Biological Adaptation in Human Societies: a ‘Basic Needs’ Approach

The groundzero premise (so to speak) of the biological sciences is that survival and reproduction is the basic, continuing, inescapable problem for all living organisms; life is at bottom a survival enterprise. It follows that survival is the paradigmatic problem for human societies as well; it is a prerequisite for any other, more exalted objectives. Although the term adaptation is also familiar to social scientists, until recently it has been used only selectively, and often very imprecisely. Here a more rigorous and systematic approach to the concept of adaptation is proposed in terms of basic needs. The concept of basic human needs has a venerable history – tracing back at least to Plato and Aristotle. Yet the development of a formal theory of basic needs has lagged far behind. The reason is that the concept of objective, measurable needs is inconsistent with the theoretical assumptions that have dominated economic and social theory for most of this century, namely, valuerelativism and cultural determinism. Nevertheless, there have been a number of efforts over the past 30 years to develop more universalistic criteria for basic needs, both for use in monitoring social wellbeing (social indicators) and for public policy formulation. Here I will advance a strictly biological approach to perationalizing the concept of basic needs. It is argued that much of our economic and social life (and the motivations behind our revealed preferences and subjective utility assessments), not to mention the actions of modern governments, are either directly or indirectly related to the meeting of our basic survival needs. Furthermore, these needs can be specified to a first approximation and supported empirically to varying degrees, with the obvious caveat that there are major individual and contextual variations in their application. Equally important, complex human societies generate an array of instrumental needs which, as the term implies, serve as intermediaries between our primary needs and the specific economic, cultural and political contexts within which these needs must be satisfied. An explicit framework of Survival Indicators, including a profile of Personal Fitness and an aggregate index of Population Fitness, is briefly elucidated. Finally, it is suggested that a basic needs paradigm could provide an analytical tool (a biologic) for examining more closely the relationship between our social, economic and political behaviors and institutions and their survival consequences, as well as providing a predictive tool of some value.     

Why Skew Selection, a Model of Parental Exploitation, Should Replace Kin Selection

Synopsis In his 1964 paper, William Hamilton wrote that inclusive fitness trumps direct fitness if, and only if, the effect of interactions among siblings on their parent’s fitness is ‘zero’. Kin selection models have succeeded only because they have ignored the fact that, if an altruist dies saving two siblings, the ‘zero impact on their parent’s fitness’ constraint is violated. Imagine a parent with three offspring. If two offspring drown, parental fitness is 1. On the other hand, if one altruistic offspring dies saving its two drowning siblings, parental fitness doubles to 2. Thus, direct fitness trumps inclusive fitness as an explanation for the evolution of altruism. In other words, parents that produce some portion of altruistic offspring willing to die to save some of their siblings (who would die without the intervention of the altruist) will realize greater fitness than parents producing no altruists. Skew selection, a bioeconomic extension of Michael Ghiselin’s (1974) parental exploitation model, is presented to explain the evolution of altruism from a direct fitness point of view.     

从体育电视节目透视新时期大众休闲体育的新特点

本文通过对近期热播的体育节目《城市之间》与《智勇大冲关》的分析,探讨体育电视节目对大众体育的影响,及其所反映出的新时期内我国大众参与体育活动的新特点。     

高校大学生体质健康状况分析研究

文章通过查阅资料法,对目前我国高校大学生体质健康状况分析,发现我国普通高校大学生体质健康水平总体有呈逐年下降趋势,大学生身体形态水平总体呈上升趋势,身体机能和身体素质水平总体有所下降,特别是力量素质下降最为明显。     

Start-up and hiring practices of immigrant entrepreneurs: An empirical study from an evolutionary psychological perspective

Strong social ties embedded in ethnic communities of immigrant populations have been considered key assets for immigrant entrepreneurs. However, little research has been done on how biological kinship and the biological theories of altruism influence the behavior of ethnic entrepreneurs. In this study, we have applied a neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory of kinship to examine adaptive functions of kin and ethnic altruism in business start-up and hiring practices of Korean immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States. We confirmed that the patterns of help received by Korean entrepreneurs for business start-ups were congruent with an evolutionary perspective on altruism. However, the results for hiring patterns suggested that customer ethnicity trumped kin and co-ethic interests. We close by offering suggestions for future research.     

基于步行连续性的城市健身步道空间 挖掘与选线设计研究——以青岛主城四区 为例

高连续性路径空间是步行健身行为高效性与安全性 的重要保障。当前城市建设中,能够被大众高效利用的健身 步道呈碎片化分布,全民健身导向下亟须在现有城市空间中 进行高连续性的步道网络化构建。以青岛主城四区为例,基 于连续性目标,通过对OSM数据的爬取与处理,形成适于连 续度赋值的城市基础路网数据。挖掘具有高连续性特征的铁 路沿线、高架走廊、滨河沿海、环景观外边界路径等潜力空 间融入步道选线设计,提出与地铁站点相结合的高连续性选 线技术路线。基于ArcGIS网络分析计算成本最小路径,兼顾 路口等级及公园、绿地、湖泊等自然资源的紧邻性进行步道 选线规划,并从连续度水平、便捷可达性、环境舒适性、空 间多元性几方面对选线结果进行探讨。该选线途径有助于提 升城市步行运动环境的健身利用效能,为实现高连续性的健 身步道网络构建提供设计支持。     

从“责任”的角度对全民健身思考

社会需要健康、家庭需要健康、事业需要健康,维护和尊重自身健康是一种责任,本文运用文献检索法、逻辑分析法、比较法等研究方法,总结了学界对全民健身的相关研究,发现其中存在理论研究不足、缺乏用责任的理念分析全民健健身运动这一系统工程,最后提出应运用责任理念来建构未来的全民健身运动。     

陕西省理工科高校教师健康意识与体育健身行为的调查研究

本文综合运用文献资料法、问卷调查法、数理统计法等,对陕西省理工科高校教师的健康意识和体育健身的动机、空间、方法、影响因素等进行系统研究。研究结果表明:女性教师的健康意识比男性教师强,但健身行为则比男性教师差;中年教师的健康意识和体育健身行为明显比年轻教师和年老教师差,出现"两头高,中间低"的状况。为了改善这一状况,提出以下几点建议:应加强男性教师的健康意识教育,提高其自我健康意识;各高校充分利用体育教师这一自有优势资源,发挥工会作用,多组织女性教师和中年男性教师进行系统的体育健身;加大投入,改善学校和社区的体育硬件设施,提供良好的健身环境。     

延安时期陕甘宁边区的体育事业对全民健身的启示

本文从延安时期陕甘宁边区的体育发展背景及组织机构、指导思想、目的地位、边区体育特点、这四个方面来阐述陕甘宁边区体育事业的发展过程,并结合现实借鉴其优点,总结出几点对全民健身的启示,以便更好地开展全民健身运动。     

对新疆师范大学留学生健身消费行为现状的调查与分析

本文运用文献资料法,问卷调查法,数理统计等调查方法,通过对新师范大学留学生健身消费行为进行调查与分析,研究新疆师范大学留学生健身消费行为的现状及影响留学生健身消费的因素,为更加完善留学生的付费健身以及健身意识的形成提供理论依据和参考。