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Humans are ashamed of certain activities that are critical to our survival. Examples: mating, defecation, exposing certain parts of our bodies

This restricts some activities from being performed while others are around (usually only if others are also humans).

Perhaps it is because we are the only species who is capable of feeling ashamed?

What are the advantages of this mechanism in terms of survival as a species?

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to SE Biology. In my opinion this is not the kind of practical biological question that can be answered in an objective manner, but is one the answers to which will be opinions and lie in the area of psychology or sociology. That is why I have voted to close it. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Jul 15, 2020 at 9:18
  • $\begingroup$ I think there is certainly an interesting biological question underlying the evolution of e.g. fecal avoidance, which has been studied in a variety of organisms (e.g. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24027342). Unfortunately, when such questions are applied to humans, they often end up descending into telling just-so stories about human evolution. $\endgroup$
    – user438383
    Jul 15, 2020 at 14:50
  • $\begingroup$ Some humans are, not all humans, nudity for instance is definitely cultural. Don't confuse your cultures behavior with universal human behavior. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 15, 2020 at 17:30
  • $\begingroup$ @John Can't culture have a genetic component? $\endgroup$
    – Rodrigo de Azevedo
    Jul 15, 2020 at 17:34
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    $\begingroup$ @RodrigodeAzevedo cultural behaviors generally have no genetic component they are purely learned behaviors. This is easily seen by the behaviors of people raised in drastically different cultures than their ancestry. Humans in general have so little genetic variation claiming anything cultural has a genetic component would require a great deal of evidence. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Jul 15, 2020 at 17:45

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