i) introduction to Evolutionary Psychology
Human Transformation
Transformation from the Industrial to the Information age has occurred at unprecedented speed.
However, humans started as hunters and gatherers, which lasted around 100,000 years; the change to agricultural societies took thousands of years; the transition from agricultural to industrial societies took a couple of hundred years; then the transition to the information age is taking mere decades (starting in the 1980s).
| Era (society) |
Hunting + Gathering |
Agricultural |
Industrial |
Information/knowledge |
| Speed of change within era |
very, very slow | mostly slow | increasing pace | fast all the time |
| Lasted |
100,000 + years | 10,000 + years | 100's of years | Just starting |
(source: John Kotter et al, 2021
. Even though we live in a world of space exploration and virtual realities, we are still hardwired with the mentality of the cave man, ie an instinct to fight fiercely when threatened, and a need to trade information and share secrets
"...you can take the person out of the Stone Age......but cannot take the Stone Age out of the person..."
Nigel Nicholson, 1998
Furthermore, going back further
“...While gorillas and humans still share almost 98% of their genes, the two species have taken radically different evolutionary paths. Humans developed much bigger brains - leading to effective world domination. Gorillas remain at the same biological and technological level as our shared ancestors. These ancestors inadvertently spawned a physically inferior but intellectually superior species……Complex language is the quintessential feature that sets humans apart from other species……our ability to create symbols and tell stories is what shapes our culture, our laws, and our identities…..has sustained human supremacy for thousands of years…”
Edoardo Campanella, 2024
. A framework for understanding why people tend to act as they do in an organisational setting is called evolutionary psychology and identifies the aspects of human behaviour that are inborn and universal. At the same time, it recognizes that individuals have differences as a result of a person's unique genetic inheritance plus personal experiences and culture.
. Evolutionary psychology raises 2 important questions
"...How might organisations be designed to work in harmony with our bio-genetic identity? Are modern-day executives managing against the grain of human nature?..."
Nigel Nicholson, 1998
. Evolutionary psychology clearly challenges some religious beliefs about creation and free will. Furthermore, it challenges some popular management concepts, which claim that people can change their personalities if correctly trained or motivated
. On the other hand, it has been claimed that evolutionary psychology overstates the bio-genetic origin of cultural mores and norms.