Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:25:25.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ultrasociality: When institutions make a difference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Petr Houdek ,
Julie Novakova  and
Dan Stastny
Petr Houdek
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social and Economic Studies, J. E. Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, CZ-40096 Usti nad Labem, Czech [email protected]@gmail.comhttp://;web.natur.cuni.cz/~houdek3/ Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, CZ-12808 Prague 2, Czech [email protected]://www.julienovakova.com/ Faculty of Business Administration, University of Economics, Prague, CZ-130 67 Prague 3, Czech Republic
Julie Novakova
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, CZ-12808 Prague 2, Czech [email protected]://www.julienovakova.com/
Dan Stastny
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social and Economic Studies, J. E. Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, CZ-40096 Usti nad Labem, Czech [email protected]@gmail.comhttp://;web.natur.cuni.cz/~houdek3/ University of New York in Prague, CZ-120 00 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We present arguments that the analogy between humans and social insects is coincidental, rather than based upon real similarities. In their claims, Gowdy & Krall largely omit the role of institutions in the formation of complex societies, warfare, and regulation. They also offer no strong explanation for the expansion of agriculture despite its early detrimental effects except the “mistake hypothesis” (cf. Diamond 1987).

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. & Robinson, J. A. (2005) Institutions as a fundamental cause of long-run growth. In: Handbook of economic growth, vol. 1: Part A, ed. Philippe, A. & Steven, N. D., pp. 385–72. Elsevier.Google Scholar
Bowles, S. (2009) Did warfare among ancestral hunter-gatherers affect the evolution of human social behaviors? Science 324(5932):1293–98. doi: 10.1126/science.1168112.Google Scholar
Buonanno, P., Durante, R., Prarolo, G. & Vanin, P. (2015) Poor institutions, rich mines: Resource curse and the origins of the Sicilian Mafia. The Economic Journal 125(586):F175–202. doi: 10.1111/ecoj.12236. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12236/abstract/ Google Scholar
Diamond, J. (1987) The worst mistake in the history of the human race. Discover Magazine May 2, 1987, pp. 64–66. Available at: http://discovermagazine.com/1987/may/02-the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race Google Scholar
Easterly, W. & Levine, R. (2003) Tropics, germs, and crops: how endowments influence economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics 50(1):3–39. doi: 10.1016/S0304-3932(02)00200-3.Google Scholar
Grossman, G. M. & Krueger, A. B. (1995) Economic growth and the environment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 110(2):353–77.Google Scholar
Hibbs, D. A. & Olsson, O. (2005) Biogeography and long-run economic development. European Economic Review 49(4):565–86. doi: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2003.08.010.Google Scholar
Houdek, P. & Novakova, J. (2016) Frozen cultural plasticity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39:e42. 10.1017/S0140525X15000151 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuznets, S. (1955) Economic growth and income inequality. American Economic Review 45(1):1–28.Google Scholar
North, D. C. & Thomas, R. P. (1976) The rise of the Western world: A new economic history. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Olsson, O. & Paik, C. (2013) A Western reversal since the Neolithic? The long-run impact of early agriculture. Working Papers in Economics, No. 552. Department of Economics, University of Göthenburg, Sweden. Available at: Social Science Research Network, doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2206198, and site: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2206198. Also available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/32052; https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/32052 Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1990) Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pinker, S. (2011) The better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. Viking.Google Scholar
Richerson, P., Baldini, R., Bell, A. V., Demps, K., Frost, K., Hillis, V., Mathew, S., Newton, E. K., Naar, N., Newson, L., Ross, C., Smaldino, P. E., Waring, T. M. & Zefferman, M. (2016) Cultural group selection plays an essential role in explaining human cooperation: A sketch of the evidence. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 39:e30. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X1400106X.Google Scholar
Simon, H. (1990) A mechanism for social selection and successful altruism. Science 250(4988):1665–68. doi: 10.1126/science.2270480.Google Scholar
Thorpe, I. J. (2003) Anthropology, archaeology, and the origin of warfare. World Archaeology 35(1):145–65. doi: 10.1080/0043824032000079198.Google Scholar
Walker, P. L. (2001) A bioarchaeological perspective on the history of violence. Annual Review of Anthropology 30(1):573–96. doi: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.30.1.573.Google Scholar