Publisher description
The twenty-first century presents an increasing number of environmental
problems, including toxic pollution, global warming, destruction of tropical
forests, extinction of biological diversity, and depletion of natural
resources. These environmental problems are generally due to human behavior,
namely over-consumption of resources and overpopulation. Designing effective
policies to address these problems requires a deep understanding of human
behavior as well as ecology. This in turn requires considerations of human
nature, and the evolutionary "design" of the human mind. Evolutionary research
on human behavior has profound implications for the environmental sciences. The
aim of this collection is to bring together a variety of chapters that show how
and why. Part 1, "Human Nature and Resource Conservation," addresses
environmental problems from different evolutionary perspectives. Part 2, "The
Ecological Noble Savage Hypothesis," examines the notion that our environmental
problems are due to Western culture, and that our ancestors and people in
indigenous societies lived in harmony with nature until the corrupting
influences of Western culture. Part 3, "The Tragedy of the Commons," explores the conservation of
common-pool or open-access natural resources, such as fisheries, forests,
grazing lands, freshwater, and clean air. Part 4, "The Evolution of Discounting
and Conspicuous Consumption," looks at the problem of explaining why people are
so ecologically short-sighted and why people in developed countries consume so
many resources. Part 5, "Overpopulation and Fertility Declines," addresses the
evolution of human reproductive decisions. Part 6, "Biophilia," aims to explain
why people cherish nature as well as destroy it. The goal of this volume is to
introduce environmental thinkers to evolutionary perspectives on human
behavior, and the new interdisciplinary sciences of evolutionary psychology and
behavioral ecology. This reader aims to help bridge the artificial division
between the biological and social sciences, and provide a synthesis between
evolutionary sciences of human behavior and environmental sciences. This volume introduces evolutionary perspectives on human behavior and the
interdisciplinary sciences of evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology.
It aims to help bridge the artificial division between the biological and
social sciences, and provide a synthesis between evolutionary sciences of human
behavior and environmental sciences.
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Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems
Book reviews » Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems (Evolutionary Foundations of Human Behavior)
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