agricultural advances --> increased population size (more mouths to feed) AND large breeding grounds and ramped up evo. of crop pests and diseases--> more hunger, infection and disease --> crowded, hungry, sick pop

Define cultural evolution. Describe the entities, causes and processes involved.

Cultural evolution: change in the representation of particular (only certain behavioral) phenotypes of individuals, resulting because of change in the popularity of memes (ideas, beliefs and customs), residing (as thoughts and motivations) in the self-conscious minds Entities: Individual minds within a population (Cultural evolution acts on a population, not on the individual) Approximate causes: 1. Differential learning and copying success of certain behavioral phenotypes by one generation from previous generations (cultural selection - i.e. rewarding the transmission of particular memes - memetic legacy) 2. Components of one generations from more dominant components of the same generation (persuasion/popularity) Ultimate causes: 1. Differential propagation of memes (ideas, beliefs and customs) that influence the newly more successful behavioral phenotypes Processes: -Communication - where individuals minds interact through language (oral or written) and visual signals → Results in the change of phenotypes of individuals through the changes in popularity of memes -Imagination, innovation, and creativity within the minds are the ultimate source of novelty and variation in cultures

(26) Describe the main differences between 'cultural evolution' and 'biological evolution' in terms of the main entities, causes, and processes involved.

Cultural evolution: the change in representation of a particular phenotype of ind. resulting because of change in popularity of memes (ideas, beliefs customs) residing as thought and motivation in self-conscious minds within a pop. rewards socially transmitted inheritence cause: cultural selection (learn and copy success of beh. phenotypes by one generation to next) persuasion and popularity process involved: communication, increase in memes, imagination, innovation and creativity Biological evolution: refers to change in genetic makeup of a pop. of a species causes: ind. display variation in traits, from diff genes and affect diff success in reproduction

displacement loop (D loop) Figure 1

During DNA damage repair and homologous recombination, the displacement of a single strand of DNA by strand invasion. highly variable making it good for genetic analysis It is non-coding freeing it from selective pressure Control region- strong geographic specificity

Describe the main differences between 'cultural evolution' and 'biological evolution' in terms of the main entities, causes, and processes involved.

Entities & definition of the process of change - Biological: Change in the representation of phenotypes of individuals, Resulting b/c of change in the frequency of genes (genotypes), Residing in the bodies within a population - Cultural: Change in the representation of particular (only certain behavioural) phenotypes of individuals, Resulting b/c of change in the popularity of memes (memes: ideas, beliefs, and customs), Residing (as thoughts and motivations) in the self-conscious minds within a population Proximate cause of change - Biological: Differential reproductive success of phenotypes from one generation into the next - natural selection - Cultural: Differential learning and copying success of certain behavioural phenotypes by one generation from previous generations - cultural selection, Or by components of one generation from more dominant components of the same generation - persuasion/popularity Medium of action - Biological: Sex - where individual bodies interact through meiosis and syngamy of gametes - Cultural: Communication - where individual minds interact through language (oral/written) and visual signs Ultimate cause of change - Biological: Differential propagation of genes (or genotypes) that influence the newly more successful phenotypes, Change in representation of phenotypes (including behavioural phenotypes) - b/c of change in "nature" (i.e., change in genetic makeup) and NOT change in "nurture" (environment) - Cultural: Differential propagation of memes that influence the newly more successful behavioural genotypes, Change in representation of certain behavioural phenotypes only b/c of change in "nurture" (i.e., change in the impact of environment/experience in conditioning the outcome of learning and communication) and NOT change in "nature" Ultimate Source of Novelty and Variation - Biological: Mutation in the genome - Cultural: Imagination/innovation/creativity within the mind

Describe what forms of early art are represented in the Upper Paleolithic, and describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been proposed for the advantages associated with the evolution of art in humans.

Evolution of Art • Was seen with the appearance of cave paintings, necklaces and pendants, fired clay ceramic sculptures, stone-carved figurines, and musical instruments ranging from flutes to rattles • Art possibly served to symbolize a distinct cultural identity for a group (facilitated social cohesion) including religious and spiritual symbolism o Group survival and hence individual survival • The objects and activities depicted in art were presumably pleasing, because they represented things that would have promoted fitness of ancestors • Evolution of art might also be rooted in providing a sense of symbolic self-identity, or post-self immortality • Early personal adornments (necklaces) could have been symbols for (truthful) advertisement of status, skill and success o Producing art then became a fitness signal, advertising a high quality mind o Acquiring art became a symbol of status Both had benefits in attracting mates or for leaving a post-self reputation after death

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been proposed for the advantages resulting from the evolution of spoken language in humans.

Evolution of Language ● Approximately 40,000 BP (Upper Paleolithic) Advantages of Language ● Most important advantage during the great leap forward ● Major advance over symbolic language and is linked to: o Larger brain capacity o Altered brain structure o Development of the larynx, tongue, and associated muscles * All of these give modern humans the ability to control spoken sounds ● With being able to speak, individuals could rapidly communicate to plot a strategy for hunting, brainstorm about how to devise a better tool, and how to interpret a cave painting. Evolution of language also allowed communicating complex information to their children and grandchildren (such as storytelling). ● The advantages through language could allow humans to master the art of living in larger units of social organization that developed with the advent of agriculture (10,000 years ago). Language also allowed commanding attention and persuasion of large groups for political and military goals. ● Allowed learning from what others have experienced elsewhere or in the past ● Learning about and understanding the possible through stories likely makes one better equipped to respond effectively if/when the possible becomes reality

Describe the major factors throughout the journey of human evolution that resulted in the elevation of human carrying capacity.

Factors Elevating Human Carrying Capacity (Most important = agriculture/industry) ● Hunting o Able to take away more energy from meat (more calories) ● Tool making o Increased efficiency of hunting and processing foods ● Cooking organic matter o Less energy required to consume more calories o Could also eat a greater range of foods by inactivating harmful compounds ● Agricultural revolution and irrigation o Production a stable surplus of food could feed many more people o Growing crops and domestication of animals provided a more reliable source of food o Irrigation provided the single most enlargement of human's carrying capacity; provided the potential for a stable surplus food supply to feed people o Population size increased from about 10 million 10,000 ya to 800 million in 1750 (and to over 7 billion today, mainly because of energy from fossil fuels applied to agriculture) ● Domestication of horses and invention of wheeled vehicles o Boosted agricultural output, used for transportation and trade, and increased human carrying capacity as a result ● Industrial revolution and discovery of fossil fuels o Led to advances in medical technology (reduced death rates, increased birth rates, and increased longevity) o More children were reaching reproductive years o Healthier people have more babies, which contributes to increasing population size ● Somehow, the human carrying capacity will drop (maybe there will be a catastrophe) because we are going to run out of fossil fuels Principle of population (Malthus): Recognized that increasing population size will have detrimental effects on society (didn't consider that oil could increase the carrying capacity)

Describe the main ideas that have been put forward for the early advantages associated with the discovery and use of fire by humans.

Fire • Provided several advantages: warmth, light, ward off predators, cooking (meat more digestible; safe from pathogens) o Allowed more energy to be obtained from food—and hence, more nutrition that could be used to support a larger brain (rather than larger digestive tract) o Less time/energy needed for chewing o Less need for body hair (faster running without overheating) o Larger population size (expansion of humanity's carrying capacity) • Brought people together to where the fire was as a point of socialization (a sense of community and belonging) and communication skills (symbolism, hand gestures and vocal signals) o Possibly connected to our fascination with story-telling or movies (bright screen, dark room) • Controlled use of fire is a unique human activity and played a critical role in the trajectory of human civilization and cultural evolution

(10) Describe the main trends and issues that we considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of species extinctions.

For many biomes, over 50% of the original habitat is lost, biodiversity loss exponentially increased in the last century, current extinction rate is 1000x higher than in fossil record and projected future exctinction rate is more than 10x higher than current. More than 1/3 of species are threatened, increases in resource consumption, invasive alien species, nitrogen pollution, overexploitation and climate change effects. Ocean stresses: pollution, acidification, warming, overfishing, hypoxia. Pesticides causing broad diversity loss cutting down rainforest loses a lot of species and animal populations have declined more than half in the last 40 years. Between 1970-2012 lost 38% of terrestrial species, 81% of freshwater species and 36% of marine species. Threats are habitat loss, degradation, species over exploitation, pollution and invasive species and disease. 99% of species that ever existed are not extinct

Describe the general patterns in brain size relative to body size evident in primates today, and in species of Homo over time — and distinguish two general hypotheses considered in BIOL350 for explaining the probable adaptive advantages associated with the evolution of a larger brain in our early ancestors.

For most primates, brain size follows predictably from body size; humans are the EXCEPTION. An abrupt jump in brain size occurred about 2 million years ago, and another jump occurred about 500,000 years ago. - 2 Hypotheses 1. Social Intelligence Hypothesis: Strong correlation between the size of the group and the relative size of the neocortex, Brain's ability to manipulate information about the constantly changing social environment is regulated by the neocortex, Protection from predators and gathering of resources led humans to live in large groups - this drove brain size 2. Environmental Change Hypothesis: Large brains relative to body size can confer enhanced behavioural flexibility to carry fitness benefits to individuals facing novel or altered environmental conditions

Some human behavioural traits can be understood (largely or entirely) as a product of 'genetic determinism', whereas other traits can be understood as a product of 'cultural determinism'. Describe the main features of these two categories.

Genetic Determinism - adaptive traits expressed b/c gene expression (largely unaffected by environmental variation) - affecting (presently and/or ancestrally) essentially 'hard wired' behaviours associated with core determinants of reproductive success and hence strongly selected for in our distant ancestors - although still expressed today, some of them may or may not still be adaptive (or may be less adaptive than in the ancestral past - earlier genetic variation for these traits was mostly eliminated by intense natural selection in ancestral generations - which is the reason why all humans have capacity for high-order consciousness, complex language, and symbolic/mathematical thinking, but chimps don't - this lack of genetic variation today gives the erroneous impression that gene expression does not affect these traits (while some effects of environmental variation may be plainly evident) - many of these core traits are commonly regarded therefore as pan-cultural human 'universals' - i.e. largely canalized adaptive traits whose expressions are determined by effects of particular genes that were very strongly selected for our ancestors - variant genes or alleles that modify the expression of these core traits will of course still exist, and may still be strongly affected by selection; or they may not if the selective environment has changed Cultural Determinism - trait variation caused by environmental (i.e. social learning) variation only (i.e. 'phenotypic plasticity') - trait variation is not informed by genetic variation and it has no selection effect on genetic variation (it is selectively neutral) - represented by the notion of 'transmitted culture', central to the fields of traditional ethnography; e.g. differences in the national favoured sport of different countries; regional differences in languages/dialects/accents; differences in traditions associated different religious denominations

Describe the main features of the categories: genetic determinism and cultural determinism

Genetic determinism: Adaptive traits expressed because of gene expression (largely unaffected by environmental variation) Cultural determinism: Trait variation caused by environmental variation

(29) Some human behavioural traits can be understood (largely or entirely) as a product of genetic determinism', whereas other traits can be understood as a product of 'cultural determinism'. Describe the main features of these two categories.

Genetic determinism: adaptive traits expressed because of gene expression, earlier genetic variation for these traits was mostly eliminated by intense natural selection in ancestral generations Cultural determinism: trait variation caused by env. variation, especially social learning represented by notion of transmitted culture, central to the fiels of traditional ethnography, differences in traditions associted diff religious denomnations. Cultural evo. can affect biological evo. from spread of memes from adult to adult. horizontally (a-a) veritcally (adult-child)

Describe the major factors promoting the dramatic range expansion of humans between about 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the major implications of this range expansion during this time period — as discussed in BIOL350.

