The Ethologists’ UnpaidDebtsto Spencerand Sumner 269a fightcouldbreakout.Undersuchconditions,FamilialTribe1, whereineveryman
continuedto eat in frontof othermen,mighthavebroughtitselfto extinction.By contrast,
FamilialTribe 2 , whichfoundthatit wasappropriatefor eachtribememberto eat his
mealsin completesolitude,mighthavemoresuccessfullypreservedenoughinternal
peacefor the tribethatat leasta few of its memberslivedlongenoughto endowtheir
progenywithboththeirgenes(throughbiologicalprocesses)and their“eat-your-food-in-
private” rules(throughconditioning).Thisshouldsoundfamiliar,as it is similarto Mar-
vin Harris’s theorythat the MiddleEast’s anti-porktaboois a productof gene-cultureco-
evolution.We wentoverthat theoryin BookTwo.
TacklingSociobiologyBeforeThereWasSociobiology
Sumner’s contributionsto evolutionarypsychologyabound.Folkwaysanticipatesthe
theoryof customsbeingwroughtfromgene-culturenatural-selection.To wit:
The strugglefor existencemustbe carriedon underlife conditionsand in connectionwith
the competitionof life.Thelife conditionsconsistin variableelementsof the environ-
ment,the supplyof materialsnecessaryto supportlife, the difficultyof exploitingthem,
the stateof the arts [technology],and the circumstancesof phsyiography,climate,mete-
orology,etc.,whichfavorlife or the contrary.... Interestsand the relationsof actionand
reactionbetweenthe individualandthe life conditions,throughwhichrelationsthe
evolutionof the individualis produced.... It wouldbe an error,however,to suppose
thatall natureis a chaosof warfareandcompetition.Combinationandcooperation
are...fundamentallynecessary... Thiscombinationhaswellbeencalledantagonistic
cooperation.It consistsin the combinationof twopersonsor groupsto satisfya great
commoninterestwhileminorantagonismsof interestwhichexistbetweenthemare
suppressed.... If a savageputshis handtoo nearthe fire,he sufferspainanddrawsit
back.... If he wantsto catchan animalfor food,he muststudyits habitsand preparea
deviceadjustedto thosehabits.If it fails,he musttry again,untilhis observationis “true”
andhis deviceis “right.”... The moralityof a groupat a timeis the sumof the taboos
and prescriptionsin the folkwaysby whichrightconductis defined.... The tabooscarry
on the accumulatedwisdomof generations,whichhas almostalwaysbeenpurchasedby
pain,loss,disease,anddeath.Othertabooscontaininhibitionsof whatwillbe injurious
to the group.Thelawsaboutthe sexes,aboutproperty,aboutwar,andaboutghosts,
havethis character.Sumnercontinuesthat whenone examinesa StoneAgesociety’s mores,one findsthat its
moreswas“neveranythingbut the consonance” betweenwhatwas“doneand whatthe
moresof the age” needed,and that the sameprincipleappliesto the moresof the present
era. By contrast,whenthe IndustrialRevolutionhappened,it broughtabouta tremen-
dousalterationin “the conditionsof life” for the “membersof society,” whichthereupon
renderedobsoletelots of the preindustrialaspectsof the mores.Amongthe StoneAge
moresthatceasedto be usefulwere(1) the us-versus-themmentalityand (2) the convic-
tion,whichI disprovedin BookTwo,thatthereis a fixedquantityof wealthfor humans
to consumethatis ever-depleting.We recallthatthe IndustrialRevolutionalteredthe
environmentalcircumstancesgoverningthe naturalselectionsequencefor thosein the
West.Remarkinguponthis,Sumnerelucidatesthat it wasnecessaryfor Westerncustoms
to “changeby adaptation” to the “newconditions.. .” Thenaturalselectionsequence
wherebythe circumstancesof a people’s biologicalhabithavelongdeterminedwhichof
theircustoms,practices,beliefs,andtraditionssurviveandwhichdie off—especially
beforeindustrializationtookhold—is an aspectof ontologicallygivenhumannaturethat
Sumnerdubs“societalselection.”^25
Sumnertacklesaspectsof sociobiologydecadespriorto E. O. WilsonpenningSociobi-
ology. TheseevolutionarypsychologistsshouldrespectSumnerfor comingup withso