The Ape that Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve Hardcover - by Steve Stewart-Williams
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behaviour, our child-rearing patterns, our moral codes, our religions, our languages, and science? The book tackles these issues by drawing on ideas from two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals and that, like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes.
At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture - and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we're but a tiny, fleeting fragment.
1. The Power of the Alien Perspective
To understand ourselves, we must first see ourselves as strange. The book begins with a thought experiment: how would an alien scientist view our species? This "outsider's perspective" allows us to question behaviors and norms that we take for granted, prompting a deeper inquiry into why we are the way we are. The alien's confusion over our complex social structures, mating rituals, and cultural practices sets the stage for the book's exploration of human nature.
2. We Are "Gene Machines"
Stewart-Williams champions a "gene's-eye view" of evolution, a concept popularised by Richard Dawkins. This perspective posits that our bodies and minds are essentially vehicles built by our genes to ensure their own survival and replication. This doesn't mean we are consciously driven by a desire to pass on our genes, but that our behaviours and psychological traits have been shaped by natural selection to achieve this end.
3. Evolutionary Psychology Explains Our "Weird" Behaviours
Many seemingly irrational human behaviours can be understood through the lens of evolutionary psychology. For instance, our craving for sugary and fatty foods, which is detrimental in our modern world of abundance, was a survival advantage in our ancestral past when such resources were scarce. Similarly, our fears and phobias, our mating preferences, and our tendencies toward altruism and aggression are all examined as products of our evolutionary history.
4. Culture as a Second Replicator: The Rise of the "Meme Machine"
While genes are the primary replicators in the biological world, humans have a second, equally powerful replicator: culture. Stewart-Williams explains the concept of "memes," which are ideas, beliefs, technologies, and other cultural elements that spread from person to person. Just as genes compete for survival, so do memes. This process of cultural evolution allows for rapid adaptation and has transformed our species from a simple ape into one that can reshape the planet.
5. Nature and Nurture are Not at Odds
The book argues against the false dichotomy of "nature versus nurture." Instead, it emphasises that our genes and our culture are in a constant feedback loop, a concept known as gene-culture coevolution. Our genes provide the raw material for our behaviour, but our culture shapes how those genes are expressed. At the same time, our evolved psychological predispositions influence the types of cultures we create.
6. Altruism Isn't as Selfless as It Seems
From an evolutionary perspective, altruism presents a puzzle: why would an organism help another at a cost to itself? Stewart-Williams explores various explanations, including kin selection (helping relatives who share our genes) and reciprocal altruism (helping others in the expectation that they will help us in the future). This suggests that even our most selfless acts may have an underlying evolutionary logic.
7. Sex Differences are Real and Have Evolutionary Roots
The book delves into the often-controversial topic of sex differences, arguing that many of the psychological and behavioural differences between men and women can be traced back to our evolutionary past. These differences are not a matter of one sex being "better" than the other, but rather a result of the different reproductive challenges faced by males and females throughout our species' history.