Biology of Politics

"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the
Light of Evolution" is the famous quote and title
of an essay by the evolutionary biologist
Theodosius Dobzhansky to address the highly
politicized debates over the teaching of evolution
in the 1970's. In this course we will replace
"biology" with "politics". Throughout the course
we will critically examine the evidence for and
against the idea that aspects of human sociality
have both a genetic basis and evolutionarily
adaptive purpose. To construct an informed
critique, modern methods used to disentangle
"Nature versus Nurture" will be presented and
evaluated. With these tools and results, we can
then consider if there is an evolutionarily
adaptive purpose for behavioral and personality
traits associated with political ideologies such
as: empathy, aggression, social trust, attitudes
towards authoritarianism, continuums from
individualism to collectivism, and many more. To
further the critique, we will have to look at
modes of natural selection that expand the
standard model where only selfish genes prevail
and altruism is destined to extinction. These
models include game theory and are supported with
the results of experimental economics. In addition
to grappling with the genetics, we will have to
confront the psychometric tools used to measure
human behavior and personality. Recent advances in
neuroscience, epigenetics will add the final layer
to our investigation. Through a series of
lectures, discussions of recently published
studies, reviews and class activities, students
will draw their own conclusions about the current
political state of our species, Homo sapiens. And
finally from this, make and support predictions
about our future.