The List of Human Universals
Just to give you an idea of how much it’s possible to discover about humanity using statistics, here’s a partial version of a list compiled by Dr. Donald E. Brown, of behavioral characteristics that anthropologists have discovered in every single culture on Earth, with no exceptions.
When a characteristic exists in every single culture on Earth with no exceptions, that makes that characteristic a direct product of human evolution, because in every part of the world where human DNA exists, this thing also exists.
Some groups of people don’t do some of these things. Presbyterians aren’t allowed to dance, and the QRS people who live in the jungles of Bolivia aren’t allowed to trade goods and services. But the very fact that some groups of people have outlawed some of these things proves that they’ve had the ideas to do these things. You can’t write laws against things that you aren’t aware it’s possible for people to do, because in the very act of writing the law, you have to become aware that it’s possible for people to do those things.
These things apply to people in 100% of cultures on Earth. This is not to say that they apply to 100% of individuals on Earth, but it is to say that 100% of individuals on Earth come into contact with these ideas over the course of normal social interaction with other people (as opposed to children who have been raised by wolves or something like that).
That means that every group of people who have ever fought a war against another group of people has had all of these things in common with their enemies. That also means that the workers of the world all have these things in common with all the other workers of the world.
Remember, in order for something to qualify as science, other people have to be able to replicate it. So don’t take my word for this. Ask anyone, from any part of the world, if people do these things where they come from. You do have to be open minded enough to believe that I could be right. If you decide that I’m wrong ahead of time, you’ve already corrupted the experiment, because you can’t be expected to ask your questions in neutral terms; you can be expected to ask your questions in ways that discourage people from giving you the true answers. Also, you have to be open minded to what the other person says, because some of his answers might not correspond to what you think an answer should be. For instance, African tribal facial piercings are art, because they’re things that people do specifically for the sake of making something look different—no matter how disgusting you might feel it to be.
Ultimately, if you want to test this, you have to treat it like a scientific hypothesis. These are things that could be true. Now you have to look for evidence that either confirms of denies them. If you decide ahead of time that these things either are or aren’t true, what you’re doing already isn’t science, so it doesn’t matter what questions you ask after that.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people have their own names, and have invented, developed, or use fire, tools, levers, spears, knot-tying, weaving, numbers, and measurements.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people baby talk, babies suck their thumbs, children play with toys, play to develop skills, pretend, have childhood fears, which include fears of strangers and loud noises, and people tickle each other.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people get married, have families, and normally have sex in private. They have sexual statuses and sexual regulations, which include regulations against incest. They have sexual attraction, sexual jealousy, and sexual modesty. Sex is a main focus of people’s interest. They have childbirth customs. Mothers feel maternalism, biological mothers normally care for their own children, and normally provide the majority of childcare. Mothers normally have some sort of male partners during their childbearing years. Husbands are generally older than their wives. The Oedipal complex exists in every culture.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people feel and express affection. They communicate with gestures and facial expressions. They have facial expressions for anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. They also control their facial expressions to mask their emotions. They feel ambivalence, envy, and pride. Sometimes their thoughts, words, and actions don’t correspond. They also have an interest in living things and things that look like living things.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people have senses of aesthetics. They adorn their bodies, style their hair, and care for their hygiene. They are aware of their personal appearances, they affect their personal appearances, and they like to look good. They create art, tell stories, write poems, sing, dance, feast, play music, and make musical instruments. They use music along with dancing and in religious activities. They write and play children’s music.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people believe in religion and/or the supernatural, and have beliefs about death, disease, fortune, and misfortune. They use divination, rituals, and death rituals. They mourn. They tell myths and folklore. They use some form of magic, and use magic to try to increase life, sustain life, and win love. They try to predict the future and control the weather.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people make medicine, heal the sick and try to heal the sick. They see a relation between sickness and death. They have mood and/or consciousness altering techniques and/or chemicals.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people have false beliefs and overestimate the objectivity of their thought. They make choices among alternatives, they come up with explanations, and they adapt to the their environment. They see males and females and children and adults to have different natures.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people distinguish between voluntary and involuntary actions. They treat patterns and relations as objective things. They distinguish between concepts of good and bad, and distinguish between truth and falsehood. They use psychological defense mechanisms. They take responsibility for their actions and practice self-control. They resist dominance and what they believe to be the abuse of power.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people cooperate, build cooperative groups of individuals beyond their biological families, live in groups, and give their groups collective senses of identity. They have conflicts, resolve conflicts, and use mediation and consultation to help resolve conflicts. They have a sense of culture, and they have cultural variations within that culture. They have collective decision-making and government. They have economic inequalities and they are conscious of economic inequalities. They have laws, leaders, punishments for crimes, and rules of inheritance. They trade goods and services and right wrongs. The males dominate the public and politics.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people have ethnocentrism and insults. They cry and feel pain. Their males are more prone to aggression, violence, and theft. They have outlawed some forms of violence. They have murder and rape, and they have outlawed murder and rape.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people use symbolism and symbolic language, use metaphors and words to represent sounds, make special speeches for special occasions, and they admire people who can use words proficiently. They have proverbs.
In 100% of cultures on Earth, people follow daily routines, establish meal times, cook, share food, have personal preferences in food, and like sweet food. They have taboos, taboos on food, and taboos on things people can say. They like to visit with friends and relatives, exchange customary greetings, show hospitality, practice etiquette, give gifts, and admire generosity. They seek revenge for wrongdoing and repay benevolence. They have rites of passage and divisions of labor between men and women and among ages. They have dreams and try to interpret their dreams. They joke, gossip, lie, and make promises. They believe in fairness and taking turns. They have worldviews, take risks, and make plans for the future.
And that’s just the short version of the list.