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Culture and Biological Adaptation
Author(s) -
Hainline Jane
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1965.67.5.02a00050
Subject(s) - citation , adaptation (eye) , library science , computer science , history , media studies , sociology , psychology , neuroscience
THE results of one phase of a recently completed study which are pertinent to the question of the biological adaptiveness of culture are presented here. For the purpose of interpreting the genetic characteristics of Pacific Island peoples, research was initially directed to the problem of identifying the determinants of size, structure and dynamics of Micronesian island populations. I have relied extensively on concepts discussed at length by Simpson (1953, 1963) in testing the proposal that culture is biological adaptation, as measured by the criterion of relative abundance of organisms. This operational standard, extensively used in ecological studies, is accepted merely as an objective, available index appropriate to this study. I believe this study indicates that the complex of socially transmitted beliefs and associated behavior constituting a system of social stratification is biologically maladaptive, resulting in the decreased relative abundance of the human population in which such phenomena receive social expression. A greater sophistication is required on the part of anthropologists and biologists who seek to comprehend the nexus between those realms or orders of phenomena which are designated "Culture" and "Biology."