Will

Did humans evolve to 'protect' women? Ethnography complicates a convenient narrative

“The idea that humans evolved to be protective & sensitive to harm directed towards women appears increasingly popular in evolutionary psych [but] ethnographic evidence conflict with this perspective, [which seems] rooted in contemporary WEIRD values rather than an evolved psychological mechanism”

More men than women die in war, that is true pretty much everywhere, no doubt. More women than men are beaten by in-group members on a regular basis in many small-scale societies (via domestic violence), and numerous other members react with little sensitivity towards that harm. That is also true.

This is such an absurd characterization of what I wrote, obviously I never argued that. This is genuinely a more bad faith reply than anything I said in my post (which IMO is a totally fair article, even if you disagree with it, and I think it certainly brings up numerous totally valid points).

Normalized domestic violence, rape & wife capture asymmetrically impact women more than men. Sex-biased infanticide is more often directed towards female infants than male. There's little evidence of any general 'sensitivity to harm towards women' in many societies, beyond perhaps kin, & even then..

Did humans evolve to 'protect' women? Ethnography complicates a convenient narrative

Evolutionary psychologists have claimed that "humans evolved heightened sensitivity to harm directed at women." This excellent (albeit at times gruesome) post makes the point that the ethnographic evidence does not really support this narrative.

Some Uses of Musical Instruments in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Research over the last few years has demonstrated some important patterns of music use across societies.

Uses of musical instruments in hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/some-uses-...

Ritualized treatment of the umbilical cord after birth is common across hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/cutting-th...

Couvade After a child is born among the Kalinago of the West Indies, the mother is quick to get back to regular household work.

In many societies, after a child is born, the father is under a variety of restrictions, such as food and work taboos, under the belief that if he undertakes certain kinds of labor or consumes certain foods it would harm the child via sympathetic magic traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/couvade

Independent hunter-gatherer societies from all over the world have used diss songs in the midst of their conflicts. traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/diss-songs

Handy man In praise of the humble tool belt!

"Considering its common use across nomadic hunter-gatherer societies, and what it represents—as a tool to enable the carrying of more tools—the belt may be a bit of an unsung hero of human history." traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/handy-man

Millions of years of a good night's sleep An ancient tradition that unites all hominids

While most primates do not build sleeping nests, all the great apes do traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/millions-o...

“when a man is publicly accused of being a sorcerer he normally denies that he is. Nevertheless, some men have confided to me that they have successfully performed sorcery and they have told me whom they killed, how they did it, and why…They have even offered to teach me how to perform sorcery…”

Hi Emily, I would like to be added to the feed if possible. Here is my ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-97...

Abortion procedures in hunter-gatherer societies In an article I wrote for Quillette a few years back, I discussed the high rates of infant and child mortality across societies throughout human history, before industrialization and the rise of more ...

Abortion procedures in hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/abortion-p...

Importantly though, he adds, “we must not forget that Baruya women have their own secrets, protecting them from men and constantly reminding them that women have powers too.” - @Evolving_Moloch

traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/womens-secre…

Toy, ritual tool, religious symbol, sound maker for hunting and herding?

Quite an interesting survey by @Evolving_Moloch on the ethnographic and historic function and use of #bullroarers:

https://traditionsofconflict.com/blog/2019/12/3/the-bullroarer

"Such elaborate designs often take as long as five hours to execute, but are considered necessary to disguise the close relatives of a deceased Tiwi from his ghost as they approach the grave to carry out the final rituals" traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/appeasing-...

Traditional Methods of Black Magic Spooky action at a distance

Traditional Methods of Black Magic traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/traditiona...