Human Pheromones and Multi-level selection

July 12, 2012 James V. Kohl Discoveries, What's in the News 0

Notes on science, politics, and history from a primate in the human zoo.

The Good Fight

By Eric Michael Johnson | July 9, 2012

Prominent scientists are in a bitter struggle over the origins of kindness. But the root of this conflict may be the most ironic part of all.

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My comment:

The problem with multi-level selection in humans seems likely to be one that is due to ignorance about the role of pheromones in the context of ecological, social, neurogenic, and socio-cognitive niche construction. The honeybee model organism best exemplifies the multi-level selection that enables adaptive evolution via natural selection for nutrient chemicals that metabolize to pheromones (species-specific chemical signals, that control reproduction).

What the honeybee queen eats determines her pheromone production and everything else about interactions among the colony members, including the neuroanatomy of the worker bees’ brains. But the molecular biology that allows selection for nutrient chemicals and their metabolism to pheromones is the same in species from microbes to man.

Sensory input must epigenetically effect intracellular signaling and stochastic gene expression, or else adaptive evolution via pre-existing genetic variation and ecological, social, neurogenic, and socio-cognitive niche construction cannot occur. Why then does EO Wilson not simply move forward with his eusocial insect model of group selection, and extend it to humans? There’s no other model for that. Is there?

Isn’t the lack of another model the problem here? And why on earth (i.e., this planet) would anyone use one model of group selection for insects, but propose that there must be some other model (nest-building) for mammals, like us?

Kohl, J.V. (2012) Human pheromones and food odors: epigenetic influences on the socioaffective nature of evolved behaviors. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, 2: 17338. DOI: 10.3402/snp.v2i0.17338. https://dx.doi.org/10.3402/snp.v2i0.17338

About James V. Kohl 1308 Articles
James Vaughn Kohl was the first to accurately conceptualize human pheromones, and began presenting his findings to the scientific community in 1992. He continues to present to, and publish for, diverse scientific and lay audiences, while constantly monitoring the scientific presses for new information that is relevant to the development of his initial and ongoing conceptualization of human pheromones. Recently, Kohl integrated scientific evidence that pinpoints the evolved neurophysiological mechanism that links olfactory/pheromonal input to genes in hormone-secreting cells of tissue in a specific area of the brain that is primarily involved in the sensory integration of olfactory and visual input, and in the development of human sexual preferences. His award-winning 2007 article/book chapter on multisensory integration: The Mind’s Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male sexual preferences followed an award winning 2001 publication: Human pheromones: integrating neuroendocrinology and ethology, which was coauthored by disinguished researchers from Vienna. Rarely do researchers win awards in multiple disciplines, but Kohl’s 2001 award was for neuroscience, and his 2007 “Reiss Theory” award was for social science. Kohl has worked as a medical laboratory scientist since 1974, and he has devoted more than twenty-five years to researching the relationship between the sense of smell and the development of human sexual preferences. Unlike many researchers who work with non-human subjects, medical laboratory scientists use the latest technology from many scientific disciplines to perform a variety of specialized diagnostic medical testing on people. James V. Kohl is certified with: * American Society for Clinical Pathology * American Medical Technologists James V. Kohl is a member of: * Society for Neuroscience * Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology * Association for Chemoreception Sciences * Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality * International Society for Human Ethology * American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science * Mensa, the international high IQ society