46 Vercors (Jean Bruller), You Shall Know Them, translated by R. Barisse (New York: Pocket Books, 1955).
47 Richard G. Klein, The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
48 Wise, Science and the Case for Animal Rights. See also Steven M. Wise, Rattling the Cage: Toward Legal Rights for Animals (Boston, Mass.: Perseus, 2000). Before reading Wise’s book, I was unconvinced by the arguments of animal rights’ activists who, it seemed to me, did not appear to understand Aristotle’s moral guideline of “all things in moderation.” By setting a goal of achieving all rights for all mammals right now, they have, de facto, procured no rights for any animals ever. That’s not strictly correct, of course. There have been many legal victories, particularly with regard to protecting animals from cruelty. But for most of us in the sciences, the animal rights movement has been too political, too extreme, and too ignorant of science. Wise’s book does not suffer from these shortcomings.
49 See, for example, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy, When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals (New York: Delacorte Press, 1995).
50 Christopher Boehm, Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press). Marian Stamp Dawkins, Through Our Eyes Only: The Search for Animal Consciousness (New York: W. H. Freeman, 1993). Daniel C. Dennett, Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness (New York: Basic Books, 1996). Donald R. Griffin, Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001). Marc Hauser, Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think (New York: Henry Holt, 2000). Sue Taylor Parker and M. L. McKinney, eds., Self-Awareness in Animals and Humans: Developmental Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). Irene Pepperberg, The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Parrots (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999). Richard D. Ryder, Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Toward Speciesism (London: Basil Blackwell, 1989). Richard Sorabji, Animal Minds and Human Morals: The Origin of the Western Debate (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993).
51 John D. Bonvillian and Francine G. P. Patterson, “Sign Language Acquisition and the Development of Meaning in a Lowland Gorilla,” in C. Mandell and A. McCabe, eds., The Problem of Meaning: Behavioral and Cognitive Perspectives (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1997). Francine G. P. Patterson and Wendy Gordon, “The Case for the Personhood of Gorillas,” in The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity, ed. Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993). Francine G. P. Patterson and Eugene Linden, The Education of Koko (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981). Richard Byrne, The Thinking Ape: Evolutionary Origins of Intelligence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). Sue Taylor Parker, Robert W. Mitchell, and H. Lyn Miles, eds., The Mentalities of Gorillas and Orangutans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
52 Birute M. F. Galdikas, Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo (Boston: Little, Brown, 1995). H. Lyn Miles, “Simon Says: The Development of Imitation in an Encultured Orangutan,” in Reaching Into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, ed. Anne E. Russon et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), and Miles, “ME CHANTEK: The Development of Self-Awareness in a Signing Orangutan,” in Self-Awareness in Animals and Humans: Developmental Perspectives, ed. Sue Taylor Parker et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). Lesley J. Rogers, Minds of Their Own: Thinking and Awareness in Animals (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1998).
53 Diana Reiss and Lori Marino, “Mirror Self-Recognition in the Bottlenose Dolphin: A Case of Cognitive Convergence,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 8, 2001, pp. 5937—42. Marc Bekoff, ed., The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions (New York: Crown Books, 2000). Karen Pryor and Kenneth S. Norris, eds., Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000).
54 Louis M. Herman and Palmer Morrel-Samuels, “Knowledge Acquisition and Asymmetry Between Language Comprehension and Production: Dolphins and Apes as General Models for Animals,” in Interpretation and Explanation in the Study of Animal Behavior, eds. Marc Bekoff and Dale Jamieson (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1990). Lori Marino, “A Comparison of Encephalization Between Odontocete Cetaceans and Anthropoid Primates,” Brain, Behavior, and Evolution, vol. 51 (1988), p. 230. Sam H. Ridgway, “Physiological Observations on Dolphin Brains,” in Dolphin Cognition and Behavior: A Comparative Approach, ed. Ronald J. Schusterman et al. (New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1986), PP. 32—33.
8. Rise Above
1 See David Gerrold, The World of “Star Trek” (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979); and Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, The Making of “Star Trek” (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968).
2 Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee.
3 Michael Ghiglieri, The Dark Side of Man: Tracing the Origins of Male Violence (Reading, Mass.: Perseus Books, 1999).
4 Brian Hare, Michelle Brown, Christina Williamson, and Michael Tomasello, “The Domestication of Social Cognition in Dogs,” Science, vol. 298 (November 22, 2002), pp. 1634—36. Jennifer A. Leonard et al., “Ancient DNA Evidence for Old World Origin of New World Dogs,” Science, vol. 298 (November 22, 2002), pp. 1613—15. Peter Savolainen et al., “Genetic Evidence for an East Asian Origin of Domestic Dogs,” Science, vol. 298 (November 22, 2002), pp. 1610—12.
5 Lyudmila N. Trut, “Domestication of the Fox: Roots and Effects,” Scientifur, vol. 19 (1995), pp. 11—18. Lyudmila N. Trut, “Early Canid Domestication: The Farm-Fox Experiment,” American Scientist (March/April 1999).
