Norms disciplined by communal punishment drove genetic evolution toward human docility.

Evidence

Beyond status, culture transformed the environments faced by our genes by generating social norms. Norms influence a vast range of human action, including ancient and fundamentally important domains such as kin relations, mating, food sharing, parenting, and reciprocity. Over our evolutionary history, norm violations such as ignoring a food taboo, botching a ritual, or failing to give one’s in-laws their due from one’s hunting successes meant reputational damage, gossip, and a consequent loss of marriage opportunities and allies. Repeated norm violations sometimes provoked ostracism or even execution at the hands of one’s community. Thus, cultural evolution initiated a process of self-domestication , driving genetic evolution to make us prosocial, docile, rule followers who expect a world governed by social norms monitored and enforced by communities. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 49

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines self-domestication as genetic evolution driven by norm-enforcement, a process rather than a static trait.
• XREF: Self-domestication links to the reader’s existing interest in coercion-vulnerability — norm-violation punishment is a plausible social-coercion vector. — connects to: Cultural and genetic evolution began mutually reinforcing each other around 2 million years ago — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 203; Descending from the trees to eat rotting fruit drove apes to evolve alcohol tolerance — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 285; Religious prosocial beliefs may have shaped human genetic evolution (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Religious practices may have genetically altered human populations through gene-culture coevolution #corroborates (0.88)
• Supernatural punishment belief is a naturally selected evolutionary adaptation #expands (0.82)
• Cultural evolution has been the central driver of human genetic evolution for eons. #expands (0.80) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 1015
• Religious prosocial beliefs may have shaped human genetic evolution #corroborates (0.78)
• Cultural selection and genetic adaptation theories of supernatural punishment differ fundamentally #qualifies (0.78) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 443
• Cultural evolution can spread maladaptive behaviors that destroy social cooperation #complicates (0.76) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 447
• Cultural evolution can lock groups into maladaptive equilibria, not just prosocial ones #complicates (0.75)
• Morality evolved because fair partners were preferred in cooperative interactions #qualifies (0.72) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 4