Great Leap Forward - Evolution of a sense of sacred/super-natural (religion): sense of time + consciousness + curiousity + imganiation + awareness and fear of mortality = sense of sacred - Evolution of language: linked to larger brain capacity, altered brain structure and development of the larynx, tongue and associated muscles; allowed for planning and brainstorming and communicating - Evolution of art: facilitated social cohesion by providing distinctive cultural identity for a group - Specialized tools: allowed to hunt from a greater distance and enlarged humanity's carrying capacity - Long distance trade Agricultural Evolution - enlargement of humanity's carrying capacity - stable, surplus food supply - allowed few to provide the food for many (free time) - lead to class divisions - Holocene climate unusually stable - Totalitarian agriculture: subordination of all life forms to serve humans

(33) Describe the various historical motivations for marriage that have affected humans.

Historical motivations for marriage had nothing to do with love and romance, they involved socio-cultural/economic imperatives. spouses' family could be a source of wealth, might provide adv. linked to social status or alliances, spouse could provide offspring for economic purposes to direct care for family for him: to provide safe, reliable outlet for satisfying his insatiable sex drive, obtain a housekeeper and cook for his offspring and himself, obtain childcare worker for offspring, obtain certainty of paternity for her: to secure basic provision for offspring

(18) Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been considered in accounting for the probable or possible advantages of early Homo sapiens over Homo neanderthalensis.

Homo sapiens were slimmer and smarter, larger brains and language ability when they occupied the same space this lead to murder, competition for resources and territory. Homo sapiens were more advanced in the use of tools to do the same work. (fight, hunt, harvest resources) Anatomy of homo sapiens was also more advanced with longer limbs meant faster running and speed/advantage in battle. Homo neanderthals were less culturally adv. which meant they practices little or no division of labour while humans only had men involved in hunting large game while women and children did safer activities. Second, neanderthals lacked tools needed for killing large animals at a distance they could only strike close range and were more likely to get injured or killed by prey. Increased death risk for neanderthals existed due to the climate in europe from ice age. All of this accomodated a shorter lifespan (30-40 years) shorter childhood and lifespan meant less time to engage in childhood play and curiosity and less development of learning skills and problem solving, also decreased personalities which resulted in lower diversity and less individual talents within local populations. Pelvic structure of neanderthals made it harder to absorb shock and bounce when running.

(16) Describe the general patterns in brain size relative to body size evident in primates today, and in species of Homo over time — and distinguish two general hypotheses considered in BIOL350 for explaining the probable adaptive advantages associated with the evolution of a larger brain in our early ancestors.

Humans are an exception to the rule that brain size follows in proportion to body size. As humans we have disproporitnately larger brains in comparison to the rest of our body size for a number of reasons. An abrupt change in brain size can be seen which coincides with success of our new species of homo. This led to increased fitness benefits and behavioural flexibility. It originally arose when we could use heat to warm meat and recieve more nutritional elements from the foods we were eating which allowed for increase tissue size and larger brains. Increase brain size increases cranial capacity of our species and allow for increased social intelligence. More folds in the brain revealed increased brain tissue and complexity, This allowed us to form groups socially and overcome challenges together. Allowed for group hunting and enabled more cooking practices which made food more digestible for humans to eat allowing for more energy to kill prey for food. Brain size environmental change hypothesis: large brains relative to body size give adv. to ind. through behavioural flexibility-carries fitness benefits to individuals facing altered environmental conditions, such as migrating from africa to canada. Brain social intelligence hypothesis: posits that complex cognition and enlarged brains evolved in response to challenges associated with social complexity.

Describe how several products of cultural evolution, involving 'sacred human beliefs' can be interpreted as causing about a 300-year delay in the public acceptance of science.

Idea that the earth is the center of the universe - everything revolves around it --> Astronomy proved it as one of nine planets revolving around the sun --> Took 325 years for the view to be accepted Human diseases and epidemics was because they were 'wicked' and it was the judgment of a deity --> Biology: Germ Theory that microbes were the cause of illness disproved this --> Took 340 years for people to believe it Humans were created by god, and the earth was created for humans and it belongs to them --> Human evolved alongside millions of other species and as with all species the earth belongs to all of us --> Will be 300 years in 2018 - will it be accepted? We are a long way away from this Human belief that human history has been a long tale of benefits acquired through progress and growth --> Anthropology and archeology (came about 1950) show that human life has been a long tale of misery from resource shortage and starvation and for humans in particular filled horrendous events filled with genocide, warfare, mass extinction of species and environmental destruction --> When will this view be accepted? Rethink history to plan for a new civilization

(12) J.R. Richards (2000; Human Nature After Darwin) discusses three different levels or 'depths' of Darwinism. Describe how these are distinguished.

LEVEL 1-Religious/ Non-materialist Darwinist: accepts darwinian account of the ongoing evolution of life, but that god created life originally and humans have souls that cannot be accounted for in materialist terms, the mind cannot either LEVEL 2-Standard social science model/Blank slate darwinist: humans have now evolved to a stage where human nature is virtually entirely a product of experiences. Nothing in our mind defines who we will become, only our experiences do LEVEL 3-evolutionary science model-sociobiology darwinist: human ways of thinking and behaving are products of interacting effects of exposure to particular environments with the effects of genetic inheritence. Human nature and culture are influecned by learning and social environment and effects of genes that are inherited.

(45) Define 'Legacy Drive', and describe its evolutionary roots.

Legacy drive: motivation to leave something of yourself behind on earth after you die. As human brain evolved, frontal lobe increased in size, humans became increasingly cognizant of our own inevitable mortality. Legacy drive evolved as a way for humans to transfer our memes down to future generations. self impermanence anxiety is partially mitigated by legacy drive (coming to terms with own mortality) , motivates us to have kids trying to pass on their legacy through kids (higher reproductive success than those who don't)

(42) Define Leisure Drive. In BIOL 350 we considered a hypothesis for how Leisure Drive may have evolved in humans. Describe this hypothesis.

Leisure Drive: motivation to release oneself from negative emotions especially self-impermanence anxiety by pursuing activities we find pleasurable. Activities that include relaxation, cognitive stimulation, intellectual enlightenment, social relationships and physical exercise trigger the pleasure sensors in our brain and pursuing these activities derives our leisure drive. may have evolved because of its proximate effects on our evolutionary fitness which promote survival (rest, making friendships, learning stuff, playing with others to sharpen social IQ, athleticism rehearse for war, promote reproduction through parental love) the perserverance of leisure drive ancestrally and today is because the pursuit of leisure takes our minds off of self-impermanence and promotes gene transmission through mating (gets rid of negative impacts on mind affecting our mood)

What is the relationship between losing hair and the brain?

Loss of hair allows us to grow larger brains with the help of our eccrine sweating

The agricultural revolution provided many benefits for humans, but there are many indications that agriculture is also responsible for creating many problems. Describe these main problems.

Main problems with agriculture • Infectious disease and parasites o Close association with domesticated animals and crowding meant people constantly were re-infected by each other and sewage • A greater risk of starvation and famine o Extended crop failure = dependence of only a few crops • Malnutrition from a less varied diet o Farmers focused on high carb diets vs. hunter-gatherers focused on high protein and nutrients so they were probably healthier and suffered less disease • It is also questionable whether hunter-gathers had less leisure time • Agriculture also led to class divisions because it generated surpluses and created 'haves' and 'have-nots' o Some question whether agriculture exacerbated sexual inequality as women became beasts of burden and were drained by frequent pregnancies • Agriculture allowed population overshoot and created more pressing needs to expand boundaries o Allowed higher densities, larger population sizes and hence, larger armies partly because of more food availability but also because women could have more babies

(34) In BIOL 350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why most cultures historically have had a preference for male offspring, but also why some cultures have had a preference for female offspring. Briefly describe these hypotheses.

Male: inheritence, favouritism, boy-preferred culture, acquire preference for male and desire to leave more inheritence to sons than daughters, drive to continue reproduction, a daughter who sleeps with 100 men in one year can only have 1 baby, a man can have 100. daughter: certainty of maternity, female offspring investment, marry into wealth

Markers of new species

Markers: • Bipedalism • Use of tools • Elongated legs • Larger brains • Symbolic expression/cultural diversity

(39) Why is war almost exclusively a male enterprise? In BIOL 350 we considered answers to this question based on interpretations involving the role of biological evolution. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

Men have more testosterone which means more aggression, rehearsing for victory, more males practiced team sports, more role in wars allowed to pass more genes on to increase likelihood of getting a mate to have children with, since women were having babies and labour, the females and children took care of the safer duties such as cooking and gathering food and resources while the men would battle at war.

(15) (a) Define natural selection. Does natural selection act on genes, traits or individuals? Explain your answer. (b) Does the definition of evolutionary fitness apply to genes, traits, or individuals? Explain your answer.

Natural Selection: individuals display variation in certain traits which results from differences in genes (genotypes) and associated traits (phenotypes) Some of the traits affect differential success in reproduction-traits affect how many gene copies each organism has, that will be transmitted to future generations. NS acts on traits directly through variations in phenotypes. Process of select genes becoming more prevalent in a population due to being more advantageous than other genes. Beneficial to survivial of species, new genes are created from sexual reproduction, mutation or interaction between genees and env.

Many authorities have serious doubts about the ability of alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels. Describe the main issues associated with these doubts.

Nuclear - Thousands of new nuclear plants would be required to meet the world's energy requirements, and they take 10 years to build - Hazardous nuclear waste cannot be stored safely indefinitely - Uranium is a nonrenewable resource - Mining uranium contaminates local soil and water supplies - More nuclear plants are being decommissioned than are being built. Wind and Solar - Projections show an increase in the percentage of energy met by renewable sources, expected to exceed energy from natural gas and twice the energy from nuclear energy What would run our vehicles?

(32) In BIOL 350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for why polygyny has been the dominant model for marriage throughout most of human history. Briefly describe these hypotheses, and discuss the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL 350 regarding where the culture of monogamy came from.

Polygyny: since the beginning of a wide variation in male wealth and power it grants richer men can afford to buy more daughters of other men and have more wives as 'property', polygyny promoted prolificacy and evolutionary fitness, women also benefitted from the polygnous system-their potential evolutionary fitness and QoL as the 3rd or 4th wife of a rich man was much higher than being the only wife of a poor peasant with no status or earning. Monogamy: evolved in connection with male fitness benefits from guarding solitary females and reducing infanticide risk from rival males, as well as fitness benefits from greater paternal care when the cost of raising offspring is high Monogamy favoured by cultural evolution, limitation of polygyny can promote more stable social order by reducing inequality among males, too many low-income men remain mateless and that is not favourable.

endosymbiotic theory

an anaerobic nucleus-bearing cell eukaryote engulfed the mitochondrion actively via phagocytosis Endosymbiosis Beneficial relationship for the bacterium and the eukaryote Eukaryote gets ATP Mitochondrion gets protection and nutrients

Describe the various historical motivations for marriage that have affected humans.

Socioeconomic imperatives: - A spouse's family could be a source of wealth - A spouse's family might provide advantages linked to social status of alliances - A spouse could provide offspring for economic purposes to work the family farm or to look after you in your old age - The most pressing motivations however were exclusively male - Why males got married: - To obtain certainty of his paternity - To obtain a childcare worker for his offspring - To obtain a housekeeper and cook for his offspring and himself - To provide a safe, reliable outlet for satisfying his insatiable sex drive - Why females got married: - To secure basic provisions for herself and her offspring

In BIOL350 we considered some ideas for the evolutionary roots of the culture of 'cool'. Briefly describe these.

Someone who is 'cool' is typically seen as: • Distinctive attitude, facial expression or gestures (sunglasses, cigarettes) • Distinct appearance (bed-head, beard stubble) • Evokes a demeanor that is confident, composed and nonchalant towards situations that would normally evoke emotions Why are we attracted? • Potential mates that were 'cool' were socially popular, sexually attractive and perceived as a good bet for providing for one's offspring o Natural selection probably favoured these dispositions • Attraction to some defying death o Indifference towards self-impermanence o Suggests they have a talent for dismissing self-impermanence anxiety • Deception to bolster self-esteem o Concerned about appearing 'cool'

In 'The God Delusion', Richard Dawkins argues that, on balance, it would be good for humanity if we could somehow do away with religion altogether. Yet in BIOL350 we considered, based on evolutionary thinking, that religion is probably here to stay. Briefly describe the main arguments in support of this view.