6 Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1996). The area 13 work is described in: Katerina Semendeferi et al., “Limbic Frontal Cortex in Hominoids: A Comparative Study of Area 13,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 106 (1998), pp. 129—55. In this paper the authors discuss how area 13 was shown in rhesus monkeys to be involved in the disinhibition of emotional responses.
7 Robert Sapolsky explained that the reason for his skepticism is threefold:
I. The levels of serotonin in synapses, or in whole brain regions may be quite different in closely related species, simply reflecting different nuts and bolts aspects of the synthesis and breakdown of serotonin, rather than something like, “Species X, which is more aggressive, has less serotonin than Species Y.” One example, new world monkeys, have vastly higher levels of corticosteroids than do old world monkeys—about an order of magnitude difference. Scientists have concocted all sorts of elaborate stories about how life is so much more stressful for a new world monkey … until it was discovered that the order of magnitude increase in corticosteroid levels is accompanied by an order of magnitude decrease in sensitivity of corticosteroid receptors.
2. Body size. There is a strange but convincing literature showing that body size is a confound in serotonin studies. What’s that about? Serotonin is taken from a lumbar tap. The taller the person, the further serotonin has to travel from the brain to the bottom of the spine, thus being diluted. So low serotonin (taken from the spine) could just reflect body size. Correct for that and some of the serotonin/behavior findings disappear. So, there’s big body size differences in different primate species, making direct cross-species comparisons difficult.
3. Finally, the social meaning of aggression can be dramatically different in different species. Is aggression for real or symbolic? Is it something that is needed in a bottom up or a top down hierarchical system? Does aggression increase the likelihood of dominance (most old world monkeys), or decrease it (male vervet monkeys)? And so on. So amid there not being any data on direct comparisons of serotonin among the apes, including us, I don’t think such a comparison would be terribly meaningful. (Personal correspondence, June 5, 2003.)
Richard Wrangham responded to this critique as follows: “Sapolslcy’s caution is fair and the issue is moot because of the shortage of data. But I
would bet that he’s wrong. That is, I predict that there will prove to be a recognizable and consistent species correlation with impulsive aggression, based on what has happened to serotonin levels in domesticated species compared to wild (good data from foxes, mink and rats). The only way to get serotonin from bonobos and chimps, in practice, is to get it from autopsies, and I’ve asked Joe Erwin about doing so and he has agreed, pending my providing something in writing which I have yet to do. So that’s where I’m at … .” (Personal correspondence, June 5, 2003.) Paul J. Zak, “Trust,” Journal of Financial Transformation (CAPCO Institute) 7, 18—24.
8 Richard Wrangham and David Pilbeam, “Apes as Time Machines,” in African Apes, vol. I: All Apes Great and Small, ed. Birute M. F. Galdikas et al. (New York: Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishers, 2002), pp. 5—18. Richard Wrangham, “Is Military Incompetence Adaptive?” Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 20 (1999), pp. 3—17. See also Craig B. Stanford, The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999).
9 My shift from a religious to a scientific way of thinking took several years. If there was a moment that could be called defining, it came on the day I removed the silver ichthus from around my neck. Recall the now-embarrassing fashions of the 1970s that included—in addition to bell-bottom pants and puffy shirts—gold and silver necklaces. The ichthus is the famous Jesus “fish” embossed with Greek letters roughly translated as “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” that has since found itself embroiled in a bumper-sticker war with Darwin “fish” of various species—with and without feet, with a wrench, mounting a Christian fish, a Christian fish devouring a Darwin fish, and so forth.
10 See http://www.holysmoke.org/skhok/aaom.htm.
11 Reported in the September/October 1997 issue of Freedom Writer, published by the Institute for First Amendment Studies; survey conducted by the Gliss Institute of the University of Ohio (1,200 contacted, 600 responses, representing a cross section of between 200,000 and 400,000 Americans). Additional findings included: 86 percent believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and affirm that Satan is real and Jesus is the only way to salvation; 60 percent believe the world will end in Armageddon; 95 percent favored the outlawing of abortion; 93 percent support school vouchers; and 69 percent agreed that “environmental protection laws have gone too far and should be reversed.” Of those who called themselves “conservative Christians,” 71 percent identified themselves as evangelical Protestant.
12 Clay F. Naff, commentary on Metanexus Discussion Web page, 2002. [email protected] or [email protected].
13 Ibid.
14 Salman Rushdie, “Religion, As Ever, Is the Poison in India’s Blood,” The Guardian, March 9, 2002. Online at http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/o,6000,664342,00.html.
15 Quoted in Nicholas D. Kristof, “All-American Osamas,” New York Times, June 7, 2002, p. A27.
16 Ibid.
17 Kristof, “All-American Osama.” Michael Isikoff, “Flushed From the Woods,” Newsweek (June 9, 2003), p. 35.
18 A. N. Franzblau, “Religious Belief and Character Among Jewish Adolescents,” Teachers College Contributions to Education, no. 634 (1934).
