The Evolution of Man 1 291 



dictatorships were similar. The stories of virgin births in different 

 mythologies may be a better example of convergence than paral- 

 lelism. (The line is difficult to draw in any case.) Similarly, the idea 

 that one may achieve a desired condition by eating a portion of a 

 cadaver is widely and spottily distributed through human cultures. 

 The bodies of victims put to death in Aztec religious ceremonies 

 were devoured so that the eater could establish close contact with 

 his god. As Linton has said, "It was a religious concept not unlike 

 that of the Christian communion except that the Aztecs were pain- 

 fully literal about it." 



An obvious cultural analogue of natural selection can be found in 

 the differential reproduction of entire cultures. The body of infor- 

 mation making up some cultures has become more and more wide- 

 spread (that is, has been possessed by more and more individuals) 

 while others have decreased or become extinct. The cultures of 

 some small groups have doubtless disappeared without a trace. 

 However, cultural evolution is obviously more reticulate than bio- 

 logical evolution, and large cultures virtually never disappear with- 

 out transferring some of their information to other cultures. Although 

 American Indian cultures have been badly swamped and in some 

 cases completely destroyed by the spread of western Europeans, 

 some of their elements have been transferred into western Euro- 

 pean culture. The use of tobacco is a good example. 



The ascendance of individuals with novel ideas may be a random 

 phenomenon in human society. Thus one could consider the advent 

 of Aristotle, Darwin, Hitler, Buddha, Tecumseh, etc., to be a sort of 

 cultural analogue of mutation. Men with their proclivities are doubt- 

 less present from time to time in all cultures but, as with gene mu- 

 tations, the proper environment is necessary for them to gain 

 prominence. 



An interesting analogy can be drawn between genetic homeostasis 

 and cultural integration. As will be remembered from Chap. 7, when 

 strong selection is applied to a single character, only a certain 

 amount of progress can be made before the eflfects of unbalancing 

 a well-organized genotvpe counterbalance the selective pressure on 

 the character. In other words, natural selection works to preserve a 

 well-balanced genotype. It is possible that overdevelopment of some 

 feature of a society may lead to the destruction of the integrated 

 properties of the society. One might view the development of an 

 extreme military dictatorship in Japan in this light. Another exam- 

 ple was the promulgation of a fantastic taboo system by the Ha- 

 waiian priesthood, which eventually led to the destruction of the 

 entire religious system. 



