Seminar Two
Evolution of sexuality
What is behavioral ecology
Behavioral ecology is the study of behavior in the light of evolutionary theory. Behavioral ecology argues that behavior evolves according to the same principles as anatomy (form)—natural selection, sexual selection, and chance.
What exactly is behavior? In very general terms it is just what something does. The term can even be used to describe what a machine does. In biology, it is what a living organism does, or even what an organ does, such as the heart. The term is so general that it seems useless at first—yet we use it all the time.
How can behavior evolve? How does predator behavior evolve? How do mating behaviors evolve? In humans, how has loving behavior evolved, and how can we shed light on warfare and ethnic conflict?
The most complex behaviors are the result of activity of the nervous system, which evolves just as any other organ does. As behavioral complexity increases,more and more genes may contribute to the behavior, and it is correspondingly more difficult to say which gene does what, or predisposes to what. An intense search is now on for genes predisposing to complex human behaviors, including mental illnesses that appear to have a genetic component.
Ecology is the study of an organism as it relates to its environment. In other words, ecology includes everything outside of the body. Behavioral ecology is an awkward name that some prefer to replace with other names, such as behavioral biology, evolutionary psychology or sociobiology, but I prefer behavioral ecology to the alternatives.
Understanding human behavior in the light of evolutionary theory is one of our most pressing goals. Warfare, genocide, and ethnic conflict have prevailed throughout human history, and we are not close to an understanding of why. It is not enough to say that this dark side of human nature is caused by culture or learning. It may also rest on amore fundamental base of predispositions in animal genomes—predispositions which nudge us toward one choice or another in the course of our long lifetimes.
We are discovering genes which influence complex behaviors. Can we use this understanding to educate humanity about our predisposition to violence and warfare, and to show that we have other alternatives? Are men from Mars and women from Venus? Read on.
