Neoteny: The multidisciplinary Implications

Neoteny

The multidisciplinary implications of heterochronic theory

"... it does seem likely that normal development is controlled by gradually decreasing concentration of a hormone acting primarily at high levels of the regulatory system. This is also an ideal mechansim for the simple and rapid production of heterochronic effects. Any acceleration of adult characters by reduction in the titer of juvenile hormone, or extension of juvenile traits by maintenance of a high titer, represents heterochrony. Since minor alterations in the concentration of a hormone can lead to substantial changes in morphology, heterochrony may play an important role in geographic variation (secretion of juvenile hormone is influened by temperature and photoperiod, for example), polymorphism (including sex, caste, and phase) and speciation itself." (Gould, S.J. (1977) Ontegeny and Phylogeny. Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 295-6)

"The evolution of modern Homo sapiens over the past 100,000 years has been marked by a trend toward increasingly craniofacial neoteny, including reduced prognathism, increased brachycephaly, and general gracilization in a number of populations. (Weidenreich 1945, Newman 1962, Brace and Mahler 1971, Frayer 1981). Biological anthropologists have generally invoked natural selection for ecological adaptation of nonadaptive forces such as pleiotropy or biased mutation to explain these trends. The analysis in this paper suggests that sexual selection may also be involved." (Jones, Doug (1995) Sexual selection, physical attractiveness, and facial neoteny: cross-cultural evidence and implications. Current Anthropology 36 (5): pp. 735)

Hidden behind this word, neoteny, is almost 150 years of muddled history. The examination of the effects of the prolongation of maturation rates, and the carrying of infant features into adulthood, has led to a strange combination of misunderstanding and controversy. There is a hidden, yet powerful potential for change and for the discovery of uncharted pathways in cultural anthropology, neuropsychology and medicine, mythology, psychology, the philosophy of science, and evolutionary biology when they are explored using the tools that those familiar with the word neoteny possess.

This web site seeks to accomplish two goals. First, we want to guide those of you who might be interested in the medical and philosophical implications of a heterochronic interpretation of medical and biological data in contrast to the predominate neo-Darwinist interpretation. Second, this site collects links (see below) that are exploring territory both friendly to and contrasting with our particular interests so that those of you who are doing word searches that include +neoteny might be led faster to some web sites and articles that we have found particularly interesting. In addition, by clicking here, you enter a library of excerpts culled from over six hundred sources focussing on neoteny and neoteny related issues. For a quick S. J. Gould definition of neoteny, click here.

I am a fifty year old designer caught up in a peculiar passion for evolutionary theory. How I have come by this interest is described here. I am particularly interested in the evocative power of heterochronic theory in combination with the dynamics of female sexual selection. I believe these concepts can be used to outline a convergence of theories of biological and cultural evolution. An understanding of neoteny offers many bonuses by explaining the exponential growth in hominid brain mass, language development, and the evolution of the idiosyncratic human traits clustered around sex and art.

We are offering a hypothesis. Our theory, shift theory, binds together a number of anomalies from several disciplines and suggests experiments based on the neurological and hormonal constellations of contemporary humans. In other words, our theory makes predictions. We hypothesize that gonadal cancers, prostate cancer, several severe neurological disorders, and an assortment of immune and autoimmune diseases can be better understood using a non-neo-Darwinian, heterochronic interpretation of human evolution based on the influence of female sexual selection on maturation rates. We believe, as did Lewis Henry Morgan, the early anthropologist, that societal structures were matrifocal until very recently. Changes were occuring slowly which culminated in a radical shift in the last 10,000 years. Now patrifocal social structures predominate. The implication of a heterochronic perspective of human evolution is profound. A number of medical anomalies, specifically neurological and hormonal mysteries, click into place. Though our theory of evolution is not provable (the paleontological evidence is too scanty to support neurological and hormonal conjectures) we offer a theory from which experiments can be generated to prove our theory's utility. We believe there is healing potential in our words and ideas.

Neoteny, in addition to driving us toward our characteristic human qualities, may also have created many characteristic human maladies. Maladies not curable, but preventable, if we understand the dynamics behind their generation.

The three websites (#1 this site, #2 serpentfd.org, #3 humanevolution.net) describing our theory receive over 1500 visitors a week. Professors, psychotherapists, doctors, parents, students and various interested individuals from around the world have contacted us and dialogued with us through our e-mail address. We are pleased that so many have found our work useful. If you would like to contact us, please do so. Questions help us understand.

Links

Web Library of Excerpts: Biological Evolution

Web Library of Excerpts: Cultural Evolution

Andrew Lehman & Marcia Bernsten Evolution and the Structure of Health and Disease

Robert B. Hamilton & Robert M. Hamilton Towards a New Theory of Evolution

Geoffrey F. Miller The Mating Mind; How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature

T.J Crow Sexual Selection, Machievellian Intelligence, and the Origins of Psychosis.

David Brin Neoteny and Two-Way Sexual Selection in Human Evolution:

Randolph M Nesse & George C. Williams Evolution and the Origin of Disease

Brian T. Shea Summary of work

Charles Darwin The Descent of Man

Chris Colby The Talk. Origins Archive

Brown Univ. course summary Evolution and Development I: Size and Shape

This site created on 6/1/99
Last updated on 11/18/02

human evolution