1. Culture Part 1
Heredity

2. What is Culture
Knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society
Society – a specific territory inhabited by people who share a common culture
Culture defines how people in a society behave in relation to others and to physical objects

3. Culture and Heredity
Heredity – The passing of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another
Instincts – genetically inherited patterns of behavior
Nonhuman animals rely heavily on instinct to survive

4. Instincts Humans do not rely as much on instincts
There is no mating period
No blueprint in our minds of what shelter to build
Humans rely more on the culture they have created to guide behavior

5. Heredity and human behavior
Reflexes - an automatic reaction to a physical stimuli
Being pinched
Being tickled
Drive – impulses that reduce discomfort.
Eat, sleep, drink, and associate with others

6. Sociobiology The study of the biological basis of human behavior
Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution
Sociobiologists believe that the most essential human behaviors are transmitted through genetic code

7. Sociobiology
Sociobiologists believe in a close relation between humans and animals

8. Criticisms
Fear of using genetics as a justification to label specific races superior and inferior
Societies around the world are so different that genetics cannot be the only explanation for human action
Is there a middle ground?