Specifically: why is religion here to stay? -Different religions and denominations of religions are products of cultural evolution, by religiosity (attraction to religious belief) is a product of biological evolution, and so religion is probably here to stay -Believer gene --> Part of Dna --> We have a predisposition toward religion -People with strong religious beliefs tend to have more children and that this, combined with a genetic predisposition to believe, can explain the expansion of religion -Beliefs are hard to lose or change presumably because holding from beliefs serves to reward the reproductive success of our predecessors -Religious belief will continue for the foreseeable future not only because it is actually in our brains, but also because it gives enormous comfort and meaning to life -Also, provides a basis for causal beliefs about fundamental human issues It is having these beliefs that make us human -The loss of religious belief could have very serious consequences, and so could the enforcement of those beliefs on others

(27) The ways that humans think and behave and the human cultures that arise from this have been interpreted according to two distinctly different models: the Standard Social Science Model and the Evolutionary Science Model. Describe the main distinguishing features of these two models.

Standard Social science model: understand the world, in manner that we think and behave, acquired through exposure to and learning from our env. social especially, variations in human beh. is a consequence of variable environments and opportunities to learn from diff env., our minds are only what our experiences enable them to be Evolutionary science model: variation in human beh. influenced by variable env. and genetic inheritence, mind develops a degree of prepared learning, learn in ways that are modulated by innate predispositions that generally rewarded reproductive success of ancestors

It is commonly viewed by the general public that our journey through history is a long tale of benefits accrued from 'progress' and 'growth'. Describe how this interpretation is debatable based on major events associated with the period in history involving the dawn of 'empire' and 'imperialism'.

The Dark Ages: Harsh period of famine, suffering, and disease - Symptoms of overcrowding and poor sanitation - Fall of the Roman Empire - Competition for power between Byzantine, Islamic and western Christian empires - Church of Rome shifted political alliances with secular rulers to provide the only unifying force among those European countries previously united under Rome's rule Corruption and religious wars (The Crusades) More protracted warfare, famine and pestilence - The Black Death - Caused by a bacterium transmitted by fleas from rats to humans - Lasted over 200 years and killed an estimated 75 million people worldwide, reducing the European population by about 50% Torture was practiced to "combat heresy and witchcraft" The dawn of empire and imperialism also brought about serfdom and slavery It involved the reckless squandering of lives and resources and the environment to support the privilege and extravagance of the few

(11) Describe what the "IPAT equation" means and how this relates to the concepts of "Ecological Footprint" and "World Biocapacity". Describe also how the relationship between these latter two concepts has changed since the start of the "Great Acceleration".

The IPAT equation looks at the environmental impact (I) as a product of three factors, population (P), affluence (A), and technology (T). I=PAT. used to describe how human impact has influenced the environment. 1. population size total consumption, waste production and demand for space. 2. Affluence-consumption per capita, 3. Technology-allowing affluence but with negative effects (pollution, climate change). This can show us he overall environmental impact we are making at a given time. Through the great acceleration and our increased access to tech, pop size and affluence our ecological footprint has increased drastically and it would take roughly two and a half earths to sustain our current living methods. This shows how important it is for us to make alterations to the way society lives today. Ecological footprint is compared to how fast we consume resources and produce waste, biocapacity is the amount of biologically productive land and sea area that is available to provide, regenerate and recycle ecosystem goods and services that humanity makes demands on and sequester the CO2 it produces. The great acceleration humanities ecological footprint exceeded the planets biocapacity. Human demand is more than 50% larger than what we can renew. We are in a global overshoot where our ecological footprint has exceeded biocapacity (cut timber faster than trees grow).

One of the most conspicuous products of culture is the 'sacred' human belief that our journey through history is a long tale of benefits accrued from 'progress' and 'growth'. Describe how this interpretation is debatable based on major events associated with the historical period between 1700 and 1900.

The Industrial Revolution • The 'fossil fuel party', launching a higher order scale of hallmarks in human progress, massive increases in advances of technology and medicine, unprecedented rates of human population growth • With the commercial production of coal and eventually oil, industry and agriculture went into high gear from fossil fuel energy, giving human carrying capacity another major boost o World population doubled between 1650 and 1850 and then doubled again by 1930 • This did not bring ease and prosperity to the masses. As cities became more crowded, human anguish reached highs that would have been unimaginable in previous ages o Hopeless and frustrated, people become rebellious and governments responded with systematic repression, brutality and tyranny o People no longer went to war to defend religious beliefs but more pressing material concerns that once seemed so important, irrelevant • Hopes that had been invested in religion where now invested in revolution and political reform • The grand mission of civilization 'project' continues: feeding more of us (our people) and fighting more of them (other people)

The 'march of progress' for human civilization can be described as a story of energy conversion / generation. Describe what this means.

The March of Progress ● A term used to describe the conversion of coal into energy to start the industrial revolution, and the change of lands into croplands for the generation of food ○ Marks the start of the 'fossil fuel party' ● Story starts with the the creation of coal fired plants ○ Coal fired power plants allowed the population to rely less on wood as a source of energy, and thus more land previously devoted to wood could now be cleared for agriculture (to generate more 'energy') ● The march of progress takes off at this point ○ Fabrics could be made from oil → need less land for sheep to graze and for cotton growth → this land was turned into cropland ○ Allowed the population to grow further ● Growth focused on 'feeding us' and 'fighting them' Law of Population (1) Resources are never unlimited (eventually will reach carrying capacity) (2) Human population increases with increasing technological advancement but only to a finite maximum... but how high can this be raised? Illusion #1: March of Progress ● Illusion: More people in society will lead to a better society o Benefits: Social networking, knowledge, creativity, division of labour o Costs: Poverty, disease, starvation, crime o As long as the benefits outweigh the costs, the quality of society will keep increasing o Benefits of new technology will always minimize the costs of increasing population size ▪ Tragedy of the commons: No technical solution can rescue us from the misery of overpopulation; benefits will remain steady while costs exponentially increase (3) There will always be some individuals that are able to produce more than one offspring, even at carrying capacity (4) The relative number of impoverished individuals increases as the carrying capacity is approached (5) Overpopulation is an inevitable product of natural selection; it will always favour those individual traits that promote high fecundity even among impoverished individuals that are already crowded at carrying capacity. ● Costs are 'commonized' while profits are 'privatized'

One of the most conspicuous products of culture is the 'sacred' human belief that our journey through history is a long tale of benefits accrued from 'progress' and 'growth'. Describe how this interpretation is debatable based on major events associated with the historical period known as the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages • By the Middle Ages, Rome had fallen and Europe had no individual ruler or nation to establish dominion • The dark ages describes a harsh and brutal period of suffering from famine, starvation and disease - symptoms of overcrowding and poor sanitation o Power was fragmented between Byzantine, Islamic and Western Christian empires • Religious wars led to less harsh but more corruption during the Crusades • More protracted warfare, famine and pestilence o The Black Death—caused by a bacterium transmitted by fleas from rats to humans—the worst plague in human history that cut the European population in half • Also during the Middle Ages, inquisitors develop a novel technique to combat heresy and witchcraft, torturing suspects until they implicate others and so on • It was easy for ordinary people of empire, the slaves, the conquered, the peasants—to envision humankind as innately flawed and envision themselves as sinners in need of rescue o Eager to despise the world and dream of a blissful afterlife where the humble would be exalted o Salvationist religions showed them how to understand and deal with the inevitable discomfort of being alive

The ways that humans think and behave and the human cultures that arise from this have been interpreted according to two distinctly different models: the Standard Social Science Model and the Evolutionary Science Model. Describe the main distinguishing features of these two models.

The evolutionary science model states that the way humans think and behave and the human culture have arisen from intrinsic characteristics of individuals given at birth. - The mind is already partially and variably structured with 'prepared learning at birth' - The mind develops a series of cognitive processes associated with a degree of innate predisposition, and partially instinctual/impulsive responses to certain environmental cues that influence a range of variation in particular behaviours - In turn, this affects the characteristics of culture. The Standard Social Science Model states the mind is a blank slate at birth. - Our understanding of the world and the manner in which we behave and think is acquired through exposure to and learning from our environment - Features of behaviour (and variation in those behaviours) is entirely a consequence of variable environments and variation in the opportunity to learn FROM different environments. (ie. variations in culture)

(4) Many authorities have serious doubts about the ability of alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels. Describe the main issues associated with these doubts.

The issues around using alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels revolve around a few key reasons. Oil is an extremely versatile product and is used to make the majority of products we use today. For example, things like cell phones, cleaning products, wax products, plastics, detergents and lubricants. Oil can be used for a bhuge variety of products and without it we would possibly have to stop making a lot of these key products that our society is dependant on. While renewable enrgy sources are being used, geothermal, wind, solar, hydro, they only account for a small portion of the energy we use. Nuclear power plants have shown how dangerous and expensive nuclear energy can be and most countries have opted to not use this energy source as a result.

(3) The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'food' as a problem of 'input'.

There is not enough food to sustain our growth rate and the population of people on earth for an extended period of time. Populations are expanding the fastest in areas where it is most difficult to grow food. Some key factors are : loss of topsoil, shortage of water, rising temperatures and overpopulation. Other reasons for shortages include arable land being at its peak, loss of irrigation water from melting and dried up glaciers resulting from global warming, more land being used for biofuels instead of crops and failing pollinator populations from pesticide use and pollution

(1)The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'land' as a problem of 'input'.

There is not enough land for the current population of 7.5 billion people on earth. There is not enough space for people to live, not enough space for food to be grown and cultivated. Cities are becoming overcrowded and over populated. Only about 3% of the earths surface can be used to grow food and virtually all of it that can be cultivated economically already is. in the 60s South Am, Africa and Aisa transformed over 200 million hectares of habitat area into arable cropland. We cant expect to grow significantly more food by increasing the amount of land under cultivation, without destroying wildlife habitat and other essential ecosystem services. Arable land per capita is expected to drop by 20-40% over the next 25 years if this century due to soil degradation, water shortages, climate change effects, urbanization and the rising population size --> Cities are no longer comfortable to live in and not supporting the amount of people in a given population, which leads to expanded cities and deforestation of the land.

(13) One common misconception about biological evolution is the claim that "evolution is not science because it is not observable or testable". Explain the main arguments considered in BIOL350 that refute this claim.

This claim focuses on the viewpoint of those who do not accept darwins theory of evolution. Evolution has shown us the reason why certain traits evolve, and come into life. Evolution is a theory that mainly deals with how life changes after its origin and not with the origin of life. Evolution focuses on how life and species have branched off and diversified over time. Ex. Why would humans have evolved to become bipedal-benefits us evolutionarily as we were able to run from predators, run after prey, seek resources easier, carry and transport food with hands and arms, the argument that evolution is not observable or testable is not true, as we can compare species over time by looking at longitudinal studies, fossil records and evolution tree. Examples of convergent evolution also show how multiple species may be evolving to acquire the same advantages in terms of survivorship. We can gather evidence from real world and make inferences from several lines of converging evidence.

What is tanning?

Top layer of the epidermis, takes place in all darkly pigmented people near the equator, have the ability to tan

55) Over the past century or so, human societies have responded to the problem of world hunger using solutions that serve inevitably to create more problems. Describe the main points in support of this view that we considered in BIOL350, and also describe the so-called 'risk-free' solutions that are currently being promoted.

bad: green revolution and biotechnology good: acro-ecology revolution, population ecology revolution

(8) Describe the main trends and issues considered in BIOL350 associated with the problem of urban mega-growth.

Urban mega-growth is when people move to cities as countries develop. Cities used to be by the water and on fertile land but can now spring up anywhere due to global distribution networks. This causes an environmental change by decreasing agricultural land and change temperatures while decreasing biodiversity. Cities consume more than 2/3 of the worlds total energy and account for more than 70% of all energy related CO2 emissions. People living in cities have low carbon emissions due to efficient public transport and proximity to work.

Religion has both a 'vertical component' and a 'horizontal component'. Explain what this means, and describe the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 that propose how both of these components could be interpreted as products of biological evolution.

