THE TANGLED WING:BIOLOGY AND HUMAN DESTINY

"The contents of this book areknown to be dangerous." V/ith thisstatement, Melvin Konner, a biologicalanthropologist and author of TheTangled Wing ; Biological Constraintson the Human Spirit (Harper, ColophonBooks, 1983) , confronts the seriousreader consulting the footnotes for thefirst time. The subject of the book,the biological aspects and determinantsof human behavior, is indeed considereddangerous by many--dangerous tofairness, to decency, to equality ofopportunity, and to the fragileco-existence of different peoples in anuclear world.

If we concede that behavior is atall determined or even constrained byphysiology, or anatomy, themselvesdetermined in part by genes, then mightnot populations differ genetically inbehavior just as they do in othergenetically influenced traits? Andbehavioral genetics has a terriblehistory of misuse by social planners.It is only a short leap from the ideaof inherited controls, or Units onbehavior, to the conclusion thatdifferences between the behavior orperformance of different groups areinborn and cannot be changed. Fromthat conclusion to the systematicneglect, oppression, or slaughter of"inferior" groups is a road too oftentaken in our century.

From its founding as an academicdiscipline, American anthropology hascome down squarely on the other side.Anthropologists have stressed theshaping of a person's behavior by hisor her culture. They have argued thathereditary differences in behavioramong human populations do not exist.In large part, the statements ofanthropologists on the respectivedetermining roles of race and culturehave had a beneficial effect ineradicating prejudice and ininstigating social programs to overcomedisadvantage. So why should an

anthropologist, even a biological one,argue the case for biologicalconstraints on human behavior? Quitesimply, the case has become too strongtoo ignore. And an understanding ofour biological heritage may yet be thekey to our future humanity in all thesenses of that word.

In The Tangled Wing , Konnerintegrates insights from the socialsciences (anthropology, sociology,psychology) , the biological sciences(ethology, evolutionary theory,neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, andbiochemistry), and the humanities(history, literature, philosophy) toexamine human thought, mood, and actionon many levels. An anthropologicalperspective, both cross-cultural andevolutionary, is clear at the outset.In the section "The Quest for theNatural" the. San (bushmen) are seen asin some way representative of the wayof life lived by our evolvingancestors whose progress is brieflyreviewed in "The Crucible." Equallyemphasized, however, is the viewpointof biology. Konner discusses the roleof evolutionary processes andinheritance in the determination ofsocial behavior ( sociobiology) , and theanatomy and physiology of the brain inrelation to both behavioralconsequences and genetic variations.

In light of the two perspectivesof anthropology and biology, Konnerproceeds to review current theories onthe origins, anatomy, physiology, andpurpose of sex differences ("The Beastwith Two Backs"); human emotions ("TheWell of Feeling"); and our mostcharacteristic trait, language("Logos") whose uniqueness is notdiminished by its presence, in veryattenuated form, in our animalrelations near and far. As the bookprogresses, Konner presents science asperhaps the most fundamental form ofhumanism. Science seeks not to reducethe human condition to a series ofbiological processes but to extoll andexplore the furthest potential of thehuman mind, to recognize the limits of

the knowable, and to keep alive a senseof wonder and mystery. In the firstefforts of a baby to name the objectsof her universe,

"what we are looking at is themost rudimentary form of what may bethe key to being human: a sort ofwonderment at the spectacle of theworld, and its apprehensibility by themind; a focusing, for the purpose ofelevation; an intelligent waking dream.In that capacity, it seems to me, wefind our greatest distinction, and inthat, and that alone, may be oursalvation."

Part II of The Tangled V'ing takesup one by one the biological basis ofseven human emotions: rage, fear, joy,lust, love, grief, and gluttony. Eachdiscussion moves from historical viewsto new explanations; from the societallevel of human interaction to thepsychology of the individual to themolecular level of brain biochemistry;from the conclusions of rigorouslaboratory investigation to theinsights of poetry. Konner alsoexamines the existence of such statesas grief, love, and joy in non- humansocieties, especially those of ournearest animal relatives, pointing outas well what we know of these emotions'accompanying physiology. Each chapterends on a dual note: the biologicalcontinuity we share with other speciesand our human uniqueness. Although thelatter may also derive in part from ourbiology, it is ultimately mysterious.

"What we must hope for, with[V/allace] Stevens, is some sort ofrecognition that the grieving is partof what makes life precious, that wewould not love life nearly so wellwithout it. We could perhaps be lessangry at it. We could try, at least,to stop taking it out on each other.Perhaps we could get together sometimeand shout turbulent praises at thesun."

In a similar way, the chapter ongluttony ends on a note of anguish for

the children of our middle classsociety whose endless and insatiabledemands for material goods, encouragedby us, are beyond all reasonable needsof the human organism. If we do notteach them to distinguish need fromwant, fear, or anger, "we leave themlanguishing eternally, like Ciacco [theglutton of Dante's Inferno ] , in therain; a vividly Dantesque fate in whichthe very source of life's plentybecomes an instrument of torturewithout end."

Overall the book is beautifullywritten and displays a broad range ofhumanistic and scientific scholarship,a worthy successor to the tradition ofsuch anthropological writers as LorenEiseley. Yet the sections dealing withphysiology, and biochemistry will betough going for those unfamiliar withthe rudiments of these sciences. Inlarge part, this is due to the totallack of illustrations, which in turnsuggests that our reliance on "Logos"can always be improved with somecommunication along a more commonan ima 1 channe 1

.

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In the concluding sections, Konnerfaces and argues down the chimera ofbiological determinism. Behavioralbiology is dangerous, difficult, andpotentially explanatory. It flies inthe face of seventy years ofanti-biological- re due ti on ism argumentsin American anthropology. Yet ourbiology includes our plasticity, bywhich biological, environmental, andcultural forces change and direct ourindividual natures and our commonbehavior. While the biology ofbehavior could lead to pessimism aboutthe perf ec tabil ity of human society,not to understand our biology is tolose control of our destiny. Ourbiological potential and our destinytogether are "the tangled wing" of thetitle, the twisted fossilized wing ofan archaeopteryx , "a piss-poor reptileand not very much of a bird" but theherald of a magnificent future.

Alison S. Brooks