TAKING SIDES: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Physical Anthropology
PART 1. Evolution and Genetics
New! ISSUE 1. Is Evolution a Gradual Process?
New! YES: Douglas J. Futuyma, from Science on Trial (Pantheon Books, 1982)
New! NO: Stephen Jay Gould, from “What Is a Species?” Discover (December 1992)
Douglas Futuyma discusses Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace’s ideas that evolution is responsible for physical and behavioral changes in all species and that this process is a gradual one. In contrast, Stephen Gould argues that evolution can occur quickly. He links speciation with environmental factors and suggests that intense selection pressure leads to either extinction or rapid evolutionary change.
New! ISSUE 2. Does Human Cloning and Genetic Engineering Pose Evolutionary Dangers?
New! YES: Kenneth Kosik, from “The Fortune Teller,” The Sciences (July/August 1999)
New! NO: Robert Sapolsky, from “A Gene for Nothing,” Discover (October 1997)
Kenneth Kosik suggests that there are dangers and ethical issues inherent in genetic research and its results. In contrast, Robert Sapolsky stresses the importance of environment and social learning in determining how genes are expressed. He argues that individuals with the same biology do not necessarily develop the same personality.
New! ISSUE 3. Is Culture Responsible for the Spread of Ethnically Related Disease?
New! YES: Jared Diamond, from “The Curse and Blessing of the Ghetto,” Discover (March 1991)
New! NO: Josie Glausiusz, from “Unfortunate Drift,” Discover (June 1995)
Jared Diamond argues that the high incidence of the Tay Sachs gene among eastern European Jews was caused by cultural discrimination. He suggests that racial prejudice kept the Jewish population confined to urban ghettos. In these crowded conditions, the Tay Sachs gene may afford some protection against tuberculosis. Josie Glausiusz, on the other hand, believes that genetic drift alone is responsible for the presence of the gene in this population.
New! ISSUE 4. Should the Concept of "Intelligent Design" Replace Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?
New! YES: William A. Dembski, from The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
New! NO: John Rennie, from “15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense,” Scientific American (July 2002)
William Dembski argues that the theory of "intelligent design" provides a more accurate picture of the world than traditional evolutionary theory. John Rennie contends that intelligent design is really creationism in disguise and should not be taken seriously by scientists. PART 2. Primate Evolution and the Evolution of Early Hominids
New! ISSUE 5. Is Male Aggression and Competition Key to Reproductive Success?
New! YES: Carl Zimmer, from “First, Kill the Babies,” Discover (September 1996)
New! NO: Shannon Brownlee, from “These Are Real Swinging Primates,” Discover (April 1987)
Carl Zimmer suggests that male aggression and competition are key to reproductive success. He describes situations in which killing infants sired by rivals increases the chances of the dominant male reproducing. In contrast, Shannon Brownlee suggests that the ability to mate longer and more frequently is a more important selective factor than aggression in some primate societies.
New! ISSUE 6. Are Primate Females Selected to Be Monogamous?
New! YES: David M. Buss, from The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating (BasicBooks, 1994)
New! NO: Carol Tavris, from The Mismeasure of Women (Simon and Schuster, 1992)
David Buss suggests that primate females have a different reproductive strategy than males. In his view, females favor monogamy because it increases the chances of male investment in them and their offspring. Carol Tavris argues instead that the best strategy for primate females is to get pregnant as soon as possible. Like males, females benefit from having multiple partners and engaging in promiscuous sex.
New! ISSUE 7. Do Chimpanzees Hunt Competitively?
New! YES: Craig B. Stanford, from “To Catch a Colobus,” Natural History (January 1995)
New! NO: Christophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Achermann, from “Dim Forest, Bright Chimps,” Natural History (September 1991)
Craig Stanford argues that Gombe chimpanzees often hunt competitively in open, woodland environments. He suggests that this sort of environment was the one in which human hunting first evolved. Christophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Achermann contend that cooperative hunting works better in a dense, rain forest environment. In their opinion, the hunting behavior of the Tai chimps provides a better model of early human evolution.
New! ISSUE 8. Does Homosexuality or Bisexuality Have Any Evolutionary Advantage for Primates?
New! YES: Meredith F. Small, from “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” Discover (June 1992)
New! NO: Melvin Konner, from “Homosexuality: Who and Why?” The New York Times Magazine (April 2, 1989)
Meredith Small suggests that homosexuality and bisexuality may have important evolutionary advantages for bonobos. Although these behaviors do not directly lead to reproduction, they do serve to increase social cohesion and bonding among group members. In contrast, Melvin Konner suggests that homosexuality is primarily the product of social conditioning and enculturation and not biological factors.
New! ISSUE 9. Are Male and Female Relationships Based Primarily on Reproductive Sex?
New! YES: C. Owen Lovejoy, from “The Origin of Man,” Science (January 1981)
New! NO: Barbara Smuts, from “What Are Friends For?” Natural History (February 1987)
Owen Lovejoy suggests that pair-bonding between males and females insures greater reproductive success. Thus, sex is the main reason they associate together. In contrast, Barbara Smuts argues that primate males and females associate together for many other reasons besides reproduction.