Vertical Component: Something that is passed down from parent to offspring. Attraction to LEGACY - Religion was presumably an 'easy sell' because it proved explanations in satisfying our evolved need to understand the causes and origins of things that are important to us - This drive to 'understand' is what gave us tool use, and eventually science and technology (and hence fitness benefits from belonging to a group that developed science and technology) - Belief in male deity devised by men that can promise/provide salvation/everlasting life thus alleviating some of the terror of morality awareness and anxiety over uncertain legacy through uncertainty of paternity - Helping to alleviate the hopelessness of a miserable life - Provide fitness benefits through effects of status and wealth on ability to coerce, attract, and support more mates Horizontal Component: Reinforce, through group support, the belief of faith. Reinforces the vertical component. Attraction to RELIGION; cultural by-product of morality - Vehicle for meme transmission through attainment of power and a sense of power within a religious institution - To serve as an incentive to behave in ways that promote pro-social reciprocal exchange of benefits of group membership & reinforce belief in faith of the religion. i.e. not stealing, lying or murdering. These consequences= hell - Believers maintain a favourable social reputation, through actions, and therefore increase their potential through mate attraction

(47) Religion has both a 'vertical component' and a 'horizontal component'. Explain what this means, and describe the hypotheses that we considered in BIOL350 that propose how both of these components could be interpreted as products of biological evolution.

Vertical component: belief in deity that can promise/provide for salvation or everlasting life, alleviates some fear of mortality with the thought of at least soul living forever and alleviates anxiety of uncertain legacy through paternity uncertainty. Religion is a domain for legacy through our soul Horizontal component: reinforce group support and belief in faith, vehicle for delusional sense of legacy through being a part of a worldview that is larger than self and through power and sense of accomplishment gained with religious institution, incentive for ppl to behave in wys promoting prosocial reciprocal exchange benefits of group membership awards for behaving and believing in heaven

(38) In BIOL 350 we considered arguments proposing that war could be interpreted largely as a product of biological evolution. Describe the arguments in support of this view.

We are all descendants of the instigators and winners of war, the losers of war possibly those who talked things over peacefully were less sucessful historically in propelling their genes into future generations as those who chose war would kill them. Homo sapiens are poorly adapted to kill, war rewarded reproductive success for our predecessors by securing more resources, wealth to support survival, access to more Females for reproductive subjugation, secure heroic rep for home tribe attract more mates and appeal to intrinsic attraction to legacy

Global Ocean Conveyer. What is it? How might it be disrupted? What is the main consequence of the disruption of the global ocean conveyor?

What is it? -Constant motion in the ocean, the motion is a constantly moving system of deep ocean circulation that is driven by water and salinity. -Starts in the Norweigian sea where warm waters from the Gulf Stream heats the atmosphere in the cold northern areas, the loss of heat to the atmosphere makes the water colder and denser and it sinks to the bottom. The sinking of cold water makes room for warm water to come in, the cold bottom water flows all the down to Antarctica and then it will come back to the surface through mixing and wind. How would it be disrupted? -Disrupted by climate change, if global warming results in increased rainfall in the North Atlantic, and the melting of glaciers and sea ice, the influx of warm freshwater onto the sea surface could block the formation of sea ice, disrupting the sinking of cold, salty water. What is the main consequence? -This sequence of events could slow or even stop the conveyor belt, which could result in potentially drastic temperature changes in Europe. The main consequence would be crop loss due to shorter growing season --> crop loss results in less food, more malnutrition, increased food prices

(51) In BIOL350 we considered how some human motivations / goals can be interpreted in terms of 'blended drives' that involve 'purposeful toil and mundane routine'. Describe what this means, and illustrate with two examples that we discussed in the course.

blended drive: combine leisure and legacy drive preoccupying yourself with hard work that is meaningful to distract from worrisome or depressing thought , distracting pleasure obtained from staying busy, doing something purposeful can evoke a sense of legacy but also keeps you busy (leisure) helping others feels good (leisure) and remembered by others (legacy) Parenting memetic legacy, copy of self by shaping offspring (legacy) and pleasure of purposeful work (leisure)

(20) Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that we discussed in BIOL350 concerning proposed advantages resulting from the evolution of spoken language in humans.

adv. of evo. of language in humans allowed us to communicate with eachother more efficiently. Speaking in humans lead to many advantages that lead to be strongly favoured by natural selection. Was the most important advantage in the great leap forward, lead to larger brain capacity and also altered brain structure. Speech allowed us to bond in social groups that were too large to previously bond. Allowed for stories from elders and allowed us to learn from past just like written script. From the capacity for complex speech allowed plotting for easier hunting strategies, group work on creating better tools, communicate complex info to kids about who to trust in the group. Allowing them to learn from history and share stories to profit the group. This allowed them to learn from past mistakes and react more efficiently in scenarios in the future. Story telling=survival tactic. Allowed us to live in tribes and create leaders.

gene variations/genome changes

allowed for cells to produce proteins that enabled them to stick together

(17) Describe the major factors promoting the dramatic range expansion of humans between about 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, and the major implications of this range expansion during this time period — as discussed in BIOL350.

by 100K yrs ago, humans evolved cognitive capacities for intelligence, curiosity, intuition, imagination, reasoning and memory. More sophisticated social lives existed, lead to the great leap forward which was 40K yrs ago when humans became equipped with profound enlightenment as the acquired a sense of time and self-awareness. Until about 100K yrs ago, big game hunting began and required/improved teamwork through communication. In this time span, the use of fire began with Neanderthals for warmth, light, to ward off predators, for cooking and probably promoted social events and development of social skills. Women couldnt hunt during pregnancy so they would be the ones who cooked the meat. This was the first sign of the great leap forward which would be followed by the explosion of technology and cultural innovation. This is what allowed for a sense of time and planning for the future. Specialized tools had just become and allowed for killing from a distance (improved hunting/gathering).

(48) In BIOL 350 we considered some ideas for the evolutionary roots of the culture of 'cool'. Briefly describe these.

celebrity can be earned from displays of non-conformity ranging from harmless projections of cool indifference or pronouncements of rejection against fads, customs, societal norms (deviant behaviour and criminal activity) someone with a distinctive attitude -represented in certain ways of walking or talking or facial expressions , also accompanied by a certain look or presentation (certain styles of dress) or interest in hobbies, music that are indifferent with general society

(43) In BIOL350 we interpreted conspicuous, addictive consumerism in terms of evolutionary roots. Describe the main points involved in these interpretations.

conspicuous additive consumerism indicates social status and attractiveness to potential mates, as ppl accumulate things, they become happier temporarily. Wealth is required to maintain pleasure/happiness from consumerism, but over most of the range of wealth, there is little or no significant increase in pleasure/happiness Conspicuous and wasteful consumerism feeds several intrinsic human needs: signal membership within a particular group, advertise status that is attractive to potential mates, distraction from self-impermanence anxiety

only heritable mutations (like in ovum or sperm) can......

contribute to evolution

Figure 3- Outgroup method

control group is a chimpanzee

Major asset to humans

creative thinking in survival situations

(41) In BIOL 350 we considered something called the 'curse of consciousness', and we considered three evolutionary-based hypotheses that may account for it. Describe what this means, and describe these three hypotheses.

curse of consciousness: self-awarenss is the ability to self-reflect on ones own past and anticipate, plan for ones own future, including the long term. awareness of eventual mortality-self awareness of impermanence allowed us to foresee our own death, become aware that lives are impermanent we are not immortal, eventual mortality anxiety-become aware of severely limited capacity to leave something for ourselves in the future Hypotheses for development of the curse of consciousness: 1-eventual mortality anxiety is a neutral by-product of fear of the unknown 2. eventual mortality is just ancient survival instinct gone awry 3. eventual mortality anxiety was directly favoured by NS

Humans today represent the one species that has survived from the diversity of hominin species

despite the fact that all of them possessed a combination of characteristics

(22) It is commonly viewed by the general public that our journey through history is a long tale of benefits accrued from 'progress' and 'growth'. Describe how this interpretation is debatable based on major events associated with the period in history involving the dawn of 'empire' and 'imperialism'.

discovery of fossil fuels --> industrial revolution: technological advancement and sharp rise in population leading to increased human k, but trapped humanity into a race against hunger and disease. Exploitation of the masses for advancement of tech and NRG. Mass anguish with millions living in deplorable conditions, prey to disease, no edu. or betterment (GREAT AGE OF REVOLUTION) Medicine: more ppl progressed to live to reproductive age--> breeding ground for pathogens. Crop failures leading to massive death tolls Development of agriculture and tools--> trading goods and resources. Obsessed with growth and innovations and ays to provide for more people, but methods for progress led to widespread anguish, corruption, disease, exploitation of ppl everywhere, with us suffering from the progress of being addicted to fossil fuels Not everything was good as culture shifted from giving life changed to a warrior lifestyle. The empire was a hierarchy of chiefs, leaders, kings.

(14) Describe how each of three distinctly different consequences of our human culture represent examples of humans as a force of selection on other species, providing direct evidence for biological evolution — i.e. that species can change dramatically, because of their genes, through selection.

domestication: artificial selection by humans, we breed the traits we want as opposed to those favoured by natural selection. Leads to enlargement of human carrying capacity. For example domestication of horses with the invention of wheel vehicles provided increased carrying capacity lead to organized horse powered military culture pesticide/antibiotic resistance: humans driving pathogens to evolve defence mechanisms.

(56) Paul and Anne Ehrlich (2008) wrote, with regard to our imperiled civilization, that "The problem is simple: too many people; too much stuff". In BIOL 350 we considered how both of these problems may be at least partially rooted in the intrinsic self-impermanence anxiety of humans. Briefly describe the main arguments behind this interpretation.

having too much stuff is rooted in the desire to have a more permanent standing in this world. We have anxiety about our own mortality but our material posessions are extensions of ourselves and this buffers our anxiety because the posessions, and us seem more permanent. Having too many people is rooted in the desire to attain a more permanent standing in the world. We have too many ppl because we have a drive to reproduce. our kids become extensions of us their success is ours and their existence means part of us remains in the world. We are aware of our own mortality and having kids ensures there is a living reminder of our existence.

all organisms have to be able to maintain

homeostasis

(24) The 'march of progress' for human civilization can be described as a story of energy conversion / generation. Describe what this means.

human journey as a story of NRG conversion: Solar NRG input-heated atmosphere and earth, some lost to space Carbon storage-plants photosynthesize energy, animal biomass, Humans arrive as hunter/gatherers-human biomass doesnt add to fossil fuel stores agricultural evolution-humans deplete earths fossil fuel stores and human k is elevated grand illusion that benefits of tech will always be greater than the costs

(49) Define the 'blank slate' view of the human mind, and describe, based on material considered in BIOL 350, how this might be interpreted as a product of biological evolution.

humans are born with a blank slate, we learn everything we acquire from birth, some things are innate but most are learnt from environment, may be evolutionary culture. Provides a buffer from self-impermanence nxiety , depends on env. you are born and grow up in, different beliefs all around the world throughout time on many different subjects

markers in hominid history that serve as variability selection

humans evolved in heightened climate change

(53) In BIOL350, we considered what has been described as a "law of population", stated as follows: "Overpopulation is an inevitable product of natural selection". Explain what this means.

law of population: theory states that pop would grow at a geometric rate where food supply grows at arithmetic rate, Having successful offspring will only favour the parent, the cost of offspring will be distributed to parent and rest of community, hence Ns will favour the ind. traits that promote high fecundity relative to neighbours, even among impoverished ind. that are already at k. Those with highest fitness will contribute most to over population

(50) In BIOL 350 we considered evolutionary hypotheses for the attraction to sport in humans. Describe these hypotheses.

legacy drive: allow us to be a part of something bigger than us, supporting or joining a team, we want to be associated with something that lives on, being remembered for sports accomplishments. Leisure drive: provides entertainment, distracts us from our self-impermanence anxiety Sexual-familial drive: men can show off to potential mates through sport, by displaying their physical strength and skill to women (fitness signals) so showing off these skills through sport is beneficial Survival drive:being associated with a sports team satisfies our need to belong to a group/team. We gain social acceptance through team to improve SE

(28) The human mind, according to one metaphor, has been described as being like a juke box. Another metaphor compares the human mind to a colouring book. Describe what is meant by these two metaphors.

metaphors are used to describe the relationship between an ind. experience of environmental variation affecting which genes are turned on and off. Jukebox: a number of "tracks" or genetic instructions are generally stored ina machine but particular environments determine which buttons get pressed to play certain tracks Colouring book: inner structure of pre-drawn lines (genetic instructions) interact with environment inputs (diff artists with diff coloured crayons) to determine final phenotype of beh (picture)

(60) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what might be called 'moral enhancement'. Describe the main argument for why this might be needed, and discuss the main components that might be deployed for promoting moral enhancement in the future that we discussed in the course.

moral enhancement: improving moral standards of society to recognize and address planets needs, other species expand the impact of our empathetic instinct, why we need it: society today and future continue to be impacted by cultural and biological evolution, moral enhancement takes adv. of cultural evo through social learning to shape futures actions, although weve undergone tech advancements bringing env. degradation and ecological crises, our moral psyc hasnt kept up. We have and continue to exploit natural resources without considering the cons of actions. Evo pressures havnt selected our ind. that harm the planet, as those actions generally tied to increased survival and reproductive success. To continue living on the planet in a more sustainable way things need to change to ensure survival of human civilization and other species too.

