hunter / gatherer adventures at the mall
2009-Dec-03, Thursday 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellowtiggerEvolutionary psychology is a fascinating branch of science. It strikes me as something akin to astrology. There is surely a real science hidden somewhere deep inside it (astronomy, to explain the metaphor), yet it seldom produces hard results fit for more than amusing discussions at coffee klatch.
Case in point:
Fascinating topic for discussion over coffee, but I'm not sure how you test to see if there's an actual link there. What if, in fact, prehistoric women were not gatherers? I'm not aware that anyone's proven that women were specialized as gatherers. In early history they were, yes, but that's not the same as ancient prehistory. I'm willing to accept that men and women do differ in their psychology, even in some stereotypic ways. I'm just not sure that I'm willing to accept this way.
The traditional human farmer, after all, is male. How does that agricultural history fit in with this theory? What does this mean about modern life in the office cubicle farm? Why couldn't females just leave the children behind during the hunt, like other animals do? What about females (less muscular of the two genders) who do both the hunting and the child-rearing among lions? Aren't we just assuming that human females were gatherers previously?
I don't automatically accept the idea that our ancient ancestors divided up labor this way, even if it conveniently fits tired stereotypes. I want to see some evidence. If humans are as pliable as I think they are, then a century spent with women overlords and male underlings would see these roles reversed. Would we then claim prehistoric female hunters with male gatherers?
Case in point:
Male and female shopping strategies show evolution at work in the mall
... "Anytime you come into a new area you want to scope out the landscape and find out where the food patches are." Kruger said that gathering edible plants and fungi is traditionally done by women. In modern terms, think of filling a basket by selecting one item at a time. Women in foraging societies return to the same patches that yield previous successful harvests, and usually stay close to home and use landmarks as guides, he said. Foraging is a daily activity, often social, and can include young children, if necessary. When gathering, women must be very adept at choosing just the right color, texture and smell to ensure food safety and quality. They also must time harvests and know when a certain depleted patch will regenerate and yield good harvest again. In modern terms, women are much more likely than men to know when a specific type of item will go on sale. Women also spend much more time choosing the perfect fabric, color and texture. Men, on the other hand, often have a specific item in mind and want to get in, get it and get out, Kruger said. It's critical to get meat home as quickly as possible. Taking young children isn't safe in a hunt and would likely hinder progress.
- http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/plainstory.php?id=7443
... "Anytime you come into a new area you want to scope out the landscape and find out where the food patches are." Kruger said that gathering edible plants and fungi is traditionally done by women. In modern terms, think of filling a basket by selecting one item at a time. Women in foraging societies return to the same patches that yield previous successful harvests, and usually stay close to home and use landmarks as guides, he said. Foraging is a daily activity, often social, and can include young children, if necessary. When gathering, women must be very adept at choosing just the right color, texture and smell to ensure food safety and quality. They also must time harvests and know when a certain depleted patch will regenerate and yield good harvest again. In modern terms, women are much more likely than men to know when a specific type of item will go on sale. Women also spend much more time choosing the perfect fabric, color and texture. Men, on the other hand, often have a specific item in mind and want to get in, get it and get out, Kruger said. It's critical to get meat home as quickly as possible. Taking young children isn't safe in a hunt and would likely hinder progress.
- http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/plainstory.php?id=7443
Fascinating topic for discussion over coffee, but I'm not sure how you test to see if there's an actual link there. What if, in fact, prehistoric women were not gatherers? I'm not aware that anyone's proven that women were specialized as gatherers. In early history they were, yes, but that's not the same as ancient prehistory. I'm willing to accept that men and women do differ in their psychology, even in some stereotypic ways. I'm just not sure that I'm willing to accept this way.
The traditional human farmer, after all, is male. How does that agricultural history fit in with this theory? What does this mean about modern life in the office cubicle farm? Why couldn't females just leave the children behind during the hunt, like other animals do? What about females (less muscular of the two genders) who do both the hunting and the child-rearing among lions? Aren't we just assuming that human females were gatherers previously?
I don't automatically accept the idea that our ancient ancestors divided up labor this way, even if it conveniently fits tired stereotypes. I want to see some evidence. If humans are as pliable as I think they are, then a century spent with women overlords and male underlings would see these roles reversed. Would we then claim prehistoric female hunters with male gatherers?
no subject
Date: 2009-Dec-03, Thursday 03:59 pm (UTC)But we should really discuss this over coffee sometime. ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-Dec-04, Friday 04:17 pm (UTC)(And we really need better topics of conversation. I'm soon going to have to "lay down the law" that we are not in a gay bar and need to restrain the conversation to avoid scaring either the staff or the paying patrons. It was about a month ago when another group got shocked and then stopped sitting up front near us.)