ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the “disease-avoidance hypothesis” of disgust and discusses the compare and contrast the hunting hypothesis with the gathering hypothesis. It explains the savanna hypothesis for finding a place to live and explores the most common human fears. The chapter also describes the descent illusion and presents the leading theory of senescence. It analyzes why humans would be a major “hostile force of nature” to other humans. Charles Darwin called these the “hostile forces of nature”. They include extremes of climate, harsh weather, food shortages, toxins, diseases, parasites, predators, and hostile conspecifics. Each of these hostile forces has created adaptive problems for humans—challenges that have recurred in each generation over the long expanse of evolutionary history. A phenomenon previously regarded as an illness instead may be an adaptation designed to combat a hostile force of nature—protecting the mother’s embryo from exposure to hazards from consumed foods carrying toxins and pathogens.
