“Man is a social animal. Anyone who does not partake of society is either a beast or a god.” Aristotle
We’re social animals.
The vast majority of us need the company of others in order to function and feel fulfilled. That’s why nearly everything that we do is built on a social framework.
We play in groups. Nearly all our games and sports require multiple people being involved. We work in groups. Nearly all of our jobs are performed as a member of a team or a group. We learn in groups. From grade school to graduate school we are educated together in class and in classes. We even live and die in groups.
Today, over 350,000 people were born and over 150,000 people died.
Everything around us is a result of our sociability. “Society”, the very word we use to describe our common, ordered communities is social. It comes from the Latin word “socius” which means companion.
Our family groups are based on our social nature. So is our government, from local to national. Even our economy derives from our need to interact. So, the question becomes, why are we social?
The answer, like many answers, lies back in prehistory, far before our species evolved. Our ancestors at that time were proto-simians, resembling today’s lemur.
They were tree dwelling and nocturnal. Being active at night and sleeping during the day gave them an advantage over some of the predator species that they faced. In addition, gathering food in the dark is much more advantageous when done solo or with a minimum amount of companions.
Thus, our distant ancestors had no specific reason to become any more social than they already were. A semi-solitary existence suited them just fine.
About 52 million years ago, apes – the evolutionary line that would lead to us – split off from proto-simians. Apes and monkeys, although still tree-dwelling, were larger than the proto-simians. This larger body size required more caloric energy.
Therefore, the practice of stealthily gathering food in the darkness was not a strategy that worked well for apes. That greater caloric need drove the apes to begin looking for food during the daylight hours.
Eventually, the species stopped night time foraging altogether and became diurnal. All their food needs for the day were satisfied while the sun was up. After dark, they laid low and were inactive.
Now, gathering food during the day can be a risky business. You are more visible.
There are more predators. Therefore, there is a greater chance of becoming dinner, as opposed to finding dinner. Because of this, daytime food foragers have a greater need for backup.
They need someone to cover their back while they gather and eat and vice versa. While two is a nice number, six or eight individuals give that many more sets of eyes to scan the jungle for potential threats. In other words, if you gather food during the day, it’s better to have as many companions around you as you can find.
The need for protection while foraging for food began to break down the natural reluctance that these ancient apes had towards companionship.
Gradually, over time, these apes became more social. They came together in loose affiliations of about a dozen individuals of both sexes. These groups developed hierarchy as a means of controlling the individuals in the group and making the whole unit more efficient.
They learned to interact peacefully among themselves, as opposed to fighting. They learned to share resources. They guarded each other and, if fighting became necessary, the group was far more powerful than any one individual who was a member.
The thing with increased sociability is that once you start it is very hard, if not impossible, to go back. Remember, an increased need for calories is what initiated the need for greater interaction among species members.
Now, that a group has formed and each member of the group depends upon it for those calories, it is unthinkable for any individual to go off alone. The group is not only food, it is also protection and power.
The individual’s needs begat the group, but now it is the group that defines the individuals within it. In other words, individuality drove sociability, but now sociability drives the individual.
