The Evolution of Mitt Romney and other High School Bullies
A reader wants to know if bullies are a product of evolution. Scientists say yes, but they're on the way out.
The Evolution of Mitt Romney and other High School Bullies
Last week’s column about texting and tweeting among status-hungry primates brought in many responses from readers, including one with some interesting questions about the evolutionary roots of bullying:
“I have been thinking for a while about bullying and how common it is in kids, even otherwise typical kids, and wondering if it was a natural instinct in them, to some extent.”
The reader went on to ask if bullying might serve to define the social hierarchy.
And then, suddenly, The Washington Post broke the news that presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was a high school bully, tackling a vulnerable boy and chopping his hair, as well as leading a partially blind teacher into a glass door.
Perhaps Romney has grown up since then, but his teenage behavior is what anthropologist Christopher Boehm describes as typical of an “alpha male social predator”. Among other primates, indeed, such bullies prosper and rise to power, argues Boehm in his new book, “Moral Origins: the Evolution of Virtue, Altruism and Shame”. Boehm thinks social predators ruled among the common ancestors we shared with chimpanzees some six million years ago.
But Boehm, who is director of the Jane Goodall Research Center, argues that our social behavior has evolved over the last six million years. By studying modern hunter-gatherer groups, he’s concluded that evolution has made us kinder, more cooperative, and more egalitarian than our distant ancestors were.
According to his book, hunter-gatherer groups dole out harsh punishments to bullies. In these societies, he’s observed that bullying behavior is treated as a more serious crime than lying, cheating or stealing. In Boehm’s view, we’ve been evolving away from a social system in which bullying pays. By ostracizing or even killing the worst bullies, in other words, humans in hunter-gatherer groups have been breeding kinder, more cooperative temperaments.
It would be interesting to find out whether Boehm thinks agricultural and industrial societies have continued to suppress bullies, or whether alpha male social predators are on the rise again.
Faye brilliant reporting on the behalf of the Obama Administration, you are truly are an asset to the Democrats. However, you just need to dig deeper I am sure you will find many other character flaws; such as putting gum underneath his desk; which everyone knows makes you a degenerate. Come on Faye the President desperately needs more Sycophants such as yourself to write these distraction pieces such as this. We certainly don’t need any articles about the dismal job Obama has done as President.— CrashTestCorzine
Comment removed.- Great timing. Faye FLame makes her bones on a week old story that was debunked by the "victim's'" family days ago.
No matter what you think Boehm says, it simply does not apply.
How low can Philly.com go in the way of character assassination? Well, here is an example of furthering a leftist lie after it has been exposed as a lie, in order to 'throw enough c**p against the wall so that some of it will stick.'— ngfs66 - The "week-old" story is not a week old and it was not "debunked" by the victim's family. The fact that the victim did not tell family members is not surprising. Romney and his posse assaulted the victim. Now Romney says he has no recollection of it.— dbarrett
- It will be interesting to find out if Boehm thinks President Clinton is a Sexual Predator or does having a D next to your name entitles you to sexual harassment in the work place. And what would Boehm say about the Liberal Media that turning a blind eye when Powerful Democrats do horrible things. Like Corzine stealing $1.6 billion from Farmers, or since he is a Top Bundler for Obama (raising over half a million dollars in first quarter of 2012), entitles him to steal his clients money. And I wonder if Boehm would think it a waste of time examining the recent reckless actions of powerful Democrats when you got an 18 year old to investigate from 50 years ago.— CrashTestCorzine
- This is most certainly not a "distraction" piece. Whether something is a week old, a month old, or a year old, valid commentary is still valid. Bullying is bullying - no statute on limitations here. I do hope (and believe), that evolution has shifted us in the direction of kindness - still, "bullies", grasping onto whatever insecurities they perceive, sadly, I feel, will always exist. I hope Mr. Boehm's findings are correct - as always, we can learn much by the behavior of others; even if they are more human (or "humane?") than actual humans.— fineprintJK1
- Interestingly, Romney "has no recollection" of the incident, but "remembers" that he never cut off anyone's hair out of homophobia. If the victim's sister was never told, that's hardly "evidence." One of Romney's close friends recalls it vividly, as does a member of the posse. Romney just chuckles, as he does in response to his other creepy behaviors.— jxxphilly
- Perhpas a better headline would be:
"The Evolution of Barack Obama and other High School and College Drug Dealers"— DrBID - Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- A few status-hungry primates seem to be scrambling for attention in the comments section, competing to see which one can best twist an article on evolution into one of politics by attacking Faye.— Mike Richard
- We are still not much more than monkeys with just much better and more efficient means of killing one another.— PhillyGuy77
- Did Mitt Romney learn from his bully in High School?
“Romney Abolished Massachusetts LGBT Anti-Bullying Commission | As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney refused to fund the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, ultimately abolishing it. The group was created in 1992 to address alarmingly high rates of bullying and suicide among gay and lesbian teens. In 2005, Romney vetoed a $100,000 increase in the commission’s budget, a decision overturned by the legislature. After the group lent its name to a gay pride parade in 2006, Romney threatened to end it entirely, expressing concerns about the parade’s indecency and inclusion of the transgender community. Ultimately, when Romney tried to change the focus of the group to not be LGBT-specific, the legislature created its own commission and the governor’s dissolved. Combined with evidence that Romney was an anti-gay bully in high school, it seems that there is at least one position on which he’s been consistent throughout his life: harassing the LGBT community.
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/10/482354/romney-bullying-commission/
“To date, Romney has not stepped forward to support any bills that seek to protect LGBT students from the kind of bullying that Romney himself participated in while in high school.”
“But the presumptive Republican nominee has made it clear where he stands on LGBT rights today, 50 years after the incident. Just this week he again affirmed his position that gay couples should not receive equal recognition under the law as straight couples do.”
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/10/481817/mitt-romney-outed-as-anti-gay-high-school-bully/
— Indep.State
In pursuit of her stories, writer Faye Flam has weathered storms in Greenland, gotten frost nip at the South Pole, and floated weightless aboard NASA’s zero-g plane. She has a degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology and started her writing career with the Economist. She later took on the particle physics and cosmology beat at Science Magazine before coming to the Inquirer in 1995. Her previous science column, “Carnal Knowledge,” ran from 2005 to 2008. Her new column and blog, Planet of the Apes, explores the topic of evolution and runs here and in the Inquirer’s health section each Monday. Email Faye at fflam@phillynews.com.
Reach Planet of the at fflam@phillynews.com.