(58) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management'— and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'self-deception'. Describe what 'self-deception' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

self deception is the process of lying to ourselves about the current state of society and the repercussions that our actions have on the planets health, self deception protects us from self-impermanence anxiety, human brain evolved to promote reproductive success not to seek the truth, therefore for survival it is more beneficial to lie to ourselves, if we believe our lies we are better convincers than others, we ignore the problems of overpopulation and consumerism constant economic growth create and focus on how they feed into our legacy and leisure drives, ultimately relieivng self-impermanence anxiety

(44) In BIOL350 we considered that: (1) humans have evolved certain inclinations that Apparently serve to buffer anxiety, particularly self-impermanence anxiety; but that (2) certain behavioural states commonly diagnosed as mental disorders may have conferred fitness advantages for at least some of our ancestors. Describe the main points in support of this second view.

self impermanence anxiety buffers-critical to who we are, for leisure and legacy drive, we are anxious and obsessed with legacy and leisure pleasure models: obtaining food-hobbies like hunting, fishing, gardening, gourmet cooking , shelter (camping, wood working, quilt making, knitting) exploration-hiking, canoeing, sailing, traveling social status-materialism, shopping success in ind. competition-tennis, golf, chess rehearsing for victory in warfae-team sports family relations-affection for kin sex-recreational orgasms w contraception , porn humor-evoked by comedy and riddles

(54) In all successful species — including humans prior to the start of the Anthropocene — birth rate and death rate have always been relatively high, because evolution by natural selection always maximizes gene transmission, usually associated with maximizing fecundity, thus keeping populations at 'carrying capacity' (defined by the resource-supplying power available from natural ecosystem services), where deaths balance births. Describe how this situation for humans has changed since the start of the Anthropocene, and also discuss the prospects that we considered in BIOL350 regarding where birth rates and death rates, and population size, may be headed in the future.

start of anthropocene: BR was steady, now declining DR declined rapidly but is now steady Pop growth at start of anthropocene, pop is relatively steady, projections suggest that pop will continue to grow through 21st century. Not sure what will happen to population as BR and DR could change. -pop could decrease and become steady, -DR could increase a lot from poverty, hunger, overpop or become steady after a large decline, BR could decrease due to lack or parenting drive and offset a decline in DR.

(59) In BIOL350 we considered that if cultural evolution is to 'come to our rescue', it will probably require what we might call 'biosocial management' — and that one of the challenges for this is our disposition for 'temporal discounting'. Describe what 'temporal discounting' means in this context, its evolutionary roots, and its main implications that we discussed in the course.

temporal discounting: the tendency to out of things looming in the future, to address potential future problems, humans have evolved as creatures ready to face problems of the present not future with minds big bang we could plan for future this planning means avoiding death and dealing with self impermanence anxiety in present through legacy and leisure drives: we consume and have children, in order to reduce SIA leave tmrw problem for tmrw that will never come set ecological problems for a tmrw that will never come, set ecological crises into future and not preping for future is easy to discount for future is uncertain temporal discounting works as a way to enhance ind. reproductive success through leisure and legacy drives

(55) Over the past century or so, human societies have responded to the problem of world hunger using solutions that serve inevitably to create more problems. Describe the main points in support of this view that we considered in BIOL 350, and also describe the so-called 'risk-free' solutions that are currently being promoted.

to beat world hunger-increase crop yields-led to increased fertilizers and pesticides-hurt environment and pollinator species-risk of genetically modified agriculture-env risk and health risk PLUS: increased pop growth-5th law-overpop is inevitable product of NS, benefit of producing more than 1 offspring is enjoyed by the parent, cost is shared w other parents the benefit-cost is greater than having 1 kid. NS will always promote ind. traits that promote high fertility, even in areas above the k Those with highest fitness are always those contibuting most to overpop. Agro-ecology revolution: solutions lie not in feeding the world but allowing the world to feed itself with sustainable, economically sound systems combined with equitable food distributions Population ecology revolution: solutions lie not in feeding more and more ppl but controlling the number of ppl need feeding

Mismatch

traveling and eliminating people who had lighter pigmentation, because they are better at iron working and not hunters and gatherers (the Bantu people pg. 62, mismatch between environment and skin pigmentation Arabian Peninsula vs Northern desert region (for example south sudan) if there was more covering, the sun wouldn't hit it as hard movement of people back to that Eurasian area, the cultural practices allowed for them to retain less intense pigmentation, whereas people indifenout to those regions have higher levels of pigmentation

(46) According to Pulitzer Prize winning author Phyllis McGinley (1956): "Women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are able to produce our own immortality...". How then can we account for the growing popularity of the 'childfree culture'? Describe the evolutionary hypothesis that we discussed to address this question in BIOL350.

women embracing domain for legacy through accomplishment that was largely denied to maternal ancestors men are usually an unfulfilled sex becaus they have more parental uncertainty so they would generally seek accomplishment

Describe the main hypotheses that have been put forward for the advantages of bipedalism in humans.

• Early humans were challenged in the African Savannah due to temperature regulation in the open sun, vulnerability to large predators, scarce supply of food • Bipedalism responded to these 3 challenges o elevated posture improved viewing open landscape, spotting predators and prey, and other resources o greater efficiency for long-distance walking, permitting a nomadic/migratory lifestyle, long-distance running (helped for hunting) o lower danger of heat stroke because upright body has reduced surface exposed for receiving heat from sun above and ground below. Also more exposed to wind and evaporation of sweat from skin (promoted by body hair reduction) o Elevated posture for improved viewing of the landscape • Advantages over knuckle-walking great ape cousins and ancestors o free arms to carry food, offspring o free hands including opposable thumbs (making and using tools) o free hands used for more elaborate communication through gestures (birth of sign language) By hunting and consuming meat, one was rewarded with much more bang for hunting and gathering buck

Describe the main ideas and hypotheses that have been proposed for the advantages resulting from the evolution of a sense of time and self-consciousness / self awareness in humans.

• Evolution of a sense of time provided a sense of both the past and the future o Allowed for planning for the future • Also involved evolution of self-consciousness/self-awareness o Associated with the power of imagination o Could anticipate outcomes, control behaviour, compare oneself to others, imagine how others perceive you and infer other's mental states • Social intelligence was vastly expanded and individuals could predict the behaviour of others, empathize and co-operate, gain alliances and rivals, feel morality and deceive/cheat/lie and experience emotions Also led to an awareness of mortality so that one could foresee ones own death—developed anxiety from this awareness

In BIOL350 we considered hypotheses for how a changing climate around 200,000 to 400,000 years ago was associated with a series of effects involving natural selection in favour of certain advantageous human traits, along with certain costs/tradeoffs that in turn favoured evolution of a series of additional traits. Describe these various human traits, their advantages / consequences and associated costs.

• Major early effects of natural selection on humans under a changing climate o Bipedalism = running to flee from predators, enemies o Advantages of behaviour flexibility = facing changing environmental conditions created by climate change, skill in balancing advantages or morality/deception to promote personal success o Social intelligence/group living provided protection from predators, cooperating to hunt large game and defend against rival clans, help in raising offspring ♣ Both group living/social intelligence and behavioural flexibility are promoted by a larger brain • Bipedalism restricted the size of the birth canal, so larger brain = greater difficulty in childbirth but larger brain was important enough that natural selection solved it w/ pre-mature birth and continued brain development during childhood o Cost of this was larger infant care dependency period o Natural selection promoted inclinations for more male involvement in parental care and assistance from extended family/others in social group • Continued brain development during childhood also allowed more flexible contingent phenotypes within a rapidly changing environment

Describe the main conditions required for evolution by natural selection to occur, and explain why genetic variation virtually always exists within a population.

• Natural selection occurs based on three things: o Individuals display variation in certain traits; phenotypes o Some of this variation results from differences in genes o And some of these heritable traits affect differential success in reproduction • Some genotypes are more successful than others in leaving descendants, and thus transmitting copies of their genes to future generations • Evolution by natural selection works because traits of species that are common today include those of its predecessors that left the most descendants • Genetic variation ultimately comes from mutation, consequentially, several different forms of the same gene coexist within a population/species and there is ongoing formation of new forms o Sexual reproduction causes mixing of the different forms of the genes that affect different traits o Different genotypes and phenotypes then coexist in a population, and are generated anew with each generation o Gene expression commonly interacts with variation in the environment • Since environment conditions are heterogeneous, several different genotypes can coexist in a population because each can be favoured in a different set of environmental conditions/depending on other alleles that reside in the individual

(a) Define natural selection. Does natural selection act on genes, traits or individuals? Explain your answer. (b) Does the definition of evolutionary fitness apply to genes, traits, or individuals? Explain your answer.

• Natural selection: Refers to the non-random process by which the frequency of heritable traits in a population changes over time, as a result of differential success in reproduction. o This is because some genotypes are more successful than others in leaving descendants, and they have higher 'fitness'. o Some heritable traits (phenotypes) affect differential success in reproduction, either directly or indirectly (some genotypes are more successful than others in leaving descendants, and thus transmitting their genes into future generations - in other words, they have higher fitness under prevailing environmental condition) • Natural selection acts on traits o Favouring those traits that promote descendant production in the individuals that bear them, and disfavouring those traits that do not of that promote fewer descendants. • Natural selection is represented by the failure of certain individuals to leave descendants, which occurs most proximately because these individuals lack certain phenotypic traits (ability to avoid predator, or attract a mate). • Evolutionary fitness applies most PROXIMALLY to individuals o Individuals are the ones that can be multiplied as individual units; those who leave more descendants have higher fitness o Evolution is based on genetic changes, and these changes in genes can be propelled into future generations at different frequencies (of individuals) ♣ Traits cannot be transmitted into future generations by themselves; individuals are the vehicles for the transmission of genes that express traits (leads to different fitness; those with more descendants have higher fitness) o However, the reason some people leave more descendants is partially because of genes influencing particular traits. Fitness, applies ULTIMATELY to genes; in terms of the number of gene copies residing in future generations. Genes affect the expression of traits

Explain how morning sickness in pregnant women can be interpreted plausibly, through the 'consilience of inductions' as a product of evolution by natural selection.

• The Freudian explanation is that morning sickness represents a woman's loathing of her husband and her unconscious desire to abort the fetus orally o Pregnancy sickness should confer some benefit that offsets the cost of lowered nutrition and productivity o Nausea is protection against eating toxins, so perhaps pregnancy sickness protects women against eating or digesting food with toxins that might harm the developing fetus o Most plants have evolved toxins in their tissues and most herbivores have evolved countermeasures to detoxify the poisons however usual defenses may not be enough to protect a tiny embryo • Profet synthesizes hundreds of studies, done independently of each other and of her hypothesis, that support it o Plant toxins in dosages that adults tolerate can cause birth defects/induce abortion o Pregnancy sickness begins when embryo's organ systems are being laid down and embryo is most vulnerable o Sickness wanes at the stage when embryo's organ systems are nearly complete and it need nutrients to grow o Sickness leads to women avoid foods that more likely (pungent/bitter) to contain toxins

In BIOL350 we considered that a new and improved project for future civilization might include prescriptions that involve moral enhancement. Briefly describe our discussion of the main components of this prospect and some of the challenges that it might face.

