Modernity and Cultural Decline: A Biobehavioral Perspective

by Matthew Alexandar Sarraf, Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie, Colin Feltham

Overview

This book argues that despite the many real advantages that industrial modernity has yielded—including large gains in wealth, longevity, and (possibly) happiness—it has occurred together with the appearance of a variety of serious problems. Chief among these are probable losses in subjective existential purpose and increases in psychopathology. A highly original theory of the ultimate basis of these trends is advanced, which unites prior work in psychometrics and evolutionary science. This theory builds on the social epistasis amplification model to argue that genetic and epigenetic changes in modernizing and modernized populations, stemming from shifts in selective pressures related to industrialization, have lowered human fitness and wellness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030329860
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	12/06/2019
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	307
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Matthew Alexandar Sarraf is a researcher in the areas of psychometrics, evolutionary psychology, and behavior genetics.

Michael Anthony Woodley of Menie, Yr., is a geneticist and ecologist. He is a Lifetime Fellow at the Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.

Colin Feltham is Emeritus Professor of Critical Counselling Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Defending Biobehavioral Science
3. Medieval and Modern Worlds
4. Discontent with Modernity
5. Enlightenment Never
6. Making the Case for Mutation Accumulation
7. The Social Epistasis Amplification Model: A Diachronic Test and Expansion of Theoretical Foundations
8. Biocosmic Pessimism