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1、WhyDoPeopleBecomeModern?ADarwinianExplanationLESLEYNEWSONPETERJ.RICHERSONMOSTMODERNPEOPLEthinkitisobviouswhypeoplebecomemodern.Forthem,amoreinterestingandimportantpuzzleiswhysomepeoplefailtoembracemodernideas.Whydopeopleintraditionalsocietiesoftenseemun-ableorunwi
2、llingtoaspiretoabetterlifeforthemselvesandtheirchildren?Whydotheyfailtoseethebenefitsofeducation,equalrights,democracy,andarationalapproachtodecisionmaking?Whatisthegluethatmakesthemadheretosuperstition,religion,andobligationstofamilyandtribeevenifitmeansacceptinga
3、lifeofinsecurityandpoverty?The“kininfluencehypothesis”(Newsonetal.2005)suggestsanexpla-nationbothforwhypeoplebecomemodernandforwhymodernideasareoftenslowtobeacceptedbyapopulation.Thehypothesisisbasedontheunderstandinggainedbysocial-psychologicalresearchofhowcultura
4、lnormschange.IttakesaDarwinianapproachtoexplaininghumanbehaviorandrecognizesthatmuchoftheculturalchangeassociatedwithmodernizationisaprogressiveabandonmentofvaluesandnormsthatencouragepeopletopursuewhatevolutionarytheoristsrefertoas“reproductivesuccess.”1Thekininfl
5、uencehypothesisproposesthatthecascadeofculturalchangesassociatedwithmodernizationistheresultofthemomentouschangeinthehumansocialenvironmentthatoccursearlyineconomicdevelopment.Formostofhumanevolutionaryhistory,thenormsofallcul-turesmusthaveprescribedbehaviorthat,o
6、nbalance,enhancedthegeneticfitnessoftheirmembers.Ifthiswerenotthecase,then,asLumsdenandWilson(1981)andAlexander(1979)rightlypointedout,evolutionarybiolo-gistswouldbeunabletoexplainhowhumansevolvedtheuniquelyhumancapacityforlearningandimitationthatmakesculturepossib
7、le.NorcouldweexplainhowanAfricanapecametobetheworld’sdominantorganism.Witheconomicdevelopment,however,peoplebegintoabandonthebeliefsandvaluesthatencouragefitness-enhancingbehavior.Forexample,POPULATIONANDDEVELOPMENTREVIEW35(1):XXX–XXX(MARCH2009)12WHYDOPEOPLEBECOMEM
8、ODERN?theyadopttheideathatsmallerfamiliesarebettereventhoughtheirincreas-ingwealthmakesiteasiertoraisealargefamily.Evolutionarybiologists,therefore,have
