Turf Battles

• The Adaptive Gap and the Future of Civilization by Mike Hall, 7/3/98
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    • D&G Controversy by John Fentress, 9/30/98
      
      

I tend to agree with your assessment of Steve Gould, based on his public appearences and his writings. While light is sometimes shed during such confrontations, much more heat is generated. I think most of this is "turf battle" behavior between dominant male primates competing for alpha status - the prize being both social status AND the right to determine how people think about the role of evolutionary forces and mechanisms in the conduct of human behavior. Dawkin's views represent a threat to those who would build a wall between biology and the social sciences and proclaim that human behavior is solely the provence of culture.

• Check by John Fentress, 10/4/98
  • The check is in the mail by Mike Hall, 10/9/98