Universal Human Commonalities

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Genetics
Biochemistry
Psychology
Linguistics
Anthropology
Sociology

Genetics

We all have

• the same genes
• in the same quantity
• arranged in the same sequence
• the ability to mix genes and reproduce with any able member of the other sex

Biochemistry

We all have

• mirror neurons
• estrogen
• testosterone
• progesterone
• dopamine

Psychology

We all

• are apt to cling to our beliefs
• edit our reality
• search for evidence that confirms what we already believe
• have minds, goals, desires and beliefs
• are better motivated by financial rewards in mechanical skill-based tasks
• are better motivated by autonomy, mastery and making a contribution in cognitive skill-driven tasks

We all have

• abstraction in thought

• actions under self-control distinguished from those not under control

• aesthetics

• affection expressed and felt

• ambivalence

• anticipation

• attachment

• belief in supernatural/religion

• beliefs, false

• beliefs about death

• beliefs about disease

• beliefs about fortune and misfortune

• binary cognitive distinctions

• childhood fears

• childhood fear of loud noises

• childhood fear of strangers

• choice making (choosing alternatives)

• collective identities

• conjectural reasoning

• continua (ordering as cognitive pattern)

• coyness display

• crying

• decision making

  • decision making, collective

• differential valuations

• distinguishing right and wrong

• dominance/submission

• dreams

  • dream interpretation

• economic inequalities, consciousness of

• emotions

• empathy

• entification (treating patterns and relations as things)

• environment, adjustments to

• envy

  • envy, symbolic means of coping with

• ethnocentrism

• etiquette

• explanation

• fears

  • fear of death

  • fears, ability to overcome some

• future, attempts to predict

• generosity admired

• good and bad distinguished

• habituation

• hope

• identity, collective

• intention

• interest in bioforms (living things or things that resemble them)

• interpolation

• interpreting behavior

• judging others

• likes and dislikes

• logical notions

  • logical notion of “and”

  • logical notion of “equivalent”

  • logical notion of “general/particular”

  • logical notion of “not”

  • logical notion of “opposite”

  • logical notion of “part/whole”

  • logical notion of “same”

• manipulate social relations

• materialism

• memory

• mental maps

• moral sentiments

  • moral sentiments, limited effective range of

• mourning

• normal distinguished from abnormal states

• Oedipus complex

• overestimating objectivity of thought

• pain

• person, concept of

• precedence, concept of (that’s how the leopard got its spots)

• preference for own children and close kin (nepotism)

• pride

• private inner life

• promise

• psychological defense mechanisms

• recognition of individuals by face

• risk-taking

• role and personality seen in dynamic interrlationship (i.e., departures from role can be explained in terms of individual personality)

• self-control

• self distinguished from other

• self as neither wholly passive nor wholly autonomous

• self as subject and object

• self-image, awareness of (concern for what others think)

• self-image, manipulation of

• self-image, wanted to be positive

• self is responsible

• senses unified

• sexual attraction

• sexual attractiveness

• sexual jealousy

• sexual modesty

• sexuality as focus of interest

• shame

• sickness and death seen as related

• snakes, wariness around

• socialization

  • socialization expected from senior kin

  • socialization includes toilet training

• statuses and roles

  • statuses, ascribed and achieved

  • statuses distinguished from individuals

  • statuses on other than sex, age, or kinship bases

• stinginess, disapproval of

• sweets preferred

• taboos

  • tabooed foods

  • tabooed utterances

• territoriality

• triangular awareness (assessing relationships among the self and two other people)

• true and false distinguished)

• world view

Linguistics

We all have

• abstraction in speech
• age terms
• antonyms
• baby talk
• black (color term)

• classification

  • classification of age

  • classification of behavioral propensities

  • classification of body parts

  • classification of colors

  • classification of fauna

  • classification of flora

  • classification of inner states

  • classification of kin

  • classification of sex

  • classification of space

  • classification of tools

  • classification of weather conditions

• contrasting marked and nonmarked sememes (meaningful elements in language)
• face (word for)

  • facial communication

  • facial expression of anger

  • facial expression of contempt

  • facial expression of disgust

  • facial expression of fear

  • facial expression of happiness

  • facial expression of surprise

  • facial expressions, masking/modifying of

• father and mother, separate kin terms for

• figurative speech

• grammar

• hand (word for)

