The Moral Animal, written in 1994 - the year I was born - reads with a level of pertinence that is ahead of its time. It should be and is a staple of Evolutionary Psychology. Matter of fact, because of the very [big picture] incipient nature of the field, it is a must read if you are especially interested in (I'm trying to hold back my temptation of saying everything) evolution and darwinism, morality, psychology, and behavioral science. What is evolutionary psychology? I will be brief but read the book to REALLY understand it. The field of evolutionary psychology attempts to explain human (and animal) behavior within the framework of our prior and ongoing evolution. With precision and clarity, the author Robert Wright applies the modern day understanding of evolution to understand our underlying motivations behind our actions and emotions. In four parts, and many chapters in between, the author covers really intuitive topics like sex, romance, love, family, friends, marriage, deception, self-deception, monogamy and polygamy, social status, and more. The last section of the book wraps it all together and covers the implications it can and cannot have on our behavior as well as our thinking of morality, law, and morale. Throughout the entire book, evolutionary psychological thinking is applied to the founder of evolution himself, Charles Darwin. Interestingly enough, we uncover on a deeper level the so called "selfish" motives and social advantages behind Darwin's behavior. This is not to deny the apparent facts of the matter that Darwin was one of the most selfless, generous, and polite human-beings to ever live. On any test of morality, even compared to the Victorian aura of his time, he would get an A+. His hyperactive conscious for example, made him have restless nights as he was plagued by the idea he might have said something that offended somebody in one of the conversations he had with people throughout the day. It made him dread the indignity he witnessed with Brazilian slaves and animal cruelty. Despite his religious upbringing and education; his devoutly Christian wife; and the stringently religious society he lived in, he couldn't help but lose his religious fervor due to his intellectual honesty and his inclined understanding of evolution. Despite all this, he delayed releasing his monumental findings and conclusions (that animals - and humans - evolved) to the public. He understood that it would shake the religious fabric of thinking at the time and he did everything he can possibly do to find things that can disprove his theory. All and all, he made it more robust and justified because if he released his ground-breaking discovery prematurely it could have been a monumental mistake for his professional career and I would contend for society as well.
Now of course evolutionary psychology makes us look at the seemingly heightened level of morality of the Victorian era with a skeptical eye. It's an evolutionary advantage to fit in and even prosper in the social environment you are in, and that's the underlying reason why people seek respect and social status. The norm in Victorian times was to approach your neighbors with upmost charity and respect. Never uttering insults and always willing to go out your way to help if possible. Perhaps maybe it was because the towns in England in the 19th century were small, and everybody knew each-other? It was a much bigger disadvantage to be rude because a slight on your reputation can spread to everybody quickly. This is diametric to the city life today, where people are criticized as being indifferent, irreverent, and impolite. Subconsciously whether we deny it or not, we behave different depending on if we know we are going to see somebody again or if they are in our "inner circle".
Understanding the subject matter is important because when we inherit an evolutionary psychological view we gain the capability to view our behavior as a species in a perspective we may have not considered beforehand. This perspective can bring clarity and understanding. There will be speculation but it will be grounded speculation. For example, why are we inclined to care about the opinions of others that we know we will never see again? Part of the explanation can be that in our ancestral environment we were always much more likely to encounter the same person again. Our understanding of evolutionary psychology will have a huge impact on our understanding and mending morality in the future. Through this new paradigm, we get some clarification that men for example are not "pigs" or "wrong" because they want to instinctually mate with as many women as possible. Also, women are not "evil-creatures" because they cheat sometimes. That is not to say that each example is morally "right", especially when taken ad-nasauem. But perhaps these understandings will garner sympathy and understanding for our human nature. In a sense, our understanding of this subject will bring on worry and legal issues. But remember, it is not an evolutionary advantage for males and females to inherit these behaviors in full. And as far as the law and policy goes, understanding animal/human nature will go a long way in helping reshape things. An example is poverty and why thanks to our understanding of human nature it is justifiable to set up programs to reduce it. There's a psychological effect on income disparity, and though I won't get into it here it does beget an interesting discussion. How about homosexuality? Of course once we can get past the highly ignorant and depressing discussion of whether it's a "choice" or not, we can try to understand why homosexuality developed in species. And hopefully it can render the contemporary discussion of whether being gay is "right" or "wrong" as obsolete. And this goes for many other things as we come to terms with human nature. Remember, most of our modern evolutionary history and ancestry took place tens of thousands of years before any recorded history. Our modern society is only a small speck of time and many of our "crazy" or "irrational" behaviors can only be understood by the aforementioned time period of human evolution. My suggestion: buy the book. It's a must-read.
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Good book, Bad binding
Good book, bad binding. I'm only half way through, and the book is already breaking down, ready to fall apart. And no, I'm not an abusive reader.
