Natural selection introduces changes in our behavior
Sociobiology is a field of study that analyzes the biological basis of the social behavior of people and animals. It is an interdisciplinary area that, transcending environmental and cultural variables, takes into account the impact of biology on the behavior of species.
natural selection
What sociobiology does is bring the notion of natural selection to a social system . For experts in this field, natural selection introduces changes in the behavioral patterns with which individuals are born. Heredity and environment thus combine to give rise to certain behaviors.
It can be stated that, according to sociobiology, behavior is the result of the consequences of natural selection and environmental factors . The biological, in this way, predisposes behaviors that are essential for the subsistence of the species.
Sociobiology maintains that there are behavioral attributes that are inherited. In turn, natural selection affects this inheritance, favoring these attributes to be conducive so that the specimens can adapt to their environment.
Regarding the application of sociobiology to understand human behavior, specialists affirm that man 's characteristics are the result of his genetic constitution. Likewise, this genetic basis is, according to sociobiology, responsible for the mode of cultural development.
Criticisms of human sociobiology
It is important to mention that there are scientists who are critical of sociobiology. It is commonly linked to biological determinism (which considers that genes determine behavior) and social Darwinism (which posits survival of the fittest as a form of evolution ).
In fact, some scientists who oppose human sociobiology formed the Sociobiological Study Group , in which the aforementioned links are raised, in addition to relating this field of study to eugenics , an ideological and political movement that promotes "good." "born" to improve the biological quality of people, through reproduction among beings with greater aptitudes.
Both parties have their arguments to maintain this discussion that places them at opposite extremes: the detractors are horrified by the aspects that seem to be politically incorrect , while the followers accuse the others of pressuring them to hide those phenomena that may bother them, despite that are real and possible to prove.
We must point out that sociobiology does not always reflect the same underlying political or ideological connotations, since it has been promoted by many different people, with sometimes opposite positions on these issues, so it is not so easy to accuse it of being conservative or supporting right-wing ideas.
The opposition of biologists
Controversy is inevitable between biologists and sociobiology applied to our species. As mentioned above, one of the most common comparisons is made with biological determinism, criticizing the cancellation of our supposed freedom to choose a unique path , without genetic ties.
According to biologists, these ideas are deterministic
Two important personalities in this option are the American evolutionary biologists Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Charles Lewontin . According to them, there are underlying political interests that use the bases of sociobiology to justify and validate certain authoritarian programs that only suit those with the most power.
Furthermore, they accuse Edward Osborne Wilson , the founder of sociobiology, of having committed a fallacy , that is, of having spread seemingly valid ideas and arguments, although in reality they are not. Another term that arises in this discussion is hyperadaptationism , that is, the tendency to seek adaptive explanations to justify certain behaviors in a way linked to genetics.