I have a sizable list of heroes who I look up to as role models. Some I know or have known personally while others stand out for their contributions to the greater good. E.O. Wilson (1929-2021) is positioned near the top of that list. A world class authority (Harvard Univ.) on insects and ants in particular, discovered pheromones, he conceptualized and developed the theory of Sociobiology which is no longer a theory but universally recognized. In short, many animals live together in community within a social construct where each individual has a role to fill and a programmed pattern of behavior to perform, much like mating, migrating, nurturing young, defending against predators, etc.
He noticed how large numbers (thousands) of ants cooperate with highly specialized behaviors (collecting food, waging war, building tunnels, etc.) and switch as a group from one role to another with ease: Sociobiology. Most mammals live within a social construct but nothing like the organization and uniform attention to a single purpose as with ants, bees, etc. Wilson identified those coordinated, large numbers-single purpose species as, Supersocial. He discovered over a dozen Supersocial species, all insects or closely related, wannabe insects. To be Supersocial, individuals in the pod or hive or colony could not venture off and join another group or start a new one of their own. It’s not in their DNA, they will die if they get separated even if they have food, etc. Neither could they adapt to changing environment by modifying their behavior. But they were extraordinary when it came to working in sync with each other. The Supersocial colony survives or dies as a group, doing what they’ve always done, the same way that they’ve always done it.
This is turning into a biology lesson and I don’t want that. So I will cut straight to the chase. Humans are now the only non insect species to be considered Supersocial. We have large, complex brains and insects don’t. We can think about things and ideas but we don’t believe insects can think at all. But we share the critical traits, we also cooperate in large numbers for common cause but we can adapt, change the rules, invent new behaviors, shift from one task to another with ease. We can improvise and teach a stranger the new way. Several species are creative problem solvers but don’t do well in large numbers (primates). Others work together in mass but can’t adapt their behavior to meet a changing set of circumstances (wildebeest). What makes humans special is that we are the only species that can do both. Chimps can make and use tools and teach others as long as they are in small groups. But if you get too many chimps together (let’s say 40 +) their intelligent behavior breaks down into chaos and most likely violence.
Humans on the other hand cooperate with total strangers in large numbers, by the hundreds if not thousands. In combat, armies move in carefully planned, sequentially timed maneuvers with precision until someone notices a problem, then individuals may swap responsibilities or go left instead of right without asking first and it works, or the leader may change the strategy from ‘Attack’ to ‘Retreat’ and everybody gets it.
People are uniquely skilled at adapting to changing conditions and circumstances. But two people cannot go off on their own and create a new community. A couple or even 3 cannot meet the diverse and extreme need for getting food & water, providing shelter, safety and protection. Human children require several years of constant nurture and food before they can contribute to the group At the same time the nutritional demand (calories) on the parents is compounded with the mother needing twice the normal nutritional requirement with much less time and ability to meet even her own need. There is a number, depending on the environment and risks involved and whatever that number is, it is more than a few. People need to live in community in order to survive, replicate, reproduce successfully and maintain a sustainable population. We are Supersocial. We need each other. It is my nature to ask “Why?” and “How does that work?” But like the blind leading the blind, no one is in charge, there’s nobody at the wheel. Gravity still works and the big dogs eat first.
I want to know better how things work, a better understanding of human behavior. Why; after so many thousands of years of hunter gatherer culture and roughly six or seven thousand years of civilization, why is our species stuck in the same repeating pattern of self defeating behaviors and unnecessary violence? In contrast, our toys and tools have moved right along, keep evolving into better, more effective instruments for meeting a need. How does that work? Pure, hard core naturalists would rationalize; we sacrifice the many in order for the most fit to prevail and replicate the next strong, fit generation. That’s how it works with plants, why not with people? I understand how that can work but humans want not only to prevail but also to be happy, make everybody happy, and the species has failed on that task. I have an idea but not a plan, and it may be all wrong but still, it leans on logic, it is defensible and I cannot just give it over to a religious mythology and play Let’s Pretend.
He noticed how large numbers (thousands) of ants cooperate with highly specialized behaviors (collecting food, waging war, building tunnels, etc.) and switch as a group from one role to another with ease: Sociobiology. Most mammals live within a social construct but nothing like the organization and uniform attention to a single purpose as with ants, bees, etc. Wilson identified those coordinated, large numbers-single purpose species as, Supersocial. He discovered over a dozen Supersocial species, all insects or closely related, wannabe insects. To be Supersocial, individuals in the pod or hive or colony could not venture off and join another group or start a new one of their own. It’s not in their DNA, they will die if they get separated even if they have food, etc. Neither could they adapt to changing environment by modifying their behavior. But they were extraordinary when it came to working in sync with each other. The Supersocial colony survives or dies as a group, doing what they’ve always done, the same way that they’ve always done it.
This is turning into a biology lesson and I don’t want that. So I will cut straight to the chase. Humans are now the only non insect species to be considered Supersocial. We have large, complex brains and insects don’t. We can think about things and ideas but we don’t believe insects can think at all. But we share the critical traits, we also cooperate in large numbers for common cause but we can adapt, change the rules, invent new behaviors, shift from one task to another with ease. We can improvise and teach a stranger the new way. Several species are creative problem solvers but don’t do well in large numbers (primates). Others work together in mass but can’t adapt their behavior to meet a changing set of circumstances (wildebeest). What makes humans special is that we are the only species that can do both. Chimps can make and use tools and teach others as long as they are in small groups. But if you get too many chimps together (let’s say 40 +) their intelligent behavior breaks down into chaos and most likely violence.
Humans on the other hand cooperate with total strangers in large numbers, by the hundreds if not thousands. In combat, armies move in carefully planned, sequentially timed maneuvers with precision until someone notices a problem, then individuals may swap responsibilities or go left instead of right without asking first and it works, or the leader may change the strategy from ‘Attack’ to ‘Retreat’ and everybody gets it.
People are uniquely skilled at adapting to changing conditions and circumstances. But two people cannot go off on their own and create a new community. A couple or even 3 cannot meet the diverse and extreme need for getting food & water, providing shelter, safety and protection. Human children require several years of constant nurture and food before they can contribute to the group At the same time the nutritional demand (calories) on the parents is compounded with the mother needing twice the normal nutritional requirement with much less time and ability to meet even her own need. There is a number, depending on the environment and risks involved and whatever that number is, it is more than a few. People need to live in community in order to survive, replicate, reproduce successfully and maintain a sustainable population. We are Supersocial. We need each other. It is my nature to ask “Why?” and “How does that work?” But like the blind leading the blind, no one is in charge, there’s nobody at the wheel. Gravity still works and the big dogs eat first.
I want to know better how things work, a better understanding of human behavior. Why; after so many thousands of years of hunter gatherer culture and roughly six or seven thousand years of civilization, why is our species stuck in the same repeating pattern of self defeating behaviors and unnecessary violence? In contrast, our toys and tools have moved right along, keep evolving into better, more effective instruments for meeting a need. How does that work? Pure, hard core naturalists would rationalize; we sacrifice the many in order for the most fit to prevail and replicate the next strong, fit generation. That’s how it works with plants, why not with people? I understand how that can work but humans want not only to prevail but also to be happy, make everybody happy, and the species has failed on that task. I have an idea but not a plan, and it may be all wrong but still, it leans on logic, it is defensible and I cannot just give it over to a religious mythology and play Let’s Pretend.
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