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Posts by Will

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Did humans evolve to 'protect' women? Ethnography complicates a convenient narrative

“The idea that humans evolved to be protective & sensitive to harm directed towards women appears increasingly popular in evolutionary psych [but] ethnographic evidence conflict with this perspective, [which seems] rooted in contemporary WEIRD values rather than an evolved psychological mechanism”

6 months ago 41 9 2 1

More men than women die in war, that is true pretty much everywhere, no doubt. More women than men are beaten by in-group members on a regular basis in many small-scale societies (via domestic violence), and numerous other members react with little sensitivity towards that harm. That is also true.

6 months ago 6 0 1 0

This is such an absurd characterization of what I wrote, obviously I never argued that. This is genuinely a more bad faith reply than anything I said in my post (which IMO is a totally fair article, even if you disagree with it, and I think it certainly brings up numerous totally valid points).

6 months ago 0 0 0 0

Normalized domestic violence, rape & wife capture asymmetrically impact women more than men. Sex-biased infanticide is more often directed towards female infants than male. There's little evidence of any general 'sensitivity to harm towards women' in many societies, beyond perhaps kin, & even then..

6 months ago 6 0 1 0
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Did humans evolve to 'protect' women? Ethnography complicates a convenient narrative

Evolutionary psychologists have claimed that "humans evolved heightened sensitivity to harm directed at women." This excellent (albeit at times gruesome) post makes the point that the ethnographic evidence does not really support this narrative.

6 months ago 95 16 5 3
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Some Uses of Musical Instruments in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Research over the last few years has demonstrated some important patterns of music use across societies.

Uses of musical instruments in hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/some-uses-...

11 months ago 7 1 0 0
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Ritualized treatment of the umbilical cord after birth is common across hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/cutting-th...

11 months ago 4 1 1 1
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Couvade After a child is born among the Kalinago of the West Indies, the mother is quick to get back to regular household work.

In many societies, after a child is born, the father is under a variety of restrictions, such as food and work taboos, under the belief that if he undertakes certain kinds of labor or consumes certain foods it would harm the child via sympathetic magic traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/couvade

11 months ago 16 6 0 0
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Independent hunter-gatherer societies from all over the world have used diss songs in the midst of their conflicts. traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/diss-songs

11 months ago 4 4 0 2
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Handy man In praise of the humble tool belt!

"Considering its common use across nomadic hunter-gatherer societies, and what it represents—as a tool to enable the carrying of more tools—the belt may be a bit of an unsung hero of human history." traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/handy-man

1 year ago 4 2 0 0
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Millions of years of a good night's sleep An ancient tradition that unites all hominids

While most primates do not build sleeping nests, all the great apes do traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/millions-o...

1 year ago 11 1 0 0
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“when a man is publicly accused of being a sorcerer he normally denies that he is. Nevertheless, some men have confided to me that they have successfully performed sorcery and they have told me whom they killed, how they did it, and why…They have even offered to teach me how to perform sorcery…”

1 year ago 5 0 0 0
ORCID

Hi Emily, I would like to be added to the feed if possible. Here is my ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-97...

1 year ago 0 0 1 0
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Abortion procedures in hunter-gatherer societies In an article I wrote for Quillette a few years back, I discussed the high rates of infant and child mortality across societies throughout human history, before industrialization and the rise of more ...

Abortion procedures in hunter-gatherer societies traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/abortion-p...

1 year ago 7 4 0 0
Women's secrets Male cult secrecy offers something of a paradox, as it lays the foundation for performances that are often consciously ostentatious and attention-grabbing.

Importantly though, he adds, “we must not forget that Baruya women have their own secrets, protecting them from men and constantly reminding them that women have powers too.” - @Evolving_Moloch

traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/womens-secre…

3 years ago 3 1 1 0
The Bullroarer — Traditions of Conflict This insignificant toy is perhaps the most ancient, widel...

Toy, ritual tool, religious symbol, sound maker for hunting and herding?

Quite an interesting survey by @Evolving_Moloch on the ethnographic and historic function and use of #bullroarers:

traditionsofconflict.com/blog/2019/12/3/the-bullr...

6 years ago 1 1 1 0
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"Such elaborate designs often take as long as five hours to execute, but are considered necessary to disguise the close relatives of a deceased Tiwi from his ghost as they approach the grave to carry out the final rituals" traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/appeasing-...

1 year ago 8 1 1 0
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Traditional Methods of Black Magic Spooky action at a distance

Traditional Methods of Black Magic traditionsofconflict.substack.com/p/traditiona...

1 year ago 14 9 0 0