• insulting

• kin terms translatable by basic relations of procreation

• language

  • language employed to manipulate others

  • language employed to misinform or mislead

  • language is translatable

  • language not a simple reflection of reality

  • language, prestige from proficient use of

• linguistic redundancy
• making comparisons
• marking at phonemic, syntactic, and lexical levels
• mentalese

• metaphor

• metonym

• morphemes

• narrative

• nouns

• numerals (counting)

  • one (numeral)

  • two (numeral)

• onomatopoeia

• personal names

• phonemes

  • phonemes defined by set of minimally constrasting features

  • phonemes, merging of

  • phonemes, range from 10 to 70 in number

  • phonemic change, inevitability of

  • phonemic change, rules of

  • phonemic system

• poetry/rhetoric

  • poetic line, uniform length range

  • poetic lines characterized by repetition and variation

  • poetic lines demarcated by pauses

• polysemy (one word has several meanings)

• pronouns

  • pronouns, minimum two numbers

  • pronouns, minimum three persons

• proper names

• proverbs, sayings

  • proverbs, sayings – in mutually contradictory forms

• semantics

  • semantic category of affecting things and people

  • semantic category of dimension

  • semantic category of giving

  • semantic category of location

  • semantic category of motion

  • semantic category of other physical properties

  • semantic components

  • semantic components, generation

  • semantic components, sex

• sememes, commonly used ones are short, infrequently used ones are longer

• special speech for special occasions

• stop/nonstop contrasts (in speech sounds)

• symbolism

• symbolic speech

• synesthetic metaphors

• synonyms

• verbs

• vocalic/nonvocalic contrasts in phonemes

• vowel contrasts

• white (color term)

Anthropology

We all have

• art

• age grades

• age statuses

• ancestral roots in Africa
• anthropomorphization

• body adornment

• childbirth customs

• childcare

• containers

• cooking

• critical learning periods

• daily routines

• dance

• death rituals

• directions, giving of

• discrepancies between speech, thought, and action

• diurnality

• divination

• feasting

• fire

• folklore

• food

  • food preferences

  • food sharing

• gestures

• gossip

• hairstyles

• healing the sick (or attempting to)

• hygienic care

• imagery

• inheritance rules

• intertwining (e.g., weaving)

• jokes

• lever

• magic

  • magic to increase life

  • magic to sustain life

  • magic to win love

• meal times

• mearning, most units of are non-universal

• measuring

• medicine

• mood- or consciousness-altering techniques and/or substances

• music

  • melody

  • music, children’s

  • music related in part to dance

  • music related in part to religious activity

  • music seen as art (a creation)

  • music, vocal

  • music, vocal, includes speech forms

  • musical redundancy

  • musical reptition

  • musical variation

  • rhythm

• myths

• nomenclature (perhaps the same as classification)

• nonbodily decorative art

• past/present/future

• planning

  • planning for future

• possessive, intimate

• possessive, loose

• practice to improve skills

• property

• shelter

• spear

• sucking wounds

• taxonomy

• thumb sucking

• tickling

• time

  • time, cyclicity of

• tools

  • tool dependency

  • tool making

  • tools for cutting

  • tools to make tools

  • tools patterned culturally

  • tools, permanent

  • tools for pounding

• toys, playthings

• tying material (i.e., something like string)

• units of time

• weapons

• weather control (attempts to)

Sociology

We all

• have a sense of right and wrong
• have a notion of fairness
• put some value on loyalty and kindness
• distinguish between acts of cruelty and innocent mistakes
• categorize people as nasty or nice
• capable of being compassionate, sympathetic and altruistic

We all have

• coalitions

• conflict

  • conflict, consultation to deal with

  • conflict, means of dealing with

  • conflict, mediation of

• cooperation

• cooperative labor

• corporate (perpetual) statuses

• cultural variability

• culture

• culture/nature distinction

• customary greetings

• dispersed groups

• division of labor

  • division of labor by age

  • division of labor by sex

• economic inequalities

• family (or household)

• gift giving

• government

• group living

• groups that are not based on family

• hospitality

• incest between mother and son unthinkable or tabooed

• incest, prevention or avoidance

• in-group distinguished from out-group(s)

