TABOO AND GENETICS 91 



necessities, regardless of any interference with 

 their own desires. That is, if group survival 

 requires that woman use her specialization to 

 child-bearing instead of any adaptation she may 

 possess in other directions, one of two things 

 inevitably result : (i) Either the group finds or 

 evolves some social control machinery which 

 meets the necessity, or (2) it must give way to 

 some other group which can do so. In either 

 case, the result is a division of labour, which we 

 see more clearly in primitive peoples. The less 

 efficient group is not necessarily exterminated, 

 but if it loses out in the competition until some 

 other group is able to conquer it and impose 

 its division of labour the result is of course the 

 extinction of the conquered group as an integral 

 part of society. This is simply natural selection 

 working on groups. Natural selection works 

 chiefly in this manner on the human species, 

 because that species lives in groups. Such group 

 control of the component individuals as has 

 been described has led to a division of labour, 

 between the sexes in every primitive society. 

 All this means is that the group adopting such 

 a division has greater survival value, and hence 

 is more likely to be represented in later ages. 



It must not be supposed that such systems 

 of control were always logically thought out 

 or deliberately planned. Even animals which 

 live in herds or colonies have divisions of labour 



