Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us
576
Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us
576Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633885707 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 07/26/2019 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 576 |
| Sales rank: | 745,288 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d) |
About the Author
Avi Tuschman (Washington, DC) is an expert on the hidden roots of political orientation. He began his career in politics as the youngest advisor in the government palace in Lima. While serving as the Senior Writer to President Alejandro Toledo (Peru, 2001-2006), Tuschman produced numerous articles and speeches designed to shape public opinion. In 2009, Dr. Tuschman joined hands with Toledo and seventeen other former presidents to co-write a regional policy agenda on democratic governance. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lauded the document and called it historically unprecedented. Tuschman holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in evolutionary anthropology from Stanford.
Read an Excerpt
Preface
Political polarization in the United States has reached dangerous levels. On issue after issue, the US Congress is hopelessly paralyzed, and we have recently witnessed one of the most ideologically divisive presidential campaigns of our lifetimes. As frustrations deepen and rival accusations fly, “we the people” are left searching for answers. In this troubled time, Our Political Nature can perform a vital public service, for it examines two questions that are absolutely fundamental to the future of this country: Where do our political orientations really come from? And what are the root causes of our debilitating left-right divide?
Our Political Nature brings into the light the hidden dynamics of our most deeply held political convictions. It explains the factors that influence who we vote for, who we choose as mates, and whether or not we believe in God. The book also helps readers understand that the polarizing left-right divide is by no means unique to America; in truth, similar political spectrums run through almost every country around the globe.
This work is based on ten years of research at Stanford University and from my career advising heads of state on shaping public opinion. During this journey, I’ve gathered dozens of new insights from the diverse disciplines of neuroscience, primatology, genetics, and anthropology. Still, few of these studies have percolated up and been published by prominent authors or journalists. So I wrote this book as a first effort to draw together this diverse research into one single, well-documented explanation of the biological foundations of our most important values. My aim here, in sum, is to paint a compelling and accurate portrait of our nature as political animals.
Today’s political commentators would have us believe that we vote based on our views about the main issues of the day, on our economic circumstances, or on our longtime affiliations with this political party or that. That’s wrong, or at least incomplete. Step by step, I will explain that our political orientations are not simply intellectual constructs, flowing from our upbringing, our schooling, our peer groups, or which newspapers we read. No, our political orientations are actually natural dispositions, molded within each of us by powerful evolutionary forces.
The substantiation comes from some surprising sources. For instance, I will explain why twins who have been separated at birth and nurtured in very different environments nonetheless grow up to share remarkably similar political attitudes. Likewise, I will highlight research that shows that a brain scan can accurately predict whether a person is more likely to be a liberal or a conservative. I will also reveal why a group’s political spectrum shifts slightly to the left or the right depending on the homeland of its ancestors.
From different perspectives, I will show how political orientations across space and time arise from three clusters of measurable personality traits. The three clusters entail opposing attitudes toward tribalism, inequality, and differing perceptions of human nature. Together, these traits are by far the most powerful cause of left-right voting, even leading people to regularly vote against their economic interests. As I will explain, our political personalities also shape our likely choice of a mate and influence societies’ larger reproductive patterns. Perhaps most importantly of all, the book tells the evolutionary stories of these crucial personality traits, which stem from epic biological conflicts.
The underlying science here is complex and often challenging. However, I have gone to great lengths to turn this material into a vivid and entertaining expedition through the worlds of hunters and gatherers, selfish and generous genes, and even viruses. Also, to make the book relevant to a wide range of readers, I have used current news stories and personalities to illustrate core concepts. For example, readers will meet Glenn Beck and Hugo Chavez and come to understand the hidden forces they represent. And they will understand why Ayatollah Khamenei goes on extended rants on state television to condemn miniskirts. In sum, by blending serious academic research with relevant contemporary examples, Our Political Nature will give readers an entirely new way to understand the events that are roiling our world today.
While this book covers extremely controversial issues, my intention here is not to take sides; it is to illuminate. I want to help people understand the origin of the painful ideological clashes that so dangerously divide and imperil our world. My intent is not to push people to the left or to the right, but to explain why our political personalities stretch across a conflictive spectrum.
Ultimately, I seek to provide readers with new insights into why the battles between moderates and extremists, and between the left and the right, will persist into the foreseeable future. Yes, our world is now in a period of profound change. News cycles are faster than ever. And social media, the Internet, and cable television have injected steroids into the muscle of public opinion. Still, most people remain largely uninformed about the evolutionary origins of political orientation. Through Our Political Nature, readers will gain deep insight into how evolutionary drivers and key demographic trends are right now transforming the future of our country and our world. In essence, this book provides readers with a pair of “evolutionary glasses,” new lenses that will help them perceive the natural history of our species’s political orientations, and how this history is intimately connected to today’s news cycle and to our private lives.
It is my fervent hope that a deeper understanding of the hidden roots of our true nature and of our relationships with others will quiet the heart—and that the powerful yet elegant theory of evolution will help readers make sense of an otherwise perplexing world. Armed with that deeper understanding, perhaps we can raise the level of our political discourse and strengthen our noble democratic processes. That, at the highest level, is the mission and purpose of Our Political Nature.
Table of Contents
Foreword Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe 7
Preface 11
Introduction: Searching for the Origin of Political Identity 15
1 The Burning Man of Tunisia 17
2 The Universal Political Animal 23
3 What Economics Can and Cannot Predict 34
4 The Invention of the Political Litmus Test 45
5 Unearthing the Three Roots of Political Orientation 56
I Tribalism on the Political Spectrum 63
6 Ethnocentrism vs. Xenophilia 65
7 Religiosity vs. Secularism 81
8 Attitudes toward Sexuality, Homosexuality, and Gender Roles 106
II The Biology of Tribalism 129
9 When Outbreeding Is Fit and Inbreeding Isn't 131
10 When Inbreeding Is Fit and Outbreeding Isn't 147
11 How Optimal Mating Happens 171
12 Why Gender Inequality and Fertility Change across Human History 194
13 The Biology of War and Genocide 214
III DO We Live in a Just World? 243
14 Attitudes toward Inequality and Authority in Society 245
15 Attitudes toward Inequality and Authority within the Family 262
IV The Biology of Family Conflict 283
16 Why Sibling Conflict Occurs and Polarizes Political Personalities 285
V Are People by Nature Cooperative or Competitive? 297
17 Sages through the Ages 299
18 Do Perceptions of Human Nature Change as We Age? 315
VI Illuminating Our True Human Nature 325
19 The Conservative Altruism: Kin Selection 329
20 The Liberal Altruism: Reciprocity 343
21 Altruism across the Lifespan: The Neurological Development of Cynicism 358
22 The Altruism That Isn't: Self-Deception among People and Politicians 367
23 The Enigmatic Altruism of Heroic Rescuers 395
Concluding Thoughts 401
Acknowledgments 415
Appendix A A Brief Word on Correlations and Level of Significance for Laypeople 417
Appendix B Joe the Plumber, Political Elites, and the Controversial Existence of Public Opinion 421
Epilogue 427
Notes 447
Figure Credits 509
Index 513