Farmers, foragers, and us

At the Overcoming Bias weblog Robin Hanson has been ruminating on the shifts in human values and behaviors driven by transitions in modes of production. In particular, the dichotomy between foragers (hunter-gatherers) and farmers. Last week I pointed to Eric Michael Johnson's review of data which indicate that modes of production may influence the normative marriage system. It is often stated that in most societies the ideal family system is for a polygynous household. This despite the fact that in total numbers those who hold these values are now the minority of humans, and even within these societies most men do not maintain a polygynous household. Johnson's method is what I will term as "thick," he began from the bottom-up from detail and made some tentative generalizations. Hanson's method is relatively "thin," starting from some general truths his process seems to be to generate a sequence of inferences and entailments ...