Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Insects and Humans II - Notes
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Preconditions for Agriculture
- Generalized foragers
- Pre-adapted domesticate part of foraging regime
- Sedentarism (or rotation between established settlements)
- High degree of sociability
- Cross-generation communication (=distributed cognition for gathering and processing information)
- Ability to rapidly replicate mutations/innovations (=high level of transmission events per generation)
- Relatively stable climate
Evolutionary Benefits of Agriculture
- Security/reliability/predictability of food source
- Control over food production
- Unique niche so reduced competition
Predicted Impacts of Agriculture
- Increased division of labor
- Increased social control
- Increased population
- Increased inter-community violence
Some Questions
- Are humans eusocial? If so, is eusociality a precondition or co-condition of agriculture?
- Once agricultural, do humans become obligate agriculturalists?
- Can human infants be considered "larvae"? If so, is a larval stage of development a precondition of agriculture?