64
4 The Animal Sensorium
The American naturalist E.O. Wilson, known as the “father of sociobiology”,
showed that in natural selection there is a spectrum of reproductive strategies,
which trade off between quantity and quality of offspring. At one end of the
spectrum, a species may follow an r-selected strategy, in which each individual
produces a very large number of offspring, and does not care for them. At the
other end is the K-selected strategy in which individuals have few offspring but
invest lots of time and energy in their nurture and protection. Humans are at
the extreme end of the K-type in our reproductive strategy. 5
In K-selected species, the male usually commits for life to a female and
helps provide for their young. Moreover, the female dedicates a considerable
time—often years—to preparing the young for life on their own. How does
nature induce animals to make so huge a sacrifice? It is by programming the
Sensorium: At the appropriate times of life, male and female individuals are
drawn together by the feeling of love. Moreover, the female is induced to care
for her offspring by motherly feelings that endure over the years.
Throughout the animal kingdom, males and females are brought to reproduce because sexual desire and the sensation of sexual pleasure are built into
the Sensorium. Man and other animals are drawn to build shelters in order to
protect themselves—and above all their young—from the vicissitudes of the
elements. In social animals, other feelings evolve such as generosity, pity and
empathy.
According to the dominant version of Darwinism, evolution is a process
that acts on species. It promotes the kind of behavior that is most beneficial to
the population at large. In particular, it leads to an optimal balance between
competition and cooperation. If competition were too fierce, the species would
not survive—and the same is true if individuals were overly altruistic. The
animal Sensorium carries out a task which can be likened to homeostasis. It
keeps the behavior of individuals within what can be called a normal range.
If the average of the population strayed too far outside that range, our
species would crash. But within that range, there is a wide spectrum of individual variation, and it is this variation which yields differences in individual
personality, and diversity of cultures. The admissible range is what Aristotle
called the Golden Mean. To the extent that we have free will, it is possible
for every individual to choose their own path and follow a personal destiny.
The strictures which we believe society imposes on us—and which the 18th
Century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed was a social contract—are
actually dictated by biological and evolutionary imperatives.
4 The Animal Sensorium
The American naturalist E.O. Wilson, known as the “father of sociobiology”,
showed that in natural selection there is a spectrum of reproductive strategies,
which trade off between quantity and quality of offspring. At one end of the
spectrum, a species may follow an r-selected strategy, in which each individual
produces a very large number of offspring, and does not care for them. At the
other end is the K-selected strategy in which individuals have few offspring but
invest lots of time and energy in their nurture and protection. Humans are at
the extreme end of the K-type in our reproductive strategy. 5
In K-selected species, the male usually commits for life to a female and
helps provide for their young. Moreover, the female dedicates a considerable
time—often years—to preparing the young for life on their own. How does
nature induce animals to make so huge a sacrifice? It is by programming the
Sensorium: At the appropriate times of life, male and female individuals are
drawn together by the feeling of love. Moreover, the female is induced to care
for her offspring by motherly feelings that endure over the years.
Throughout the animal kingdom, males and females are brought to reproduce because sexual desire and the sensation of sexual pleasure are built into
the Sensorium. Man and other animals are drawn to build shelters in order to
protect themselves—and above all their young—from the vicissitudes of the
elements. In social animals, other feelings evolve such as generosity, pity and
empathy.
According to the dominant version of Darwinism, evolution is a process
that acts on species. It promotes the kind of behavior that is most beneficial to
the population at large. In particular, it leads to an optimal balance between
competition and cooperation. If competition were too fierce, the species would
not survive—and the same is true if individuals were overly altruistic. The
animal Sensorium carries out a task which can be likened to homeostasis. It
keeps the behavior of individuals within what can be called a normal range.
If the average of the population strayed too far outside that range, our
species would crash. But within that range, there is a wide spectrum of individual variation, and it is this variation which yields differences in individual
personality, and diversity of cultures. The admissible range is what Aristotle
called the Golden Mean. To the extent that we have free will, it is possible
for every individual to choose their own path and follow a personal destiny.
The strictures which we believe society imposes on us—and which the 18th
Century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed was a social contract—are
actually dictated by biological and evolutionary imperatives.