• The future essential lies in what we are able to teach youth o Cultural evolution can probably be achieved through a revised social learning environment within the public education system, starting at an early age o Children are easily indoctrinated when young o All that is needed is the political will • Having a moral instinct means that humans are susceptible to shaming o Another possible tool for moral enhancement o One good prescriptions for saving the planet are legislated, education and public shaming can then be used to deflect/minimize negative effects of marketing or advertising that are inconsistent with sustainability objectives • Guilt can be a strong motivator, especially when there is an audience • Challenge regarding the extent to which governments and politicians can support shaming tactics, and still promote job creation to keep people working o Jobs and prosperity for individuals is dependent on being addicted to consumerism • Moral enhancement might also involve institutional redesign using incentives (e.g. "green" imaging, carbon tax, shaming) o Intrinsic need for self-esteem, self-belong and extension of self through accomplishment and reputation o Status competition, through conspicuous conservation, could promote pro-environmental behaviour • Other remedies include a direct approach using pharmaceuticals, supplements and therapies involving mood-altering, feel-good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin • Other potential remedies could include genetic engineering or "designer babies" • Another ambitious goal of trans-humanism using technology to design future humans with desirable traits and humans o Promises a future with universal happiness and immortality

J.R. Richards (2000; Human Nature After Darwin) discusses three different levels or 'depths' of Darwinism. Describe how these are distinguished.

- Religious Model (Non-Materialist Darwinist): God created life originally and humans have souls that cannot be account for in materialist terms, and neither therefore can the mind - Standard Social Science Model (Blank-Slate Darwinist): Humans have now evolved to a stage where human nature is virtually entirely a product of the experiences (learning) of life - our social environment; we are essentially creature of culture, not instinct - Evolutionary Science Model (Sociobiology Darwinist): Human nature and culture are influenced by learning and social environment, but ALSO - to a significant extent - by the effects of genes inherited from ancestors

how did humans evolve their brains and adaptive behavior

- change of landscape and climate change

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'water' as a problem of 'input'.

- only 0.025% of the earth's water is easily accessible surface freshwater - most of the land on earth is either dryland (arid) or frozen - areas with water shortage also have poor sanitation water use increased by about 10-fold during the last century - vast majority of water use is for agriculture or industry land area under irrigation has increased by almost 50% over the past 40 years - percent of world population with severe water shortage will increase from 8% to 38% within 25 years

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'land' as a problem of 'input'.

- only about 3% of the earth's surface can be used to grow food - virtually all of the land on earth that can be cultivated economically already is --> we can't expect to grow significantly more food by increasing the amount of land under cultivation - arable land per capita is expected to drop by 20-40% over the first 25 years of this century due to climate change - Overpopulation → more people → need more food → agriculture and infrastructure (takes up land and degrades the soil, habitat degradation) all in combination with climate change - Arable land is also threatened by roads, buildings, and other non-farm usage - Soil degradation is especially high in dry lands, due to salination from irrigation

Variability Selection Hypothesis

-- Suite of characteristics in genus Homo advantageous for more than one niche -- Increased ability to cope with changing environment -- Generalists rather than specialists --Hypothesis that key events in human evolution were shaped not by a single type of habitat or environmental trend but rather by the instability and variability. --Selection for behaviors/traits that can be used to cope in different environments

Australopithecus afarensis

-2.6 mya -walk upright -live on ground and trees -tools -found in Ethiopia -transitional species

Ardipethicus ramidus

-4.4 mya -small brain -walks upright - fossil found in Ethiopia

Homo neanderthalensis

-400,000 yrs ago -The group of Hominin that first buried the dead and cared for the old -tools, fire, shelter, clothes

Homo erectus

-800,000 yrs ago -"Upright man" these hominids became skillful hunters and invented more sophisticated tools for digging, scraping and cutting -They also became the first hominids to migrate from Africa -first to use fire and handle

-What caused the lineage divergence between humans and chimps? -What was the hominid response to this shift?

-humans moved further because they needed to chase after food to increase survival -needed to be able to stay cool, and gain more calories = advantage of naked skin -because of climate change there was a loss of tubular and seeds to eat lead to incorporation of meet and movement into diet -more movement > more heat > sweat -mutations that were selected for decreased hair and increased sweat glands

What we already know (mtDNA paper)

-inconsequential mutations dominates molecular evolution -this occurs at a steady rate in lineages

mitochondrial DNA

-inherited by the mother, because head of the sperm only has the nucleus and the mitochondria is in the tail -all organelles are in the egg -does NOT recombine -any mutation in mtDNA gets passed along -helps with mapping order and migration patterns

Why do other species have fur/hairy coats?

-insulation and protection

-How did scientists resolve the question "how did hominids evolved bare flesh? -What is unique about the genes found in humans?

-large scale comparison of sequences of DNA code letters -encode for proteins that help to make our skin waterproof and scuff resistant

-What is the MC1R gene? -When was the variants in African populations estimated to trace back to? -What does it indicate?

-one of the genes involved in the production of skin pigmentation -1.2 mya -it indicated that early ancestors has pinkish skin covered with black fur

Homo sapiens

-one species that has survived from the diversity of hominid species -very close relationship to our species

Several forecasters have predicted that even if we completely stop all fossil fuel burning tomorrow, it is too late to stop climate change. Describe the main reasons why this may be so.

Climate Change • Climate change is mainly because of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion o Traps heat in the atmosphere, like a greenhouse • Atmospheric CO2 has increased since the great acceleration and industrialization o China has the largest carbon footprint. • On a per capita basis, developing countries contribute very little • The US and EU have far surpassed the rest of the world in their cumulative contribution to global warming • Coal burning contributes to the greatest CO2 emissions o Have 200 years of coal left with the hope to capture emissions and store it underground • Livestock production is another major source of greenhouse gases, second only to energy production o Loss of CO2 absorbing trees on land where the feed crops are grown and harvested o Methane given off by animals themselves • Atmospheric methane concentration has been rising rapidly • Production of beef is costly in other concerns o Uses more land, water, and fertilizer than other livestock • Global surface temperature has been on the rise and is almost a full degree warmer than at the start of the last century o Northern latitudes are of concern with temperature differences as much as 2-4 degrees o Ice sheets are melting, artic sea ice is summer shrinking rapidly • Many now suspect that climate change due to carbon emissions may be irreversible

In BIOL350 we considered something called the 'curse of consciousness', and we considered three evolutionary-based hypotheses that may account for it. Describe what this means, and describe these three hypotheses.

Curse of consciousness ● The ability to self-reflect on one's own past, and anticipate and plan for one's future, including importantly, in the long term ● Allowed us to foresee our own death; became aware that our lives are impermanent ♣ Deeply troubled by this awareness; limited capacity to "leave something of oneself" for the future ● Hypotheses about eventual mortality can be interpreted in terms of genetic fitness being maladaptive, neutral, or adaptive Hypotheses ● Eventual mortality anxiety is an ancient survival instinct misemployed by a fitness trade-off of conscious (maladaptive in terms of genetic fitness) ○ Time and self-awareness gives us knowledge of eventual mortality, thus automatically deploys our primitive survival instincts... triggers anxiety ○ Anxiety is a fitness cost for our ancestors... but worth it because the fitness benefit of consciousness was greater ○ Anxiety evokes behaviours minimizing mortality risks ○ According to this hypothesis, humans inherit a survival instinct so overpowering that it also manifests as fear even in response to events that we know will only eventually happen, like death ■ Survival instinct is so primed, that it makes us anxious about our own death even though it will be in the future and probably due to old age, without violence ● Eventual mortality anxiety is a neutral by-product of fear of the unknown (neutral in terms of genetic fitness) ○ Anxiety only has emotional cost (no other fitness cost or benefit) ○ Imagining death = was and still is a mystery ■ We have no idea how it will be... good for gene transmission and success because general anxiety about unknown things may prevent us from dangerous situations ● Eventual mortality anxiety is directly favoured by natural selection (adaptive in terms of genetic fitness) ○ Anxiety itself directly promotes gene transmission success in ancestors ○ Anxiety is not associated with eventual experience of death... but associated more directly with what eventual death imposes: self-impermanence ○ Self-impermanence anxiety = worrying about one's life being absurd and without a purpose; not because time brings eventual death, but because death takes away all that we do and all that we are ■ This anxiety leads us with the desire to leave something of oneself (a legacy) for the future ■ Only genes have legacy (offspring = genetic legacy) ○ Overall, encourages people to reproduce!

Describe the major possible risks involving health care collapse resulting from climate change and peak oil.

Factors contributing to the decline in healthcare quality • Prevalence of human diseases is rapidly increasing • The ecology of increasing diseases has complex factors of environmental degradation, population growth, and malnutrition (of 3.6 billion people) • 40% of world deaths are due to environmental degradation o Population growth, pollution of water, air, and soil, are contributing to the increasing number of human diseases worldwide 1. Global warming and climate change have resulted in many health hazards o More cases of heat stroke especially in the growing elderly population o Geographical ranges of vector organisms (insects, rodents, and water-bourne snails) have extended and have made humans more at risk for these diseases o Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and droughts can trigger disease outbreaks especially in economically poorer regions where treatment and prevention measures are inadequate o Hotter summer days turn pollution into asthma-inducing smog 2. Health hazards can also be created by peak oil o Undependable power source risks ♣ Electronic medical records and machinery (radiology, laboratory, and many other medical services depend on uninterrupted sources of power) o Hospitals use of twice as much energy per square foot as office buildings o Uncertain future for petroleum-based, processed and transported products ♣ Gloves, pharmaceuticals, syringes, IVs, and tubes; most of these products are produced for one-time use and are non-recyclable ♣ Petroleum derivatives are also found in computer parts, electronic equipment, and furniture

Forecasters worry that climate change may disrupt the so-called 'global ocean conveyer'. Describe what this is, how it might be disrupted, and what the main consequences would be.

Global warming is starting to disrupt the global ocean conveyor • Ocean currents are driven by an important transition that takes place in the North Atlantic • As the gulf stream pushes N, wind blowing across the Atlantic causes evaporation, leading to saltier water and picks up heat from the water thus warming Europe • Colder, saltier water is denser so it sinks, the downdraft of cold water generates the south going stream - • Global warming causes melting of ice caps = North Atlantic becoming less salty, water becomes less dense, less sinking, would shut down conveyor and warm surface currents would no longer be drawn then to north Atlantic • Europe and Eastern North America would become colder and have shorter growing season = crop losses

Because of the ability to make shelters, clothing and preserve food by the times we moved into the Americas, people had more moderately pigmented skin

In the americas? Why was their skin pigment the way it was?

Adaptability, why were large brains significant

Larger brains allowed hominins to process and store information, to plan ahead, and to solve abstract problems A large brain able to produce versatile solutions to new and diverse survival challenges

Define 'Legacy Drive', and describe its evolutionary roots, its three main components, and four particular common examples of domains for legacy through human accomplishment that we discussed in BIOL350.

Legacy Drive: motivation to leave 'something of oneself' for the future, rooted in our uniquely human anxiety from awareness of self-impermanence. Self-impermanence anxiety buffer based on the attraction to delusional domains for an extension of self. Through transmission (future) of symbols (memes) representing oneself-identity through the minds of others. Particularly delusions for meme transmission into the future through the minds of offspring as copies of self; vehicles for self-transcendence. · Parenthood o Only humans hope and plan for offspring by seeking pride in them o Linked to today's "hyper-parenting"; ego and status fulfilled obsession with children's success o Fearing body is not immortal leads to legacy transmission of the parent to the child o Doesn't matter if legacy happens, we try anyways · Religion o Religion is not normally associated with evolution o Satisfying the mind's restless curiosity = elevated social status + attractiveness to mates = rewarded reproductive success o Legacy delusion, passing on legacy of SIA to offspring who in turn use religion to cope o Delusion of defying death - being involved in something more permanent than existence. o Boosts the duration we can deal with life: better gene transmission · Accomplishment o • Striving for personal accomplishment has overshadowed both religion and parenthood • Fueled by attraction to thinks like financial wealth and consumerism/materialism/awards/sport achievements • Making your relative success seen better is the key to happiness Four Examples of Domains for Legacy Through Human Accomplishment 1. Recognition/celebrity = the culture of cool 2. Art = also provided sexual selection 3. Leadership = providing mentorship 4. Reputation = commanding respect from rivals

Define Leisure Drive. In BIOL350 we considered a hypothesis for how Leisure Drive may have evolved in humans. Describe this hypothesis.