19 Murray G. Ross, Religious Beliefs of Youth (New York: Association Press, 1950).
20 Travis Hirschi and Rodney Stark, “Hellfire and Delinquency,” Social Problems, vol. 17(1969), pp. 202—13.
21 R. E. Smith, G. Wheeler, and E. Diener, “Faith Without Works: Jesus People, Resistance to Temptation, and Altruism,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, vol. 5 (1975), pp. 320—30.
22 David M. Wulff, Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views (New York: Wiley, 1991), pp. 219—20.
23 George Barna, Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators, 1996 and 2001. Survey data available online at www.barna.org in the Research Archives files. Barna defines a “born again” Christian as one who answers yes to two questions: “Have you ever made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today?” and “When I die, I will go to Heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.” As for divorce rates among religious denominations, Barna found, “surprisingly,” that “the Christian denomination whose adherents have the highest likelihood of getting divorced are Baptists.” Twenty-nine percent of Baptists have been to divorce court, although nondenominational Christians (small sects and independents) show an even higher rate of 34 percent. Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest percentage of divorces at 21 percent. Mainline Protestants “experience divorce on par with the national average (25 percent).” Mormons—“renowned for their emphasis upon strong families”—come in at an indistinguishable divorce rate of 24 percent.
24 J. A. Adande, “The World According to Reverend Reggie,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1998, p. 3.
25 Quoted in Carl Sagan, Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Random House, 1995), p. 430.
26 Edwin S. Gaustad, Philip L. Barlow, and Richard Dishno, eds., New Historical Atlas of Religion in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001 ).
27 John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1971), p. 56.
28 Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books, 1974), p. ix.
29 Ayn Rand, “Introducing Objectivism,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1962.
30 Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (New York: Random House, 1957).
31 Nathaniel Branden, Judgment Day: My Years With Ayn Rand (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989), pp. 255—256. With later irony Branden added that since he was declared by Rand to be her “intellectual heir” and “an ideal exponent of her philosophy, he is to be accorded only marginally less reverence than Ayn Rand herself.”
32 Barbara Branden, The Passion of Ayn Rand (New York: Doubleday, 1986), p. 227.
33 Milton Friedman, “Say ‘No’ to Intolerance,” Liberty (July 18, 1991).
34 Murray N. Rothbard, The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult (monograph) (Port Townsend, Wash.: Liberty Publishing, 1987).
35 Ayn Rand, “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?” in The Virtue of Selfishness (New York: New American Library, 1964), p. 91. For Rand’s pronouncements on hundreds of subjects, see Harry Binswanger, The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism From A to Z (New York: New American Library, 1986).
36 See The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 7, pp. 324—26, for a lengthy discussion of this issue.
37 Ayn Rand, from John Galt’s speech in Atlas Shrugged, reprinted in For the New Intellectual (New York: New American Library, 1961), p. 216.
38 Cornelia V. Christenson, Kinsey: A Biography (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1971), pp. 126—27.
39 Ibid., p. 4.
40 Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell Baxter Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1948), p. 20.
41 Ibid., pp. 638—47.
42 Ibid., p. 639.
43 Quoted in Christenson, Kinsey, p. 5.
44 Kinsey, Pomeroy, and Martin, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, p. 678.
45 Quoted in Christenson, Kinsey, pp. 8—9.
46 Ibid., p. 223.
47 Ibid., p. 213.
48 Ibid., pp. 163—66.
49 I am aware of the controversy surrounding Kinsey’s data, and the accusations against him regarding the validity of his data collection techniques and the frequencies of certain sexual behaviors he reported in his publications (which critics claim are greatly exaggerated). My concern here, however, is not with Kinsey’s data per se, but with his methodology, and how methodological individualism leads to a greater understanding of the diversity of human behavior. Kinsey’s use of enormous sample sizes for both wasps and humans is sound, regardless of whether specific findings turn out to be corroborated or not.
50 Quoted in Christenson, Kinsey, p. 6.
51 Ibid., pp. 6—7.
52 T
he quote, and slight variations on it, is always attributed to Bastiat, although I have been unable to track down the source. Bastiat certainly could have (or would have) said it, as he was a champion of free trade. See, for example, his most classic work “The Law” in Selected Essays on Political Economy, ed. George B. de Huszar (Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Economic Education, 1995).
53 Robert B. Edgerton, Sick Societies: Challenging the Myth of Primitive Harmony (New York: Free Press, 1992). For an excellent treatise on the evolutionary history of violence and aggression see: Michael P. Ghiglieri, The Dark Side of Man.
54 Napoleon Chagnon, Ynomamö, p. 162. See also: Ronald M. Berndt, “The Walmadjeri and Gugadja” in Hunters and Gatherers Today, ed. M. G. Bicchieri (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, Inc., 1988). In his study of two Australian aboriginal tribes, the Walmadjeri and Gugadja, Berndt says of trade: “Trade goods are passed, so to speak, from one interactory zone to the next. When large ceremonies and rituals are held, some of the participants come from places a great distance apart; they provide, therefore, an ideal opportunity for bartering. Trade takes place within the context of ritual and often is not seen as being something separate” (p. 188).
Science of Good and Evil Page 39