What Sort of Mind/Brain Is Compatible with Cultural Adaptation?
In: Journal of Cognition and CultureSearch for other papers by Peter J. Richerson in
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Abstract
Cultural evolution is substantially driven by agentic forces and rather less by the random variation and natural selection that dominate the evolution of genes. Reinforcement based decisions (attractors) keep cultural evolution tolerably on track of genetic fitness. Reinforcement can come from a variety of proximate mechanisms ranging from rather general-purpose appetites and emotions to highly specific cognitive features. Cognitive features must be substantially built by social and individual learning to be compatible with the vast cultural diversity we observe in space and over time. At the same time gene-based components of reinforcement keep culture generally on track of genetic fitness. This essay asks whether the available neuroscientific evidence on brain function is more compatible with this cultural niche hypothesis or the much more directly gene-based cognitive niche alternative. Future neuroscience may provide a complete proximate account of the biological foundations of culture.
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What Sort of Mind/Brain Is Compatible with Cultural Adaptation?
In: Journal of Cognition and CultureSearch for other papers by Peter J. Richerson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Robert T. Boyd in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Cultural evolution is substantially driven by agentic forces and rather less by the random variation and natural selection that dominate the evolution of genes. Reinforcement based decisions (attractors) keep cultural evolution tolerably on track of genetic fitness. Reinforcement can come from a variety of proximate mechanisms ranging from rather general-purpose appetites and emotions to highly specific cognitive features. Cognitive features must be substantially built by social and individual learning to be compatible with the vast cultural diversity we observe in space and over time. At the same time gene-based components of reinforcement keep culture generally on track of genetic fitness. This essay asks whether the available neuroscientific evidence on brain function is more compatible with this cultural niche hypothesis or the much more directly gene-based cognitive niche alternative. Future neuroscience may provide a complete proximate account of the biological foundations of culture.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 788 | 222 | 25 |
| Full Text Views | 58 | 12 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 150 | 33 | 0 |