Leisure Drive ● A state of mind that promotes distraction from the awareness of death Attraction to Leisure Hypothesis ● Free-time indulgence in pleasurable activities, thus providing distractions from self-impermanence anxiety (SIA) which promotes successful gene transmission before SIA can compromise ● Linked to 'pleasure modules' which manifest in modern social norms which improved the likelihood of surviving long enough to reach reproductive maturity before SIA has the opportunity to compromise gene transmission (reproductive success) ● All social norms draw from 'pleasure modules' ○ Obtaining food (hunting, cooking, fishing, wine-tasting) ○ Shelter (camping, knitting, woodwork) ○ Exploration (hiking, diving, travelling, sailing) ○ Social status and identity (shopping) ○ Rehearsing victory in warfare (sports) ○ Sex (recreational orgasms, prostitutes, pornography) ○ Escapism (yoga, meditation, mind-altering art, drugs and alcohol)

In BIOL350 we considered how 'pleasure-based meaning' in humans can be understood from an evolutionary perspective. Discuss the main points in this argument.

Pleasure-based meaning: ● Anything that confers pleasure today probably has its roots in something that rewarded our ancestors ● Genes that informed behaviour, as well as genes that evoked pleasure or fear in connection with it would have been propelled into future generations ● Pleasure-based meaning is a product of natural selection ● Pleasure is associated with satisfying curiosity, calming fears of the unknown, and bolstering confidence and self-esteem ○ This improves chances of survival → reproductive success ○ Also leads to motivation/reputation for discovering additional practical solutions to the mysteries of life and nature, and hence, survival and reproduction ● Pleasure from 'belonging' to a social group, identified by shared motivation to solve the unknown and other problems ○ Acceptance and admiration by others from the social group → elevated social status → greater attractiveness to mates → reproductive success Pleasure-based meaning has 3 evolutionary roots: 1. Sensual Pleasure - Taste of nutritional foods (promotes survival) - Enjoyment of sex (promotes reproduction) 2. Social Pleasure - Romantic love, parental care, love of family = connected to sex and successful gene transmission through offspring - Striving for and attaining an edge over a rival = promotes success in competition for limited resources, including mates 3. Intellectual Pleasure - Satisfying curiosity and imagination, sense of wonder in science, greater understanding of nature = associated with finding answers about life and nature, calming fears of unknown and boosting self-confidence: increased survival

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'population' as a problem of 'output'.

Population • Malthusian Dilemma - how do we feed a human population expected to reach a population of 9 million? • Africa's population, currently growing faster than any other major region, is expected to account for 21% of world population by 2050 • Some regions have had population decline o Affected by total fertility rate, the average number of children that a woman gives birth to in her lifetime o Fertility rate tends to be higher in poorer countries • Many countries today have below replacement fertility set at 2.1 children o One of the factors is the emergence of the childfree culture • Birth rate and decline rate were originally both high o Death rate declined from advancements in medicine etc o Then birth rate started to fall • Fertility rates affect the age structure of a population o In developing countries, age structure has a pyramid shape o Developed countries with low fertility results in the evening out of the age structure (good for preventing overpopulation but can lead to economic instability) • World population is projected to continue to grow throughout the rest of this century o Virtually all of that growth will be in Africa and Asia o Has dramatic effects on patterns of immigration o Countries with low fertility rates have the higher rates of immigration • The majority of the population lives in urban areas • This means that fewer farmers feed larger populations

Many experts today believe that bio-fuel production causes more problems than it solves. Describe the main reasoning behind this view.

Problems with biofuel production: • Bio-fuels are usually deceptive (ie. they are not as green as they seem), because their production is relatively costly and generates wastes • Bio-fuel production causes loss of tropical forest and other natural habitats, depletes oil, accelerates climate change by decreasing O2 release, and exacerbates world hunger • Burning trees increases the amount of CO2 in the air (bad for climate) • Oil-based fuel and petroleum-based fertilizers are used to grow biofuel crops: This may lead to an oil shortage and contribute to climate change • Deforestation for production leads to loss of carbon storage and carbon sequestration in forests and other natural habits (climate change) • Poorer countries may try to make money in biofuel production, but are cutting and burning forests to grow bio-fuels • Less cropland to grow food crops, and demands for cutting and destroying more forest and natural habitat to grow food crops • Large scale burning and cutting to grow crops - including biofuel crops - also causes adjacent forest decline • Raised NO2 levels in the environment, which is a huge concern and probably this alone outweighs any benefit bio-fuels may have had

Describe how several products of cultural evolution, involving 'sacred human beliefs' can be interpreted as causing about a 300-year delay in the public acceptance of science.

Sacred human beliefs promoted by cultural evolution o Earth is the center of the universe Unpopular contradiction from science, Astronomy - earth is just one of the 9 planets circling one of billions of stars (325 years until acceptance) o Human disease and epidemics are divine judgements on the wickedness of humans Biology - germ theory; disease is caused by microbes (340 years) o Humans were specially created by God, and the earth was made for humans and belongs to humans Biology - humans evolved along with tens of millions of other species; humans, as with all species belong to the earth (almost there? By 2018?) o Human history has been a long tale of benefits accrued from progress and growth Anthropology and archeology - human history, for most people (as for all species) has been a long tale of misery from resource shortage and starvation - and for humans in particular - also from warfare and genocide, environmental destruction and mass extinction of other species (not there yet? By 2250?)

World food production now appears to have peaked and prices are sky-rocketing. Describe the main reasons for this crisis.

The Current State of Civilizations: Problems of Input - Food • The absolute number and % of chronically undernourished people in the world are climbing while the world's backup food supply is declining • Populations are expanding fastest in regions where it is most difficult to grow food o Africa/Middle East - driest regions but fastest growing in population • Key factors in food shortages: o Loss of topsoil o Spreading water shortages o Rising temperatures o Escalating population growth • Food production has peaked and prices are rising • Other reasons for food shortage include: o Arable land has peaked o Lost irrigation water from melting glaciers resulting from global warming o Rising oil prices o More land used to grow biofuels instead of crops o Pollinator (bee) populations have been failing due to pesticide use and pollution o Rising prosperity of the world's two most populous nations, China and India • The warming world of climate change poses a threat to our food supply o Higher temperatures, reduced rainfall = reduced agricultural productivity • Another limitation is the result of emphasis on only a few high-yielding and profitable varieties of fruits and vegetables o Seed stock for over 90% of varieties available in 1903 have been abandoned, that genetic diversity is lost forever • Much of the world depends on fish as a staple in diet o Marine fishstocks are now fully exploited or decimated worldwide • We have reached a global food crisis and food security has become one of the most pressing issues of our time o Efforts to solve it can escalate the problem o Growing more food feeds the hungry—for now—but it also creates more mouths that need feeding

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'forests' as a problem of 'input', and describe the main reasons why forests have important value in terms of providing ecosystem services for humans.

The Current State of Civilizations: Problems of Input - Forests • Forests provide essential services o Provide fuel, fiber and lumber o Are the earth's lungs (w/ algae in ocean) act as a major source of oxygen for the atmosphere o Are the earth's source of water circulation (50% of water in clouds has been transpired by forests) ♣ Remove forests = produce desert o Build and protect top soil ♣ Remove forests = loss soil and minerals by erosion o Act as a major carbon sink, capturing and decreasing greenhouse carbon dioxide levels o Home to the earth's treasury of biodiversity • Timber production has increased dramatically during acceleration o Household and sanitary paper, writing paper, cardboard and packaging

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'soil loss' as a problem of 'output'.

The Current State of Civilizations: Problems of Input - Soil • Successful agriculture requires healthy soil o In a natural habitat, soil is healthy and stable because organisms take and put resources into the soil o In an agricultural crop, the soil becomes degraded over time (volume loss/nutrient loss b/c erosion from wind and water) o Can remedy this loss with fertilizers but this causes more volume/nutrient loss and pollution of water systems o Since it is a monoculture, pesticides are added leading to MORE volume/nutrient loss, water pollution and lost biodiversity (esp. for organisms living in the soil) o Irrigation also worsens these same things (and causes salination over time) • Fertilizers, pesticides are produced from oils and oil pumps for irrigation but without oil? o Modern agriculture cannot continue without oil • The loss of arable land places a critical limitation on agricultural activity o Soil degradation is high in drylands because of salination from irrigation • Africa, Middle East and Asia are most at risk for future soil degradation mainly because of combinations of dry climate (degradation from irrigation and salination) but also because of the long history of agriculture and high population densities • North America and Europe have highest pesticide use • We have now passed the peak of global abundance of healthy topsoil

Why was it neccessary??

Use mtDNA as tool to unravel genealogical history of the species Previous proposal that mtDNA trace to African origin of species was rejected Indirect comparison restriction analysis Small sample size Mainly Af Am representing native African mtDNA Midpoint method with no statistical justification Rate of mtDNA evolution inadequate

Indigenous skin color

determined by strength UVR, population interchange, genetic variation

the irony of the capacity to interact with our environment

has put us on the trajectory of climate instability

In BIOL350, we considered two different evolutionary interpretations in accounting for human attraction to conspicuous consumption. Briefly distinguish these two interpretations.

• Consumerism, in addition to a distraction from mortality, also involves a competition in the race to advertise superior status and hence maximize the prospects for both legacy and attracting mates • Conspicuous consumerism, as well as athletics, displayed primarily in males—also represent fitness advertisements, or 'signals', conferring social status and attractiveness to potential mates • As people accumulate things, they generally become happier, only temporarily o Usually then return to usual baseline of happiness • Wealth is required to maintain pleasure/happiness from consumerism, but over most of the range of wealth, there is little or no significant increase in pleasure/happiness

According to the Living Planet Report, countries seem to be capable of having an acceptable 'human development index', or an acceptable 'ecological footprint', but not both. Illustrate this using a simple labeled graph, and describe the main factors that are used to assess the magnitude of these two indices for a given country. Also, describe the main factors that affect whether a country falls within the 'acceptable' values for these indices.

• Ecological footprint is humanity's demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste o Affected by population size and effects of technology • Human Development Index is an indicator of well-being, calculated from life expectancy, literacy and education, and per capita GDP o There is a certain HDI threshold beyond which we can expect high human development (above 0.8) o Affected by population size and availability of technology • The desired zone for a country is beyond the threshold for the HDI combined with an ecological footprint that does not exceed the biocapacity o Ecological footprint is affected by population size on exploitation combined with the effects of technology on exploitation • Regions tend to have a good HDI or a good ecological footprint but generally not both o As HDI increased by acquiring technology, so does ecological footprint • Many countries have low development yet they are within the biosphere's average capacity per person o Problem = overpopulation • Other countries have high development but exceed biosphere's average per person due to overexploitation • Sustainability is possible through less population and less exploitation and different technology

In BIOL350, we considered that humans are generally well equipped to respond effectively to the immediate, clear and present problems, and that this can be accounted for by our evolutionary roots. Briefly describe the main arguments in support of this view, and also our discussion of the implications that this is likely to have in our efforts to address the challenges that we currently face for our civilization.

