Modernity And Cultural Decline: A Biobehavioral Perspective 3030329836, 9783030329839, 9783030329846

Table of contents :
Acknowledgments......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 9
Threats to the Future......Page 10
Outline......Page 23
References......Page 28
The Failure of Environmentalism......Page 32
Elements of a Biobehavioral Framework for Understanding Human Societal and Psychological Change......Page 57
The Levels of Selection Debate......Page 60
General Intelligence (g) and Its Evolution......Page 67
Life History Theory......Page 68
References......Page 72
The Virtues of Medieval Life......Page 84
The Biocultural Roots of the Modern World......Page 97
References......Page 104
Chapter 4: Discontent with Modernity......Page 110
Conceptual Terrain......Page 112
Doubts: Nihilism and Pessimism......Page 117
References......Page 131
Introduction......Page 138
Summary......Page 139
Bad Historical Scholarship......Page 143
Misleading on Progress, And Badly Explaining It, Too......Page 148
Is Bias Sufficient to Explain Declinism?......Page 174
How Bad Are Rightism and Religion, and What Future Do They Have?......Page 175
Are Moral Inegalitarianism and “Romantic Heroism” Obviously Wrong?......Page 182
Group Selection and Liberal-Individualist Ideology......Page 184
Conclusion......Page 188
References......Page 189
Introduction......Page 206
Estimating De Novo Mutation Load......Page 215
Estimating Legacy Load......Page 216
Analysis 1......Page 217
Analysis 2......Page 218
Discussion......Page 219
References......Page 232
Introduction......Page 238
Analysis......Page 244
Prior Negative Selection Factor (Opportunity for Selection Through Mortality)......Page 246
Developmental Instability Factor......Page 247
Social Epistasis Factor......Page 248
Global Fitness Factor......Page 251
Results......Page 252
Discussion......Page 254
References......Page 269
The Decline of the West Is Multifaceted, and Other Considerations......Page 281
Dysgenic Selection Against g and the Co-occurrence Model......Page 283
Cycles of Time......Page 288
Biocosmic Pessimism......Page 293
References......Page 299
Index......Page 306

Citation preview

Modernity and Cultural Decline A Biobehavioral Perspective Matthew Alexandar Sarraf Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie Colin Feltham

Modernity and Cultural Decline “Modernity and Cultural Decline is a breathtaking scientific analysis of the rise— and now the decline—of Western civilization. The authors’ use of bio-genetics is unique and profound. Spengler and Toynbee would have been interested. We also should be interested—and forewarned.” —Seymour Itzkoff, Professor Emeritus of Education, Smith College, USA “The authors advance a bold thesis to explain the decline of the West … in terms of evolutionary processes. They discuss cutting-edge evolutionary theories of human sociality … The authors explain the ‘social epistasis amplification model’ and the role of spiteful mutations. … The book puts human nature, genes and evolution back into historiography and sociology, from where those concepts have been largely expelled since the mid-twentieth century. The final chapter advances … cosmological reasoning by providing a far-futures vision of the possible course of human space-colonization … This is the real thing, sharp minds … offering testable hypotheses based on quantitative models. As I read Modernity and Cultural Decline it occurred to me that … many university departments deserve to be … restocked with genuine scientists.” —Frank Salter, Former Researcher of the Max Planck Society, Germany “A profoundly important book. The authors have that rarest of combinations: vision and courage. This, combined with a vast technical knowledge, makes for a potent force. To tackle the evolutionary-genetic basis for the problems of Western civilization, in light of industrial technology, seems obvious, and yet they are the first to do so. And even if their highly pessimistic conclusion pans out, there is still much value in understanding our road to collapse. One can only hope that society finds the will to engage with these vital and consequential ideas.” —David Skrbina, Senior Lecturer, University of Michigan, Dearborn, USA “Modernity and Cultural Decline is a supremely bold, thoroughgoing biological account of often unacknowledged double-edged or negative impacts of modernity … [such as] rising psychopathology, nihilistic outlook and social incohesion. The actual plusses and minuses of life in the modern era are teased out in a profound chapter clearing away the political and philosophical lenses through which commonly modernity is viewed. Socio-cultural phenomena—the puzzle of the demographic transition as well as industrialization—no less than psychology and morphology are here shown to be highly amenable to study in terms of genetics and evolution…

In unusual depth of argumentation with voluminous evidence, there is no flinching at the great complexity of the data, which is treated forensically. Criticism in particular is dealt with comprehensively. The gauntlet is thrown down with … near exhaustive detail, providing food for thought, irrespective of how near the mark the authors—or in agreement the reader—may be. This is the sort of science book of which we need more: highly innovative and expansive to the point of seeming blue-sky-thinking that nevertheless is grounded.” —Steve Moxon, Independent Researcher, Author of Sex Difference Explained (2016)

Matthew Alexandar Sarraf  Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie  Colin Feltham

Modernity and Cultural Decline A Biobehavioral Perspective

Matthew Alexandar Sarraf Amherst, MA, USA Colin Feltham Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield, UK

Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie Vrije Universiteit Brussel Ixelles, Belgium

ISBN 978-3-030-32983-9    ISBN 978-3-030-32984-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32984-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the ­publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and ­institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

M.A.S.: To the memory of my grandparents M.A.W.o.M.: To the memory of Professor Henry Cosad Harpending

Acknowledgments

Gerhard Meisenberg generously provided comments on the entire manuscript, which improved it substantially. Steve Moxon and David Skrbina gave helpful feedback as well. Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre and Heitor Barcellos Ferreira Fernandes offered critically important assistance with statistical analyses presented in Chap. 7. Discussions with Aurelio José Figueredo and Bruce Charlton helped the development of several ideas and arguments in this book. The authors alone are responsible for any shortcomings that remain.

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Contents

1 Introduction  1 2 Defending Biobehavioral Science 23 3 Medieval and Modern Worlds 75 4 Discontent with Modernity101 5 Enlightenment Never129 6 Making the Case for Mutation Accumulation197 7 The Social Epistasis Amplification Model: A Diachronic Test and Expansion of Theoretical Foundations229 8 Biocosmic Pessimism273 Index299

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List of Figures

Fig. 2.1

Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 7.1 Fig. 7.2

The black dots track the usage frequencies of terms associated with “binding” moral foundations, whereas the gray dots track the usage frequencies of terms associated with “individualizing” moral foundations using Google Ngram Viewer data. The correlation (r) between the two trends is −0.828 (p