The Expanded Self: Society as Self 279“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanityis resolved. (See related discussion on natural selection in Chapter 3:
Self and the Beginning of Life.)^40
12.8 Social Behavior in Non-human Mammals
Before discussing human societies, for comparative purposes it would be
helpful to have a glimpse of the social orders of some non-human mam-
mals. Animals that live in tightly knit groups are favored by natural selec-
tion as they can achieve things that one can never do. One vivid example
is a pack of African wild dogs overpowering a buffalo many times the body
size of each. To form a working group certain order needs to be in place.
Marc Bekoff, an ethnologist, observed that a society of wolves and coyotes
are governed by strict rules. They have a rudimentary social sense, includ-
ing acts of tolerance, trust, forgiveness, reciprocity and achievement of
fairness among the members. According to Bekoff, these animals acquire
their social code of conduct through ritual plays at a young age. For exam-
ple, an invitation to play is displayed by lying down their forelimbs with
their hind limbs standing — the “bow” posture (incidentally, we see the
same gesture in domestic dogs). As a token of friendship, the stronger
members will let the weaker ones “attack” them by rolling on the ground.
If the exercise gets too rough, one party will “apologize” and display the
bow posture again. Early exposure to these rituals educates the young to
the acceptable behavioral norms. Any member of the pack who breaks
the rules, such as taking more than a fair share of food, will be ostracized
and disbanded by the rest, leading to its wandering away. Without the
benefit of pack living, the excluded animal meets an early death. In exper-
iments with rats, it has been shown that they will not eat food if doing so
inflicts pain on other rats. It was estimated that among animals that live in
groups, over 95% of their behavior is pro-social.^41
12.9 Evolution of Human Societies
It is hard to trace back to the beginnings of human society, but the fol-
lowing picture emerges from archeological evidence and observations