• Evolution has given humans the capacity to anticipate future events that might occur and to assess the possibility of their occurrence o Since they 'might occur', evolution has left us ill-equipped to respond effectively in advance of these future events o Instead we have evolved an awareness and readiness for effective response to immediate, clear and present problems o This has been of greater importance for promoting gene transmission success • The spatial and temporal scales of the global environmental crisis are generally too large therefore to evoke within us any intrinsic sense of need for urgent responses o Effective global response to converging catastrophes of the 21st century may require that they hit us hard, in full force on our doorsteps and forcing us to literally feel their pain (probably then too late to do anything) • We have the capability to understand what to do about the problems but we have not evolved the motivation to do anything about it o We're motivated in the 'here and now' because it was necessary for our ancestor's reproductive success o Natural selection has favoured a brain with the ability to focus on what is in front of us and block out everything else o We are hardwired to react to disasters, no reason to account for the future because there is no guarantee to see it • We lack motivation to act on fixing a collapsing civilization because we are not hardwired to care deep enough

Over the past century or so, human societies have responded to the problem of world hunger using solutions that serve inevitably to create more problems. Describe the main points in support of this view that we considered in BIOL350, and also describe the so-called 'risk- free' solutions that are currently being promoted.

• Population growth > malnutrition and famine > increased crop yields • Increasing crop yields supported more population growth and conventional plant breeding with use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides ("Green Revolution") • Tried to solve environmental degradation by chemicals with genetically modified agriculture ("Biotechnology Revolution") • Lots of risks associated with this - environmental + health • Risk-free solutions o Agro-ecology revolution Solutions lie not in feeding the world but allowing the world to feed itself with sustainable, ecologically-sound systems combined with equitable food distribution o Population-ecology revolution Solutions lie not in feeding more and more people, but controlling the number that need feeding

In all successful species—including humans prior to the start of the anthropocene—birth rate and death rate have always been relatively high, because evolution by natural selection always maximizes gene transmission, usually associated with maximizing fecundity, thus keeping populations at 'carrying capacity' (defined by the resource-supplying power available from natural ecosystem services), where deaths balance births. Describe how this situation for humans has changed since the start of the anthropocene, and also discuss the prospects that we considered in BIOL350 regarded where birth rates and death rates may be headed in the future.

• Technologies, especially for agriculture and medicine, had advanced to a point where many more people could avoid malnutrition and starvation, stay healthier and recover more effectively from injury, illness and infection disease. • Consequently, death rates declined while birth stayed relatively high • People not only lived longer, thus adding to the population, but they reached reproductive maturity and so there were more people having babies • Technologies (fueled by oil) meant that more mouths could be fed in each generation and that still more needed to be fed in the next • Population growth sky-rocketed • In the last century human birth rate has declined because women have become more empowered, with greater control over their fertility and more opportunities to therefore pursue domains for leisure and legacy through accomplishment that were largely denied to their female ancestors à childfree culture was born • Death rates have started to level off due to rising limitations in overharvesting and increased crowding of the planet and from a slow-down in rates of discovery in agriculture and medicine • However, the future is in the hands of the 2 billion youths that have yet to enter the reproductive 'arena'. Even if the birth rates stay the same, population size will still increase (at a slower rate than before) because of the large demographic bulge • The root problem - too many people - will correct itself abruptly by crashing • Accordingly, a rapid rise in human death rate (undoubtedly exacerbated by armed conflict) sometime soon looks ominously difficult to avoid

In BIOL350 we considered how something called the 'hedonic treadmill' has a parallel in something known as the 'Red Queen' hypothesis of natural selection. Describe what is meant by this.

• The 'rat race' of capitalist materialism and consumerism—where the average person never seems to get ahead or find greater happiness despite advances in technology, economic growth, or personal prosperity—has an intriguing parallel in the 'Red Queen' hypothesis of natural selection o Individuals will leave only one descendant despite natural selection favouring individuals who leave more • It takes all the materialism and consumerism to stay content, w/ sufficient distraction from SIA • Humanity is locked into a 'hedonic treadmill' where we seem driven to stay committed to endless economic growth and resource extraction/energy consumption to support it

Describe what the "IPAT equation" means and how this relates to the concepts of "Ecological Footprint" and "World Biocapacity". Describe also how the relationship between these latter two concepts has changed since the start of the "Great Acceleration".

• The IPAT equation is a measure of variables that affect our Ecological Footprint IMPACT = POPULATION size (affecting total consumption and waste production) + AFFLUENCE (consumption per capita) + TECHNOLOGY (allowing affluence, but with negative side effects, e.g. pollution) - The World's Bio capacity is the ability to regenerate resources - Ecological Footprint is the use of ecological resources (the demand we put on the environment) It is not possible to maintain an acceptable Human Development Index (quality of life measured by life expectancy, literacy, education, per capita GDP) without imposing an Ecological Footprint that exceeds our world bio-capacity. In other words, to maintain a certain quality of life, given the over population of the world, the ecological footprint will exceed the capacity of the world to regenerate its resources.

The current state of civilization can be described in terms of problems of 'input' or problems of 'output'. Describe the main current concerns associated with 'fossil fuels' as a problem of 'input'.

• The great acceleration is a direct product of the extraction and use of energy, mainly from fossil fuels o World reserves of fossil fuels vary by region • Oil and natural gas are prized fuels because of high energy density o Oil fields don't last forever, they all peak o At some point, the energy required to extract a barrel of oil exceeds the energy contained in a barrel of oil so that pumps shut down o Oil production is now starting to peak • Since 1980, we use more oil than we have discovered o 25 years of oil are left at current exploitation levels, so we're starting to be "tapped out" • The arrival of peak oil may have benefits for climate change • Oil will become scarce, expensive but we won't run out • As oil runs out, there is concern that society will switch to the most abundant fuel, which is coal o Coal emits 25-50% more carbon dioxide • The other fossil fuel alternative is natural gas, available in abundance using hydraulic fracturing o Has risks of leaks of methane which is a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide • The demand for fossil fuels is likely to keep growing • Nuclear power is an unlikely rescue due to serious limitations and safety concerns • Renewables show great promise for electricity generation o Hydro, wind, solar will exceed gas and be twice more than nuclear o Presently it seems doubtful that renewables will replace the energy received from gasoline (dense/portable) • Petro-chemicals from oil and natural gas are used as ingredients in most things that we use including everything plastic—including in solar panels and wind turbines

In BIOL350, we discussed the relationship between world population size and technological advancement and how each of these is associated with what can be called a "grand illusion". Briefly describe the issues involved here.

• There are two grand illusions here: • As population size increases, several important benefits generally increase o But there are also increases in costs o The benefits - costs = quality of societal services • Grand illusion #1: benefits of new technology (food production and medicine) will always minimize the costs of increasing population size o Reality is different o The tragedy of the commons; no technological solution can rescue us from overpopulation—freedom to breed will bring ruin to all • Costs of increasing technological advancement: pollution, climate change, habitat loss • Grand illusion #2: benefits of new technology (energy production, transportation, manufacturing) will always exceed the costs of new technology o Freedom to exploit results in disaster, especially when the exploitation is by a large population within a wealthy society that can afford the technology

In BIOL350 we characterized "hard-core Darwinism". Explain what this involves, and briefly discuss the main reasons that we considered regarding why Darwinism is unlikely ever to become a dominant cultural world-view.

• What is needed most for the foundation of biosocial management may be the toughest goal to achieve: broader public understanding and acceptance of Darwinism • Human beings are a product of evolution and are composed of genes that evolved with essentially no purpose o No evolutionary meaning for being alive, we just are o Similar to other life forms on the planet • There is no teaching of Darwin in public school curriculum o It's an "uncomfortable" truth because it dislodges legacy drive o The idea that man is just the result of a purposeless and materialistic process

According to Murray (2003, 'Human Accomplishment'), of the 4000 most accomplished people that ever lived over the 1150 years between 800 BC and 1950, only about 2% were women. In BIOL350, we considered two interpretations of this that are based on historical impact of natural selection in affecting human thinking/behavior. Briefly distinguish these two interpretations.

• Women are the fulfilled sex because through children they can produce their own immortality, which means they lack the restlessness that sends men charging off in pursuit of fame or fortune or utopia o Men charging off to utopia represents religion and fortune/fame represents accomplishment o Can add leisure to this and recognize as self-impermanence anxiety buffers, men have been in charge of creating and managing the opportunities for all three (religion, accomplishment, leisure) o Except for recently! Woman, especially in more developed countries, have become empowered like never before • Giving birth is closely linked to the fundamental human goal of giving meaning to one's life that it has been argued that, ultimately, it is not so much that motherhood keeps women from doing great things outside the home that it is men's inability to give birth that forces them to look for substitutes o The noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men who have sought to express their images of their minds where those of their bodies have failed o Care of posterity is most in them who have no posterity

In 'The God Delusion', Richard Dawkins argues that, on balance, it would be good for humanity if we could somehow do away with religion altogether. Yet in BIOL350 we considered, based on evolutionary thinking, that religion is probably here to stay. Briefly describe the main arguments in support of this view.

● Different religions and denominations of religions are products of cultural evolution, but religiosity—attraction to religious belief—is a product of biological evolution so religion is here to stay ● The staying power of religious culture is not just about popular ideas ○ Religious people routinely outproduce secular ones ● The most successful religions have always been those that combine persuasive and effective cultural transmission with fecundity ● Recent research points to evidence suggesting that there may be some degree of genetic predisposition for belief in religion ○ Recent survey data show that there has been a slight increase in the percentage of people who say they are religious unaffiliated ○ Slight decline in share that say they never doubt the existence of God Benefits of Religion ● Sufficient time to achieve some successful fecundity before the chance to become compromised by the angst of life's inevitable tendency to accumulate adversities ○ Amplified by undercurrent of growing despair from approaching mortality ● The notion of salvation and a promise of everlasting life involving activities like worshiping and praying is referred to as the vertical component of religion Attraction to Organized Religion ("horizontal" component) ● To reinforce, through group support, belief by faith thus reinforcing the vertical component of religion ● As a vehicle for a delusional sense of legacy (meme transmission) through membership within a 'larger-than-self' cultural world-view, or through attainment of power and a sense of accomplishment within the religious institution ● To serve as an incentive for people to behave in ways that promote pro-social reciprocal exchange benefits of group membership Attraction to Legacy ("vertical" component) • Belief in a deity that can promise/provide salvation and ever-lasting life • Relieves some of the terror of mortality awareness and the anxiety over uncertain legacy through uncertainty of paternity; alleviates hopelessness • Buffers the discomfort of believing that our existence is not absurd

In BIOL350, we considered an evolutionary hypothesis for why so many women in wealthy countries choose to be childless, despite that childlessness means zero fitness from direct lineage. Briefly describe this hypothesis.

● Many of our female ancestors, under patriarchal subjugation, were forced to bear offspring often many regardless of if they wanted any ○ Weak preference for motherhood was not strongly selected against ● Their descendants with inheritance of this weak preference and empowered today with control over their own fertility, are now free to choose childfree ● Also free to choose a life where legacy can be pursued through accomplishment in place of motherhood ● Eventually, as new generations who adopt the weak parenting drive reduce the amount of children they have, there will be a strong selection against weak parenting drive ○ Ancestors of tomorrow therefore will not come from the child-free culture ○ Reasonable predictions that parents of the future will have stronger parenting drive

Evolutionary theory predicts that the traits of a species that are common tomorrow will include those of its predecessors, alive today, who are leaving the most descendants. If this is true, who, can we predict, will be the parents of the future? In other words, what basic drives or motivations might we expect them to have? Briefly describe the answer to this question that we considered in BIOL350.

● The parents of the future will not be products of the child-free culture. Many of them will be the descendants of women today who are anxious (or at least content) to raise children, and perhaps especially those who are anxious (or content) to raise a lot of them - because of a strong parenting drive (and/or other traits correlated with high fertility), informed in part by genetic inheritance ○ Because only this is correlated with fitness when females are empowered and when contraception is widely available and effective ● Natural selection never limits the reproductive success of resident individuals of any species in order to minimize overpopulation ● It seems reasonable to speculate that without mutually agreed coercive measures to limit the number of births per female, contemporary pronatalist cultures (i.e. like the 'Quiverful') could soon displace the 'childfree' culture, resulting in rising birth rates in the coming decades - especially in response to a rise in death rate and population crash, as presently forecasted