A partial list of universal preconditions for human behavior, with
some conclusions.
1. They live in an enviornment which has limited resources.
2. There is competition between groups (either inter or intra-group
competition) and individuals _for_ these limited resources.
Those individuals/groups which do not compete, gain less of the
resources and thus, grow smaller and eventually die out.
Each individual has an interest in preserving his/her genetic heritage.
Those individuals/groups which do not, grow smaller and eventually
die out. (for group -- think of the quakers)
(breaking your rule here) Humans differ from animals in that they
have a concept of time -- both future and past. This leads to the
modification of behavior to take into account results from the past
and possible consequences for the future: Thag-- "Thag kill all horses.
Tribe eat good, therefore, Thag good!". Tharg -- "Horses make
horses, no more horse in future, tribe eat good now, bad in future.
Thag bad."
QED, the enviornment influences genetic selection to ensure some
common traits and strategies in all humans. While these may vary
tremendously on a superficial level, on a deeper level most or all
human behavior is remarkably consistent over time. As seems to be
nature's rule, very simple preconditions give rise to enormously
complex systems. The fact that the system is complex could deter
one from attempting to understanding it. But in making the
assumption that simple means underly the complex behaviors can help
enormously in making predictions of the future, if one has a sufficient
understanding of the underlying principles. In this case, an
understanding of the underlying principles of human nature can help
enormously in making limited predictions for complex systems.
Reading: "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches" -- written by an
anthropologist. subject is the rational base of culture --
demonstrated by looking at some of the most apparently "irrational"
cultural tabus/traditions (cow worship, pork bans, cargo cults,
christianity, etc) and examinines them from the point of view of their
being rational responses evolved by society to meet
enviormental/political/economic challenges --challenges almost
always arising because of the problem of limited resources.
"Bionomics" by Rothschild -- seminal work on "the economy as an
ecosystem"
The recent work on genetic base of behavior (i.e. the idea that many
human behaviors are a result of genetic competition between
individuals) sorry, can't think of the author's names right now.