2024/06/03 by Tim Lewens · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Language and cultural evolution #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/9781009539043
openalex publication_date 2024/06/03 · openalex created_date 2024/06/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Humans learn in ways that are influenced by others. As a result, cultural items of many types are elaborated over time in ways that build on the achievements of previous generations. Culture therefore shows a pattern of descent with modification reminiscent of Darwinian evolution. This raises the question of whether cultural selection-a mechanism akin to natural selection, albeit working when learned items are passed from demonstrators to observers-can explain how various practices are refined over time. This Element argues that cultural selection is not necessary for the explanation of cultural adaptation; it shows how to build hybrid explanations that draw on aspects of cultural selection and cultural attraction theory; it shows how cultural reproduction makes problems for highly formalised approaches to cultural selection; and it uses a case-study to demonstrate the importance of human agency for cumulative cultural adaptation.