Ants, Apes and Humans:
Genes, Behaviors and Societies

Rasmus G. Winther
X100
Spring 2002

Imagine living in a society where almost everyone surrounding you is a
sterile sister-you only have a few reproductive brothers and sisters.
Your common mother produces offspring which you, a female, together
with all your sterile sisters, help raise.  Your society, as if guided
by an emergent intelligence, may have subterranean agricultural fields
or may be constantly on an organized nomadic prowl for prey.

Now imagine being a member of a society, dominated by females, in
which you had a long period of dependency on your mother.  As an adult
you find that conflicts are resolved, and dominance is established, by
continual sexual interactions of all kinds. These two social systems
already exist in the world around us.  What, if anything, can we learn
about human societies from studying, respectively, ant and bonobo (a
species of chimpanzee), societies?

In order to compare ant, ape and human societies, this class will
explore the following themes: (1) emergent "superorganismic"
properties such as "collective intelligence" and division of labor (2)
the nature and evolution of altruistic and selfish behavior, (3)
methods of communication and conflict resolution among individuals and
(4) the role of nature versus nurture, and biology versus culture, in
establishing appearance and behavior.

You will read novels such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and A. S.
Byatt's Angels and Insects.  You will also read scientific works such
as Deborah Gordon's Ants at Work and Frans De Waal's Peacemaking among
Primates.  A balanced presentation of empirical results and
theorectical perspectives will allow you to come to your own informed
conclusions about the focal themes.