Five Behaviors Explained by Evolutionary Psychology

Selflessness

It is the norm for Mother Nature to be ruthless in its process of natural selection. The weaker members of the species usually die due to the unforgiving nature of predation and disease. Humanity however is one of the very few species that will consciously make an effort to provide a means for other members of its species to survive, even if it means making life harder for them.

It is fairly obvious how this behaviour has come about; due to the fact being selfless not only preserves other members of the species in order for them to reproduce but also because being selfless is paradoxical. Being selfless is in fact not selfless at all. Being selfless, especially in the presence of potential mates will have almost certainly showed a kind and giving nature which mates will have found attractive qualities for bringing up children. An excess of resources to give away to those in need will have also shown dominance or superiority over those who don’t have extra supplies to give away.

Intraspecies Violence

Humans, even by the rigorous standards of the natural world around us, are fairly bloodthirsty, especially when it comes to being violent to one another. As far as evolution is concerned one would presume that being injuring or killing members of your own tribe would result in exclusion and ultimately ruin the chances of having offspring. However, this is perhaps not true. Strong ancestors of the human race as we know it would have had to show dominance in order to win over potential mates; and what better way to do this than to batter weaker individuals into submission. This seems like a fairly animalistic way to determine a mate and indeed it is, but we have to remember that this may have well been the modus operandi as far as choosing mates was concerned 100,000’s of years ago. The genes for aggressive behaviour will therefore have been passed onto the offspring of these individuals who took what they wanted by force.  

Another added “bonus” of having violent members of the species present is that they would have been much more adept at fending off competition and predators. This may be in the former of larger carnivorous animals, or simply members of the same species who are encroaching upon the territory of another family/group.

Talking

Talking, or more specifically language, is the ultimate tool as far as the human race is concerned. It has given us an advantage over every single other species on the planet, despite the fact that it cannot be eaten, used as a physical tool or used to extend life expectancy. How language first arose is still largely a mystery; however it is quite obvious why it was such a successful implement for a species to carry in its arsenal once it had.  

Even the most basic commands such as “Go” or “Move” or “Danger” will have given a tribe a massive advantage over a tribe or group which has not made the same evolutionary leap. Even the most primitive vocal commands give a huge advantage during hunting and defence due to the fact that they allow a tribe to be much more organised. Tribes that had acquired language, no matter how basic are far more likely to have survived in order to reproduce, thus passing on the “Language Genes” to their children.