Over the last 7 months I have been asked to bring a scientific perspective to several art projects that incorporate themes from human evolution.
One was Paul Sussman‘s one-man-show “The Wrong Kind of Pessimism” at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco last April.
Just this past week, it was Elisabeth Daynes‘ art exhibit “Find Yourself” at 836m Gallery in conjunction with The Leakey Foundation.
I also moderated a panel discussion at the Lawrence Hall of Science after the premiere of the full-length documentary film The Bearded Lady Project (a film that explores women’s experiences in the field-based geological and paleontological sciences, an art-meets-the-culture-of-science production).
These events have gotten me thinking about the interface of art and science. Here is my previous post on The Bearded Lady Project. Below, I share more of my reflections.
The Past
Science has revealed that all of the genetic variation observed across people living today is equivalent to the amount of genetic variation observed in one subspecies of chimpanzee. There may be ~8 billion of us, but we are all very, very genetically similar.
The genomics revolution has also shown that this genetic variation may best be characterized as reflecting ~20 or so past populations. That said, 98% of us have 6 of these populations represented in our genomes. The old classification system that divided humanity into five major, distinct races is, well, it is completely wrong.
Science has also provided ample evidence of human biological adaptation. Our bodies have been dramatically shaped by the surrounding environment, time and time again. From our skin color to our blood types to the shape of our bones, teeth, and hair.
Where our biological adaptations cannot accommodate, our cultural adaptations have evolved to meet the task.
We have found evidence of past cultures very different from the ones we see today. Our behavioral plasticity, the creativity of culture, has been key to our species’ ability to inhabit all seven continents on Earth. This variation demonstrates that what we see in our culture today is not how we have always been nor how human societies have to be.
As an example of this, let’s go back 30,000 years ago to the Gravettians, the people who lived in Europe just before the last ice age. These are the people who painted the awe-inspiring scenes inside caves such as Lascaux in France and Altimira in Spain. They also carved voluptuous women into stone. Some archaeologists interpret these cultural remains as evidence of a matriarchal society that thrived for ~10,000 years. The Gravettians represent a culture so very different from the highly patriarchal Yamnaya who ultimately “gentrified” (as Paul Sussman might say) a large region of Eurasia, pushing out the previous cultural group.
Let’s go back even further in time. Tens of millions of years of evolution have selected for primates, for apes, for hominids, for humans who are social, who work together, who use the power of the group to overcome the difficulties of survival, of raising children, of providing for the future, the future of tomorrow, next year, and increasingly, beyond.
The message from all of this science is so beautifully encapsulated in how Elisabeth Daynes explains the message of her art, “We are not the apex nor are we the only possible humanity.”
The Present
Science has also taught us that not all people think empirically. A data-driven view of the world is not universal. While many evolutionary biologists find comfort and, perhaps, awe in this larger, intertwined view of life on Earth. Many, if not most people find science unappetizing. Maybe this is because they didn’t like their high school science teacher. Maybe it is because science can come across as cold and calculated. Or maybe, they don’t like evolutionary biology because so many people see evolution as a dog-eats-dog perspective that is devoid of compassion. But as we just saw, this is not what the scientific evidence of our past actually shows.
The science of human evolution reveals useful and positive insight for humanity’s future. But in a culture where science is held at arms’ length and viewed with distaste, how do we share the benefits of the science with our larger community?
Art. Science needs art.
People are open to new ideas and new ways to view the world when they are provided the opportunity to do so through imagination, to explore these ideas in the realm of make-believe.
From my perspective as an evolutionary biologist, this is where the power of scientifically-aware art lies.
Art can convey a scientific message without the burden of data. There are no scientific terms, no analytical methods, no equations, no citations, no author lists or funding agencies or footnotes to distract from the message. Art can communicate the message, pure and simple, complex and provocative.
The Future
We stand at a crossroads for our society, for our species. At the most basic level, the Earth doesn’t care if humans are around in 10,000 years. It doesn’t matter to the universe if we do nothing about climate change or epidemics or threats from technology. The insects who survive this current mass extinction we have caused won’t care or mourn the loss.
But we, collectively, as a species should care. I think most people would like to think that we will still be here in 10,000 years. Or rather, we want our descendants to be here. We want people to talk about us much as we are thinking about the Gravettians and the Yamnaya, populations that many of us carry around parts of in our genomes, past people who made us who we are. We want to think that we too are laying the foundation for the future, for more people to live, to love, to do science, and to make art.
Elisabeth Dayne’s exhibit asks us to consider where we came from as we consider where we are going. Paul Sussman’s one-man-show asks the same. And this, this is exactly what evolutionary biologists are asking.
It is wonderful and inspiring to see how elegantly art can carry this message beyond the walls of the laboratory, and hopefully, positively influence how people see the world around them and the role they play in shaping its future.