Human Universals: What Makes Us Human?

In the 1990s, an anthropologist published a list of “human universals” — traits, behaviors, and the like, that all humans share. It is a fascinating glimpse into the human condition.

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These days, and quite possibly since the dawn of time, humans have seemed more interested in the characteristics that make us different than the traits that we have in common.

In an age where the left is concerned about the rise of the right, the right is concerned about the rise of the left, the religious are concerned about the liberalisation of Western society, the unreligious are concerned about the radicalisation of religious groups, uncontacted tribes are concerned about their lives being tainted forever by modernity, and modern societies are concerned that they have lost touch with the way life used to be, division is everywhere.

Now seems like a good time to be reminded of the actions, behaviors, and thought patterns that bind humanity together; for there are many.

In 1991, a professor of anthropology, Donald Brown, published a book called Human Universals. In it, he presents a list of “features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche” that, he claims, appear in all human societies, everywhere on earth.

These human universals are not confined to humans, some animals show some of these behaviors, too; and other anthropologists have debated the validity of some of the entries; all in all, though, they still make interesting reading. Below is a list of just some of Brown’s human universals.

Humans (and other animals) have evolved to favour Us over Them; it is an automatic response, hardwired into our brains. This response makes sense: in nature, one is better off trusting someone like Us than an individual who seems different.

It’s a safety mechanism that, thanks to our highly evolved frontal cortex, humans can override; “can” is the important word here, though: it takes conscious effort to consider Them on a par with Us. Also, unless we are aware that we have this ready-made, intuitive distrust of others, we won’t know that we should be overthrowing it.

This helps explain why shifting cultural norms can take generations, and why racism, sexism, and other -isms are so pervasive and so slow to be broken.

There is a labyrinth of mechanisms behind each form of prejudice, of course, but our inbuilt, knee jerk against differences certainly does not help.

Ruminating on the entries in the following list of human universals helps one feel a little more connected to the folks around us and those much further afield. We are one species. We are one tribe… well, we used to be, any way…

Here is an abbreviated list: