Ultrasociality, class, threat, and intentionality in human society

Abstract

Gowdy & Krall neglect an important aspect of human societies, which is that class systems are not genetically based but rather based on threat. In turn, threat presupposes intentionality, so seems to distinguish human from arthropod ultrasociality. Class systems, in turn, seem to explain the distinctive mixture of persistence and instability characteristic of human, but not arthropod, ultrasocial populations.