276 Chapter 11
the aspectof it that pointsout that particularcustomsemergethroughnaturalselectionas
a consequenceof thosecustomsbeingadaptationsto particularcircumstancesexisting
withina humansociety’s biologicalhabitat.But Sumnerhad alreadyarguedthatpointin
1906.Evolutionarypsychologistsdo not fess up thattheybuilton insightsalreadypubli-
cizedby SpencerandSumner.WilsonandLumsden—as witheverybodyelse—opt to
defilethe namesof theirnineteenth-centuryforebears.Writingtogether,Lumsdenand
WilsonaccuseSpencerof “SocialDarwinism.”^41 Writingsolo,Wilsoncontends,“Franz
Boas,aidedby his famousstudentsRuthBenedictandMargaretMead,led a crusade
againstwhattheyperceived(correctly)to be the eugenicsandracismimplicitin Social
Darwinism.Withcautionsweptasideby moralzeal,theyturnedoppositionintothe new
ideologyof culturalrelativism.”^42 Thatstatementis misleading.Onewouldgleanfromit
that Drs.Boas,Benedict,and Mead,havingbeencollectivelycast by Wilsonas enemiesof
socialDarwinismandsupportersof culturalrelativism,wouldcorrespondinglybe the
enemiesof Sumner,whomWilsonchristened“the absoluteSocialDarwinist.”^43
The truthis thatDr. Benedictherselfwasinfluencedby Sumnerand citedFolkwaysin
her monographPatternsof Culture. Moreover,thissameworkcontaineda prefaceby
Meadand an introductionby Boas^44 —the sameMeadand BoaswhomWilsonerroneous-
ly characterizedas havingcrusadedagainstSumner’s teachings.Andthe “culturalrelati-
vism” that Wilsonimputesto her was,as we havewitnessedpreviously,a bastardization
of Sumner’s admonitionsagainstethnocentrism.
As for Spencer,he also,to somedegree,anticipatedthe gene-cultureco-evolution
theorypropagatedby Wilsonand Lumsden.To reviewwhatwe saidin BookTwo,that is
the theorythatthe humangenepoolandculturalcustomschangedconterminously,
affectingone anotherin a feedbackloop.Naturalselectionled to the emergenceof free
will,communication,and learning-by-imitatingin humanbeings,thusensuringthe prop-
agationof culturefromone generationto another.A familialclanwasableto ensureits
long-termgeneticlegacyinsofaras its customswereadequatein adaptingthatclanto its
geographicenvironment.Successin suchadaptationlikewisedeterminedwhichgenes
wouldbe transmittedthroughthe generations,as wellas whichcustoms.Alterationsin
the environment—including technologicaladvancements—producechangesin which
customs,behaviors,andotherfolkwaysare mostconduciveto adaptation.RobertL.
CarneiroexplicateshowSpenceranticipatedaspectsof thismodel.As Carneiropara-
phrases,“Environmentalchanges,modifyingthe conditionsof existence,leadto a modifi-
cationof humancharacter.Thismodifiedcharacteris no longercongruouswiththe
existingsocialsystem.Andthis incongruityproducesa disequilibriumwhichultimately
resultsin reequilibration.The reequilibrationyieldsa socialsystemmoreconsistentwith
the alterednatureof its members.”^45 Speakingfor himself,Spencerphrasesit, “the char-
actersof the environmentco-operatewiththe charactersof humanbeingsin determining
socialphenomena.. .”^46 Additionally,“Eitherthe socialarrangementsare gradually
changeduntiltheycomeintoharmonywithprevailingideasandsentiments;or, if sur-
roundingconditionspreventchangein the socialarrangements,the necessitatedhabitsof
life modifythe prevailingideasandsentimentsto the requisiteextent.”^47 Thisresultsin
“the increasingactionandreactionof institutionsandcharacter,eachslowlymodifying
the otherthroughsuccessivegenerations.”^48 As such,“the societyas a wholehas the
characterof its sustainingsystemdeterminedby the generalcharacterof its environ-
ment.. .”^49 Finally,“Whilespreadingoverthe Earthmankindhas foundenvironmentsof
variouscharacters,andin eachcasethe sociallife falleninto,partlydeterminedby the
sociallife previouslyled, has beenpartlydeterminedby the influenceof the newenviron-
ment.”^50
Andthereare otherevolutionarypsychologistswhorefrainfrombelittlingSpencer
and Sumnerso virulently,but still refuseto thankthemfor erectingthe foundationupon