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Ultrasociality, class, threat, and intentionality in human society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Roger A. McCain
Roger A. McCain*
Affiliation:
School of Economics, Lebow College of Business, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104. mccainra@drexel.eduhttp://www.pages.drexel.edu/~mccainra/
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Abstract

Gowdy & Krall neglect an important aspect of human societies, which is that class systems are not genetically based but rather based on threat. In turn, threat presupposes intentionality, so seems to distinguish human from arthropod ultrasociality. Class systems, in turn, seem to explain the distinctive mixture of persistence and instability characteristic of human, but not arthropod, ultrasocial populations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e107
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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