Week 4 — Social life, cooperation, and culture

Lectures in this week

• 4.1 Kinship and family dynamics

  Genetic relatedness as the architecture of the family.

• 4.2 Cooperation and reciprocal altruism

  How cooperation among non-kin evolves and stays stable.

• 4.3 Aggression, status, and dominance

  Aggression as a context-sensitive strategy.

• 4.4 Coalitions, groups, and warfare

  The psychology of us-versus-them.

• 4.5 Language and communication

  Language as an evolved instinct.

• 4.6 Emotions as evolved programs

  Emotions as coordinating superordinate programs.

• 4.7 Culture, religion, and the evolved mind

  How an evolved mind generates and constrains culture.

• 4.8 Capstone synthesis

  Pulling the framework together; promise and limits.