The Friendliest Human
Speaker
Brian HareLocation
Psychology 1312Info
Until ~25,000 years ago we shared the planet with other human species. These humans were large brained, cultural and perhaps even linguistic. I will argue that our species survived because we experienced natural selection for friendliness toward intragroup strangers. This selection altered our development, enhanced our cooperative-communicative abilities, allowed us to expand our social networks and drove rapid cultural innovation in the Paleolithic. However, our species’ potential for cruelty appeared at the same time, since our mechanisms for friendliness evolved to disengage when we perceive a threat to our group. In support of selection for friendliness late in human evolution I present comparative, fossil and developmental evidence that highlight the ways our species evolution is analogous to domestication. I conclude by evaluating how this new understanding of human nature points to the social strategies that will enhance our friendliness in the future.