• in-group biases in favor of

• institutions (organized co-activities)

• kin, close distinguished from distant

• kin groups

• kinship statuses

• law (rights and obligations)

• law (rules of membership)

• leaders

• male and female and adult and child seen as having different natures

• marriage

• murder proscribed

• oligarchy (de facto)

• play

  • play to perfect skills

• prestige inequalities

• pretend play

• rape

  • rape proscribed

• reciprocal exchanges (of labor, goods, or services)

  • reciprocity, negative (revenge, retaliation)

• redress of wrongs

• resistance to abuse of poser, to dominance

• rites of passage

• rituals

• sanctions

  • sanctions fro crimes against the collectivity

  • sanctions include removal from the social unit

• sex statuses

• sexual regulation

• sexual regulation includes incest prevention

• social structure

• succession

• trade

• turn-taking

• violence, some forms of proscribed

• visiting

• weaning

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abstraction in speech & thought

actions under self-control distinguished from those not under control

aesthetics

affection expressed and felt

age grades

age statuses

age terms

ambivalence

anthropomorphization

anticipation

antonyms

attachment

baby talk

belief in supernatural/religion

beliefs, false

beliefs about death

beliefs about disease

beliefs about fortune and misfortune

binary cognitive distinctions

biological mother and social mother normally the same person

black (color term)

body adornment

childbirth customs

childcare

childhood fears

childhood fear of loud noises

childhood fear of strangers

choice making (choosing alternatives)

classification

classification of age

classification of behavioral propensities

classification of body parts

classification of colors

classification of fauna

classification of flora

classification of inner states

classification of kin

classification of sex

classification of space

classification of tools

classification of weather conditions

coalitions

collective identities

conflict

conflict, consultation to deal with

conflict, means of dealing with

conflict, mediation of

conjectural reasoning

containers

continua (ordering as cognitive pattern)

contrasting marked and nonmarked sememes (meaningful elements in language)

cooking

cooperation

cooperative labor

copulation normally conducted in privacy

corporate (perpetual) statuses

coyness display

critical learning periods

crying

cultural variability

culture

culture/nature distinction

customary greetings

daily routines

dance

death rituals

decision making

decision making, collective

differential valuations

directions, giving of

discrepancies between speech, thought, and action

dispersed groups

distinguishing right and wrong

diurnality

divination

division of labor

division of labor by age

division of labor by sex

dominance/submission

dreams

dream interpretation

economic inequalities

economic inequalities, consciousness of

emotions

empathy

entification (treating patterns and relations as things)

environment, adjustments to

envy

envy, symbolic means of coping with

ethnocentrism

etiquette

explanation

face (word for)

facial communication

facial expression of anger

facial expression of contempt

facial expression of disgust

facial expression of fear

facial expression of happiness

facial expression of surprise

facial expressions, masking/modifying of

fairness (equity), concept of

family (or household)

father and mother, separate kin terms for

fears

fear of death

fears, ability to overcome some

feasting

females do more direct childcare

figurative speech

fire

folklore

food preferences

food sharing

future, attempts to predict

generosity admired

gestures

gift giving

good and bad distinguished

gossip

government

grammar

group living

groups that are not based on family

habituation

hairstyles

hand (word for)

healing the sick (or attempting to)

hope

hospitality

husband older than wife on average

hygienic care

identity, collective

imagery

incest between mother and son unthinkable or tabooed

incest, prevention or avoidance

in-group distinguished from out-group(s)

in-group biases in favor of

inheritance rules

institutions (organized co-activities)

insulting

intention

interest in bioforms (living things or things that resemble them)

interpolation

interpreting behavior

intertwining (e.g., weaving)

jokes

judging others

kin, close distinguished from distant

kin groups

kin terms translatable by basic relations of procreation

kinship statuses

language

language employed to manipulate others

language employed to misinform or mislead

language is translatable

language not a simple reflection of reality

language, prestige from proficient use of

law (rights and obligations)

law (rules of membership)

leaders

lever

likes and dislikes

linguistic redundancy

logical notions

logical notion of “and”

logical notion of “equivalent”

logical notion of “general/particular”

logical notion of “not”

logical notion of “opposite”

logical notion of “part/whole”

logical notion of “same”

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