What does it mean to be human? The Human Socio-Cognitive Niche and its Evolutionaryyg Origins
Andrew Whiten Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution University of St Andrews What does it mean to be human? AttdithAs contrasted with our closest living relatives: ltliilti “To develop a uniquely ‘deep’ social mind” - amultia multi-component, adaptive complex
As contrasted with other forms of life: “ToTo elaborate on what it means to be an ape ” What does it mean to be human? C Stringer & P Andrews The Complete World of Human Evolution H. Thieme, Lower Palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany, Nature ,1997 Hunting, Gathering and the evolution of humans - Evidence of universality until a mere 10 -12, 000 years ago How ppypuny apes became big gg game hunters is an evolutionary miracle The ‘Cognitive Niche Niche’ John Tooby and Irven DeVore, ‘The reconstruction of hominid behavioural evolution through strategic modelling.’ in The Evolution of Human Behavior: Primate Models, 1987.
Evolving human hunters competed successfully with other large mammalian ‘professional’ predators by creating a coggggnitive foraging niche
Intelligence, planning and technology used to mount “evolutionary surprise attacks” on prey NEW THINKING ‘Cognitive Niche’ or ‘Socio-Cognitive Niche’? Hunter-Gatherer ‘Deep Social Mind’ NEW THINKING ‘Cognitive Niche’ or ‘Socio-Cognitive Niche’? Hunter-Gatherer ‘Deep Social Mind’
Cooperation Egalitarianism Culture
Midindreadi ng Language
A human hunting-gathering band functions like a single coherent ‘organism’ Reconstructing the Socio -Cognitive Niche Sources of Evidence
Palaeoanthropology – ‘bones and stones’
Hunter gatherer societies Anthropology Behavioural ecology Hunter-Gatherer Societies Sample [Erdal & Whiten]
AFRICA ASIA Dorobo – Huntingford 1955 Batek – Endicott 1988 Efe – Bailey 1991 Paliyan – Gardner 1972 Hadza – Hawkes et al. 1991 Pandaram – Morris 1982a,b Mbuti – Turnbull 1965 N. AMERICA San-Naron – Bleek 1928 Copper – Damas 1972 San-!Kung-1 – Lee 1979 Cree – Rogers 1972 San-!Kung-2 – Marshall 1961 Dogrib – Helm 1972 San-3 - Tanaka 1980 Naskapi – Leacock 1980 AUSTRALIA Netsilik-1 – Balikci 1970 Pitjandjara – Tindale 1972 Netsilik-2 – Rasmussen 1931 Tiwi – Goodale 1971 Northern Nomads – Riches 1982 Walbiri – Meggitt 1962 Utkuhikhalignmiut – Briggs 1970 S. AMERICA Ache – Kaplan & Hill 1985 Siriono – Holmberg 1950 Reconstructing the Socio -Cognitive Niche Sources of Evidence
Palaeoanthropology – ‘bones and stones’
Hunter gatherer societies Anthropology Behavioural ecology
Primatology
Molecular taxonomy from: Th tT’ A e l Ancestor’s Tale Dawkins, 2004 after Stewart & Disotell, 1998
Images: The Ancestor’s Tale Dawkins 2004 Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language NEW THINKING – NEW DATA Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language NEW THINKING – NEW DATA Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language Cognitive Niche or Socio -Cognitive Niche? ‘Deep Social Mind’
Cooperation Egalitarianism Culture
Midindreadi ng Language Cognitive Niche or Socio -Cognitive Niche? ‘Deep Social Mind’
Cooperation Egalitarianism Culture
Midindreadi ng Language Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
Many very different HG societies show two core social features, that make them ‘more deeply social’ (socially itinter depen den t)tht) than any other pri mat es: -
Egalitarianism Preferring equality of resource distribution over inequality
Cooperation Working together in multiple, integrated ways towards common benefit Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
Egalitarianism
1. Food sharing pair bond and band wide 2 . Political power no chfhiefs – power llldlevelled negotiated decision-making 3M3. Monogamy reproductive success levelling Hunter-Gatherer Society
Cooperation 1. Pair bond and division of labour 2. Cooperative hunting 3. Cooperative gathering 4. Information pooling Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language The Socio -Cognitive Niche
CltiCumulative Culture cumulative repertoire of ‘evolutionary surprise attacks’
28 Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism Technology
Mindreading Language Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Mindreading aka Theory of Mind Mentalising Mindreading aka Theory of Mind Mentalising J Stiller & R I M Dunbar Social Networks, 2007
“I suspect that you wonder whether I realise how hard it is for you to be sure that you understand whether I mean to be saying that you can recognise that I can believe you to want me to explain that most of us can keep track of only about five or sidix orders, und dthbtfer the best of conditions” Dennett, BBS, 1983 Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language Mental interpenetration Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language Theeute Hunter-Gath er er Soc i o-Cogni tiv e Nic he
The group acts as a hunting -gathering organism
Cooperation CltCulture Egalitarianism
Mindreading Language cf: -- S. Pinker, The cognitive niche: Coevolution of intelligence, sociality and language, PNAS 2010 A. Clark, Language, embodiment and the cognitive niche, TICS 2006
Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language Population level pattern ing Multiple diverse traditions • Food processing • Tool use • Social behaviour • Grooming style •Courtship Communities with unique arrays of traditions But a re th ese socially learned traditions? Can chimpanzees sustain multiple traditions?
