Freethought Association of West Michigan
Meeting Minutes for March 22, 2000; #65.
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This was our second meeting in the GRCC Calkins Science Bldg., in downtown
GR. We had robust attendance in this spacious and attractive facility.
Thanks again to Dr. Greg Forbes for arranging for this new meeting space,
which will include an on-site museum and has a computerized greenhouse,
currently.
A couple of us from FAOWM attended the Great Lakes Humanist Society meeting
in Mt. Pleasant, MI for their meeting on Humanist and Christian values
regarding marriage and family. Joel Welty, the Vice President of the GLHS,
put together a hand-out titled: "A Humanist View of Marriage" and had
invited anyone from 24 churches to attend and give input into these matters.
Unfortunately, not one person from the religious community attended. He had
wondered how Christians reconcile the many anti-family and devisive messages
to be found in the Bible with their Christian "Family Values" stance. A
photographer and staff writer for Central Michigan Life, the college paper,
attended for the 1st part of the meeting. The reporter, Stephanie Murray,
did a write up on the meeting for CMLIFE.
PLEASE NOTE: There will be NO regular meeting on April 12. Taking its place
will be the special lecture by Michael Shermer: "Why People Believe Weird
Things" to be held @ the Grand Rapids Community College Calkins Science
Bldg. auditorium at 7PM on April 11 (Tuesday). Plan on arriving early, as
this is expected to fill up quickly. Dr. Shermer will also give a lecture @
Alma College in the L1 lecture hall @ the Dow Science Center on April 12 @
8PM.
Upcoming meetings & events:
>APRIL 26: "The Life & Times of Clarence Darrow" to be moderated by Marshall
>Grate.
>APRIL 30 @10AM: Adopt-a-highway, coordinated by Dennis Murphy. Official
>location is from Airway to Beltline.
>MAY 10: "The Ethics of Pre-marital Sex" to be moderated by Rob Adamczyk.
>MAY 14: "Religious Displays on Public Property" to be moderated by Frank
>Bacon.
>JUNE 14: "ALcoholoics Anonymous & Religion" to be moderated by Jill
>Pinkerton.
>JULY 23 @ 10AM: Adopt-a-highway, coordinated by Dennis Murphy.
>SEPTEMBER 24 @ 10AM: Adopt-a-highway.
>OCTOBER 15: Michigan Atheists Convention; Lansing, Michigan.
** All regular FAOWM meetings are @ 7PM @ the GRCC Calkins Science Center.
Our topic for this meeting was "Evolution & Human Sexuality," moderated by
evolutionary biology professor, Carl Bajema. The naturalist W.D. Hamilton
was mentioned in connection with his ideas on altruism and the "good genes
mate choice" theory among others. The latter has to do with how animals
select mates based on their phenotypic indicators of genetic resistance to
disease. Bright coloration in birds is one indicator, as is symmetry--
including the symmetry of the human face in preference to assymetry as an
indicator of genes resistant to the ravages of disease. Hamilton brought to
the field a mathematical method of showing how the percentage of shared
genes influences the behavior of the group. His studies of insect groups,
where a sterile caste works to promote the reproductive success of its
genetically similar colony mates, helping to pass along its own genes in the
process- have been extrapolated to other species. Humans, too, exhibit mate
selection tendencies that unconsciously evaluate the genetic fitness of the
potential mate as well as being more invested in kin sharing more of the
same genes. This brought us to the significantly higher infanticide
statistics exhibited by non-biological parents in human and other animal
species. A herring gull study showed that 20-30% rate of infanticide among
these birds.
Dr. Bajema made the point of how human females are unique to primates by
being essentially in "pernmanent estrus" with concealed ovulation and
copulation not restricted to a specific time as far as human males can tell,
influencing the paternal investment, among other effects.
We discussed the cultural evolution of ideas, where one can trace the
emergence of practices, myths, and other cultural aspects, see the
extinction of some, or recombination of old and new cultural units of
replication ("memes" as coined by biologist Richard Dawkins) into a new form
that is more successful in spreading. This meme's eye view says that the
cultural items themselves benefit from the adaptations they exhibit;
cultural ideas--in contrast to the adaptation- is-always-beneficial- to-
the- organism concept- means that memes be parasites or commensals as well
as mutualists with respect to the genetic success of their human carriers.
Looking at how these units spread has given rise to an epidemiological
approach in studying cultural evolution. Biologist E.O. Wilson has brought
our attention to the question of how tightly bound our ideas/memes may be by
the genetic constraints, or "leash."
Charles Darwin wrote of the role of sexual selection in evolution, which has
been tested and observed in wide-ranging species and is now the centerpiece
of animal behavior studies. Humans, too, engage in great displays of health
and wealth and assess these in others almost continually. Symbols are highly
important indicators of group identification and status, and we talked about
many of these. In the hand-out Dr. Bajema gave us, he quotes Geoffrey Miller
on this concept: "...consumerism is what happens when a smart ape, evolved
for sexual self-promotion, attains the ability to transform the raw
materials of nature into a network of sexual signals and status displays."
Our proclivity to waste resources can be linked in part at least to this
drive toward sexiness via displays of consumerism.
Among the densely- woven tapestry of thoughts expressed this evening, was
the concept of "faculative" behavior. This has to do with if/then strategies
for reproductive success that change with the environment. Control of
territory leads to control of resources, leading to what can be offered
("gifts" etc.). When nothing else works, sexual coercion may take place and
has been observed in many animal species. We talked of the fallacy of
looking at one gene for one effect, leading to genetic determinist ideas.
The social environment needs to be taken into consideration as to what
genetic propensities or strategies may be called up. If we understand the
underlying causes for behavior, we get that much closer to fixing problems
that arise.
Some books and papers Dr. Bajema called our attention to included Susan
Blackmore's The Meme Machine that takes off with Dawkins' "meme" regarding
how, like genes, memes are replicators that compete to get into as many
brains as possible, fashioning our minds and culture just as genes have with
our bodies. Another is David Buss' The Dangerous Passion, dealing with the
necessity of jealousy for mate guarding, protection against cuckoldry, etc.
Daniel Dennett's book Darwin's Dangerous Idea and his paper "The Evolution
of Culture," Sarah Hrdy's Mother Nature, that presents evolution from a
woman's point of view, involving mothers, infants and natural selection,
Bobbi Lowi's Why Sex Matters, Geoffrey Miller's "Waste Is Good" that looks
at how wasteful sexual display, creating impressive and beautiful
structures, is at the root of culture, consciousness and consumerism,
Miller's Mating Mind and Thronbill & Palmer's The Natural History of Rape
were other books mentioned in what Bajema noted is a flood of books on these
topics that will be more visible in mainstream society due to the challenges
to common ideas they present and the sheer number of such books and papers
coming out now.
"To start to think mimetically we have to make a giant flip in our minds
just as biologists had to when taking on the idea of the selfish gene.
Instead of thinking of our ideas as our own creations, and working for us,
we have to think of them as autonomous selfish memes, working only to get
themselves copied. We humans, because of our powers of imitation, have
become physical 'hosts' needed for the memes to get around. This is how the
world looks from a Meme's Eye View." From Susan Blackmore's The Meme
Machine; Oxford (pg.7-8).
