THEORY OF MIND AS AN ADAPTIVE PROCESS IN THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. Any form of life on our planet is constantly under the effect of a very powerful force that we call Evolution. It means that any life-form on this Earth is not fixed and stable, but it has changed and will change through time as a result of environmental interaction. At the beginning of the 19th century Alfred Russell Wallace came out with a theory about evolution, but it is Charles Darwin, whose work was more developed and researched, that is universally recognized as the father of the theory of evolution.
The final goal of the processes of
EVOLUTION is to guarantee the survival of an entire species. This happens thanks to a constant interaction and consequent adaptation with surrounding environments. Evolution operates through the genes and shapes not just bodies but also brains'' structures and therefore minds as is the case for
human beings, creating a process that will give a wide range of diversities. Diversity is introduced by sexual reproduction and also by spontaneous mutations. Mutant genes will appear constantly among a
species and unrelated individuals, producing every now and than “new” ones with specific and unique characteristics. The surrounding environment will than select through a process called natural selection what is best for a species: this is called the survival of the fittest.The fittest is the most adapted to a particular environment. This will make it easier for these
individuals to find food, to prosper and therefore to mate and pass on to the next generation their genes and with them their new, more “fit” qualities. The sexual selection that derives from it will finally transform the entire species into something new and better, something adapted that will continue to exist and avoid extinction. Theory of mind is a human psychological characteristic that appeared in our ancestors thousands of years ago. It is nothing else than a survival strategy, an adaptive process that our species adopted during its evolution. It is the
ability to second guess other peoples thoughts and motivations. It helped the first individuals that possessed it to hunt more effectively, to gather more food and therefore to reproduce more often and successfully. In other words it has been a strategy that guaranteed the continuity of our species, and made it the fittest in this period of the life of this planet. Bodies, walking positions, feeding habits and so on have changed. And of course brains have changed as well, in size and abilities. Mankind adapted to particular environments, developing survival strategies that guaranteed the species continuing to exist and prosper. Physical changes occurred, new abilities and skills were gained, the brain consequently developed. When in our ancestors the ability of sweating appeared , their breathing habits changed. Now that the mouth was less used to control body temperature, it could be used to communicate more with others . The brain grew and started to develop a specific area for language. Effective communication led to closer life with the other individuals, and the consequent cooperation helped our ancestors to deal better with the every day survival tasks. Thus humans developed into an highly social species with a very wide range of psychological characteristics that allowed them to interact more effectively. Theory of mind, in other words the ability to know what others might think is one example of these characteristics. By being able to predict one another''s behavior,two individuals can work together more effectively thereby improving survival chances (Baron-Cohen, 1999). The ability of being able to know others'' thoughts and predict outcomes certainly improved hunting and relationship skills. More effective cooperation with breeding-partners meant a lower death rate among offspring. Wellman et al. (2001) studied the theory of md his findings provide evidence that it is an universal ability. Wellman et al (2001) considered the influence of culture on theory of mind. They found that it is present in children from hunter-gatherer communities (Avis and Harris, 1991), from remote farming communities (Vinden, 1999) as well as in children from the Western World. . Theory of mind is necessary in attempts to change the knowledge of another; repairing communication; cooperating; teaching; persuading; sharing a focus or topic of attention; and pretending (Baron-Cohen, 1999) as suggested by the findings from studies about autism.(poor social skills) Such a powerful ability is adaptive since it helped human kind to interact in complex social situation, and to be a successful species in all sorts of environments, even if it is in an extremely small portion of the life-time of our planet. This psychological characteristic has had a huge impact on the evolution of mankind. It can have not only positive effects on social relationships but also negative ones, such as sensitivity to criticism and bullying (Hughes and Leekam, 2004). This ability to manipulate the others and to be able to decide whether to do it in a positive or a negative way, to choose in other word between good and bad, seems to be a human characteristic. Other disciplines than Evolutionary Psychology have referred to this with other names such as for example free will, which is something that makes human kind unique among all the other species.
More summaries about the theory of mind