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Group selection or categorical perception?

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Commentary onWilsonDavid Sloan and SoberElliott (1994). Reintroducing group selection to the human behavioral sciences. BBS 17:585–654

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Craig T. Palmer ,
B. Eric Fredrickson  and
Christopher F. Tilley
Craig T. Palmer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80933. cpalmer@brain.uccs.edu
B. Eric Fredrickson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80933. cpalmer@brain.uccs.edu
Christopher F. Tilley
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80933. cpalmer@brain.uccs.edu
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Abstract

Humans appear to be possible candidates for group selection because they are often said to live in bands, clans, and tribes. These terms, however, are only names for conceptual categories of people. They do not designate enduring bounded gatherings of people that might be “vehicles of selection.” Hence, group selection has probably not been a major force in human evolution.

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Type
Continuing Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 780
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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