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The Myth of Culture: Why We Need a Genuine Natural Science of Societies
Author(s): Nigel Barber (Author)
- Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Publication Date: 3 July 2008
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 315 pages
- ISBN-10: 184718619X
- ISBN-13: 9781847186195
Book Description
Before oxygen’s discovery, scientists invoked a mysterious inner principle of fire to account for burning. Today, scholars appeal to an analogously unscientific inner principle, known as culture, to account for human actions. So what is wrong with culture?! It extends from the contents of Petrie dishes to art galleries and is far too imprecise for scientific use. Science aims to separate causes from effects but social scientists use “culture” indiscriminately as both cause and effect making scientific progress impossible. Finally, culture is a smokescreen distracting us from the quest for objective influences on human behavior. (Polygamy is more about parasites than religion, for instance). This book is both a critique of culture-centered social sciences and the manifesto for a new approach – evolutionary social science – that synthesizes evolution and sociology. The author demonstrates that a natural-science approach to human societies helps us to understand social problems such as health inequality and violent crime. Written in a more high-spirited and accessible style than is customary for academic works, The Myth of Culture is a full-throttle indictment of ivory-tower social scientists whose arcane lore does more to feather their nests than to advance knowledge, or solve human problems. It should have broad appeal among college-educated people around the world.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘Nigel Barber has done it again! Barber is a first-rate scholar with a gift for tackling successfully issues of culture from an evolutionary psychological perspective. Barber’s new book, “The Myth of Culture,” is a tour de force of his own and others’ work indicating that “culture” is not a causal force, but is generated by evolved psychological mechanisms, with the result that any sensible and comprehensive analysis of culture must invoke an evolutionary perspective. Barber’s book is not only a scholarly achievement, it is equally well-written and engaging. Anyone with an interest in culture, evolution, or their interface will enjoy this book immensely, even if they disagree with some of Barber’s arguments or conclusions.’- Todd Shackelford, Professor of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University.’Dr. Nigel Barber, a prolific contributor to the research literature on both animal and human behavior, has intensified the debate between scientists who use evolutionary process to explain the broad themes of social behavior, including love and marriage, and their opponents, who attribute such patterns to culture. Barber forcefully argues that ‘the explanatory fabric of cultural determinism is as threadless as the Emperor’s new clothes’. People who have toured a church in Paris and a mosque in Tehran, and listened to the different languages spoken in the aisles, might initially be unwilling to believe that culture is a myth, but those who read the book will become cautious about assuming that such sociocultural variables are the prime determinants of the human behavior in the two regions. In Barber’s analysis, such variables as heritable resistance to parasites, and the ratio of males to females in a given area, provide a stronger explanation of social institutions such as polygamy and single parenthood than culture or religion. Supporters of an evolutionary analysis of human behaviour will be delighted with Barber’s penetrating commentary. Supporters of cultural interpretations of human affairs will have to read Barber’s provocative analysis to avoid making one of the many analytic errors that Barber harpoons, and retain some credibility in scientific discussions.’ – Michael Cunningham, Professor of Psychology, University of Louisville, President, International Network on Personal Relationships (2001-2002). ‘Barber has written an important book that should leave a lasting mark on cross-cultural science. He clarifies some of the more perplexing results from previous investigations, helps to resolve ongoing empirical debates and theoretical controversies, and speculates in ways that should productively stimulate future cross-cultural research agendas. His own research is but the tip of an iceberg of new findings that will forever doom the view that culture fully causes and essentially determines human behavioral diversity.’ – David P. Schmitt, Professor and Chair of Psychology, Bradley University, Founding Director, International Sexuality Description Project.
About the Author
Nigel Barber received his Ph.D. in Biopsychology from Hunter College, CUNY, and taught psychology at Bemidji State University and Birmingham Southern College. A prolific cross-national researcher, Barber accounts for societal differences in sexual and reproductive behavior using an innovative evolutionary approach. Books include Why Parents Matter, The Science of Romance, and Kindness in a Cruel World.