New! ISSUE 10. Did Bipedalism Develop as a Response to Heat Stress?
New! YES: Pete Wheeler, from “Human Ancestors Walked Tall, Stayed Cool,” Natural History (August 1993)
New! NO: Pat Shipman, from “Scavenger Hunt,” Natural History (April 1984)
Pete Wheeler contends that climatic changes in Africa forced early hominids to walk upright in order to cope with the resulting heat stress. Pat Shipman suggests that changes in diet rather than changes in climate were responsible for the evolution of bipedalism. She suggests that scavenging may have been the decisive factor leading to this change.
New! ISSUE 11. Is Australopithecus Africanus on the Direct Line to Modern Humans?
New! YES: Meave Leakey and Alan Walker, from “Early Hominid Fossils from Africa,” Scientific American (June 1997)
New! NO: Bernard Wood, from “The Oldest Hominid Yet,” Nature (September 1994)
Meave Leakey and Alan Walker argue that there is good archaeological evidence to support the claim that later hominids evolved from Australopithecus Africanus. In contrast, Bernard Wood favors the idea that Australopithecus Africanus was an evolutionary dead end. In his view, Africanus should not be considered an ancestor of modern humans. PART 3. The Evolution of Later Humans
New! ISSUE 12. Is Hominid Brain Expansion Linked to the Invention of Stone Tools?
New! YES: Kenneth P. Oakley, from “On Man’s Use of Fire, with Comments on Tool-Making and Hunting,” in Sherwood L. Washburn, ed., Social Life of Early Man (Aldine Publishing, 1961)
New! NO: Dean Falk, from Braindance (Henry Holt, 1992)
Kenneth Oakley suggests that the development of tools led to selection for intelligence among early hominids. Dean Falk opposes this perspective. Falk contends that hominid brain expansion is linked to the body’s ability to effectively diffuse heat.
New! ISSUE 13. Is Hunting More Critical Than Gathering to Cultural Development?
New! YES: Sherwood L. Washburn and C.S. Lancaster, from “The Evolution of Hunting,” in Richard B. Lee and Irven DeVore, eds., Man the Hunter (Aldine Publishing, 1968)
New! NO: Sally Slocum, from “Woman the Gatherer: Male Bias in Anthropology,” in Rayna R. Reiter, ed., Toward an Anthropology of Women (Monthly Review Press, 1975)
Sherwood Washburn and C.S. Lancaster propose that hunting stimulates cultural development among early humans. In contrast, Sally Slocum contends that gathering is just as important as hunting to cultural development. She cites male bias in anthropology as the reason that this factor has been often overlooked in the study of human evolution.
New! ISSUE 14. Does Biology Limit a Woman’s Ability to Hunt?
New! YES: Ernestine Friedl, from “Society and Sex Roles,” in James Spradley and David W. McCurdy, eds., Conformity and Conflict: Reading in Cultural Anthropology (Allyn and Bacon, 2003)
New! NO: Agnes Estioko-Griffin and P. Bion Griffin, from “Woman the Hunter: The Agta,” in Caroline B. Brettell and Carolyn F. Sargent, eds., Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Prentice Hall, 2001)
Ernestine Friedl argues that pregnancy and nursing young infants tends to limit women’s ability to hunt effectively in hunting and gathering societies. Agnes Estioko-Griffin and Bion Griffin disagree. They provide evidence that in some hunting and gathering societies, women hunt just as regularly and effectively as men.
New! ISSUE 15. Is Cannibalism a Prominent Feature of Prehistoric Societies?
New! YES: Ann Gibbons, from “Archaeologists Rediscover Cannibals,” Science (August 1997)
New! NO: Noel T. Boaz and Russell L. Ciochon, from “The Scavenging of ‘Peking Man’,” Natural History (March 2001)
Ann Gibbons contends that cannibalism was a more prominent feature in many prehistoric societies than many archaeologists initially believed. In contrast, Noel Boaz and Russell Ciochon suggest that scientists are sometimes too quick to cry cannibalism when other explanations may be more accurate. They provide evidence that the condition of the skulls and other bones found at the Peking Man site was not caused by cannibalism.
New! ISSUE 16. Does Cave Art Depict Shamanism?
New! YES: Sharon Begley, from “Secrets of the Cave’s Art,” Newsweek (May 1999)
New! NO: Pat Shipman, from “Old Masters,” Discover (July 1990)
Sharon Begley suggests that cave art primarily depicts the spiritual life of humans in paleolithic times. Pat Shipman opposes this view. She argues that art had a practical rather than spiritual value. According to her view, art may have functioned as a teaching aid, a means to preserve information about animal habits, or as a description of social ritual.
New! ISSUE 17. Is "Race" an Outdated Concept?
New! YES: C. Loring Brace, from “Does Race Exist? An Antagonist’s Perspective,” Nova Online (October 12, 2000)
New! NO: George W. Gill, from “Does Race Exist? A Proponent’s Perspective,” Nova Online (October 12, 2000)
C. Loring Brace argues that there is no evidence that biological races actually exist. Therefore, he thinks that the concept should be retired. In contrast, George Gill argues that race is a useful biological concept and should not be discarded by scientists.
