Life Strategies, Human Evolution, Environmental Design

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. Organism Theory: The Dictates of Genes, the Meanings of Environment

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 1-23

3. Cognition—Predictability

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 24-40

4. Communication

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 41-61

5. Aggression

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 62-85

6. Dominance Displays: The Biology of Art, Pride—and Materialism

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 86-115

7. How Genes Communicate With the Environment—The Biology of Inequality

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 116-144

8. Mammalian Systems

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 145-171

9. Life Forms And Extinction

   • Valerius Geist

   Pages 172-184

10. The Ice Ages

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 185-210

11. Prehumans

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 211-240

12. The Homo erectus Stage

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 241-268

13. The First Advance to the Glaciers

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 269-300

14. On the Evolution of Modern Man

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 301-353

15. From Periglacial to Artificial Environments

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 354-399

16. Health, Professionals, and Creature Comforts

    • Valerius Geist

    Pages 400-435

17. Back Matter

    Pages 436-498

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Consider that you were asked how to ensure human survival. Where would you begin? Conservation of resources jumps to mind. We need to conserve resources in order that economic activities may continue. Alas, this is a false start. Resources are always defined by a given economic system, and only it determines what is and what is not a resource. Therefore, conserving resources implies only the perpetua­ tion of the appropriate economic system. Conservation of resources as we know them has nothing to do with the survival of mankind, but it has very much to do with the survival of the industrial system and society we live in today. We have to start, therefore, at a more basic level. This level, some may argue, is addressed by ensuring for human beings "clean genes. " Again, this is a mistaken beginning. It is thoroughly mistaken-for reasons of science. It is a false start because malfunctioning organs and morphological structures are not only due to deleterious hereditary factors but particularly due to unfavorable environments during early growth and development. Moreover, eugenics is not acceptable to any but a small fraction of society. Eugenics may not be irrelevant to our future, but is premature and should be of little concern until we understand how human genes and environment interact.

• Adaptation
• Anthropogenese
• Evolution
• Evolution (Biol.)
• Life
• Umwelt
• Verhaltensforschung
• biology
• life forms

• Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

  Valerius Geist

Policies and ethics