Darcia Narvaez writes that hyper Darwinism says that genes are the dominant players in our lives. But this may be a way of viewing the world that arises out of body and brain systems that are in self-protective mode as a result of trauma and a lack of early nurture. Despite its prevalence today, it is, throughout history, a minority view human nature.
The majority of human societies do not operate according to a ‘dominator model’. Small-band hunter-gatherer groups show traits like food share, shared and communal parenting practice, co-operation and provision of public goods. These are not just common among humans but are unique to human beings. Most living together in these groups were not related so genes are not the drivers of co-operation. These ‘old growth cultures’ are marked by co-operation and commonality.
Humans create culture and we can choose the kind of culture and worldview within which we want to live. Do we want to create a culture of co-operation or competition? Childrearing practices are influences by culture and those practices in turn create culture. For centuries modern societies have moved away from ‘companionship care’. Self-protective survival systems are developed through poor early parenting and cultural values like competition, status and dominance. According to the survival orientation, these conditions appear to be ‘the natural way things are’. We mistake nature for culture.
Cultures that promote self-centred morality emphasise striving for materialistic goods. This leads to a striving and restless orientation and frequent displays of anger and frustration. Leaders in these cultures emphasise threat from outsiders and require a strongman and the creation of a demon ‘other’ to feel safe. This, paradoxically, is a way for those feeling unsafe to find safety. Inclusivity then becomes threatening.
‘Cultures of honour’ emerged with pastoral society because people needed to stop others stealing their herd and it is likely a hierarchical, patriarchal, aggressive cultures emerged from this. Cultures that emphasise social rank breed narcissism. Obedience, ingroup loyalty and the control of soft emotion are valued highly in these ‘safety cultures’. ‘Greed is good’ ethics allow individuals to detach from moral consequences; those with higher wealth are, in fact, more likely to behave unethically.
Competitive cultures may arise from stress-reactive brains that are not adequately nourished in early life so that they have the capacity for empathy, communality and social imagination. A lack of companionship care may lead to the development of faulty emotional foundations. Individuals may have good analytic skills but poor emotional intelligence and a detached personality; or alternatively poor cognition and disordered emotions which lead to poor choices and decisions. Dysregulated emotional systems are not only bad for self but for the whole of society.