Evolution, Culture, and Society: Key Concepts
Evolution and Natural Selection
Species arise from two main factors: genetic endowment, which produces mutations in individuals, and natural selection, which eliminates maladaptive traits. Adaptive changes are passed down through inheritance and reproductive success. Religion and science operate differently; religion provides meaning, while science seeks truth.
Social Darwinism attempts to turn science into a religious doctrine, while intelligent design theory presents a contrasting view.
Scientific Evidence for Evolution
The idea of evolution is supported by:
- Paleontology: Cuvier demonstrated past extinctions.
- Morphology: Evolutionary changes leave vestigial organs.
- Embryology: Similar early development indicates kinship.
- Biochemistry: Molecular and genetic mechanisms are identical in all cells.
Cultural and Social Dynamics
Cultural laws form a systematic whole, with each element defined by its relationship to others. Adaptation techniques are partial, progressive, and affected by unforeseen circumstances, potentially requiring reorganization or migration.
Ethnocentrism and Ethnology
Anthropology studies:
- Primitive societies (considered prehistoric).
- Societies like Western empires.
- Civilized societies (modern, urbanized, and industrialized).
Ethnocentrism is the prejudice that one’s own socio-cultural formation is superior, while others are considered inferior.
Key Concepts
- Biological Evolution: Interaction between organisms and the environment leading to population changes.
- Hominization: The set of characteristics defining the genus Homo and their transformation into humans.
- Creationism: The religious belief in a unique creation of all living beings without subsequent changes.
- Social Law: Scientifically observed regularities of social behavior, or laws imposed to regulate social existence.
- Ethnocide: Practices leading to the demise of a culture, without necessarily physical removal of individuals.
- Genocide: The deliberate and systematic extermination of a population.
- Ethnocentrism: The prejudice that one’s own socio-cultural formation is superior, while other cultures are considered imperfect.