Mesh barrier ‘Two T ra ditions ’ Poke Lift Pan-pipes Study Flap Whiten, Horner & de Waal Nature 2005 Chute Whiten, A., Spiteri, A. et al. (2007) Transmission of multiple traditions within and between chimpanzee groups. Current Biology 17, 1038-43
Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language Candidate foundations for cooppgeration and egalitarianism
Coalitions and alliances Candidate foundations for cooppgeration and egalitarianism
Coalitions and alliances
Group hunting - Cooperative foraging limited to hunting, in chimps - Groups more successful than individuals - Males involved in hunt allowed most share
LthlLethal raid s on neighb ihbours
Food sharing Ape Competitiveness - No generalised sharing -Hierarchical
- Limited meat sharing - Coalitions, alliances
a spiral of Machiavellian counterdominance?
-Cheating - Vigilant sharing - Counterdominance
- Generalised food-sharing - Lack of status H-G Egalitarianism Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language “there is no solid evidence that non-human primates understand the intentionality or states of mind of others” MTM Tomasell o and dJC J Call lli, in PiPrima t C itite Cognition, 1997 J. Brauer et al. (2007) Chimpanzees really know what others can see in a competitive situation. Anim Cogn 10 B. Hare, Call, Agnetta & Tomasello, Conspecifics know what conspecifics do and do not see, Anim Behav 2000.
B. Hare, Call & Tomasello, Do conspecifics know what conspecifics know?, Anim Behav 2001.
J Call, Hare, et al. ‘Unwilling versus unable: chimpanzees’ understanding of human intentional action ’ Dev Psy 2005.
J Call and Tomasello, Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? 30 years later. TICS 2008. “there is solid evidence from several different experimental paradigms that chimpanzees understand the goals and intentions of others, as well as the perception and knowledge of others. Nevertheless, despite several seemingly valid attempts, there is currently no evidence that chimpanzees understand false beliefs. Our conclusion for the moment is, thus, that chimpanzees understand others in terms of a perception-goal psychology, as opposed to a full-fledged, human-like belief-desire psychology.” Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language GESTURAL COMMUNICATION
Cat Hobaiter & Richard Byrne, Animal Cognition 2011
Ape gestural repertoires extensive compared to monkeys’ and:
1. Intentional: Audience checking RiResponse waititing Persistence and flexibility
2. Repertoire size: Budongo 66 gesture types (c.f. Gombe 56, Mahale 61) Pawel Feduruk & Katie Slocombe, Human Biology, 2011
Features of language in chimpanzees’ natural vocalisation:
1 . Functional referentiality: -
Playbacks demonstrate extraction of information on: -
food quality (high versus low)
social roles (agressor versus victim)
severity o f a ttac ks
2. Modifiability: basic reppppertoire species specific but: -
adjustment to more closely match companions’ calls
dialect differences 3. Combinatorial sequences with different meanings
Zanna Clay and Klaus Zuberbuhler, PLoS One , 2011
“Bonobos prod uce fi ve aco usticall y distinct call t ypes when finding food, which they regularly mix together into longer call sequences. …. playback experiments … provide the first empirical evidence that bonobos are able to extract information about external events by attending to vocal sequences of other individuals and highlight the importance of call combinations in their natural communication system. ” NEW THINKING – NEW DATA Evolutionary Foundations of the Socio-Cognitive Niche
Cooperation Coalitions CltCulture
Mindreading Communication
Cooperation Egalitarianism CltCulture
Mindreading Language
What does it mean to be human? AttdithAs contrasted with our closest living relatives: ltliilti “To develop a uniquely ‘deep’ social mind” - amultia multi-component, adaptive complex
As contrasted with other forms of life: “ToTo elaborate on what it means to be an ape ”