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Five clarifications about cultural evolution Gabora, Liane
Abstract
This paper reviews and clarifies five misunderstandings about cultural evolution identified by Henrich, Boyd, and Richerson (2008). First, cultural representations are neither discrete nor continuous; they are distributed across neurons that respond to microfeatures. This enables associations to be made, and cultural change to be generated. Second, ‘replicator dynamics’ do not ensure natural selection. The replicator notion does not capture the distinction between actively interpreted self-assembly code and passively copied self-description, which leads to a fundamental principle of natural selection: inherited information is transmitted, whereas acquired information is not. Third, this principle is violated in culture by the ubiquity of acquired change. Moreover, biased transmission is less important to culture than the creative processes by which novelty is generated. Fourth, there is no objective basis for determining cultural fitness. Fifth, the necessity of randomness is discussed. It is concluded that natural selection is inappropriate as an explanatory framework for culture.
Item Metadata
Title |
Five clarifications about cultural evolution
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Creator | |
Publisher |
Brill
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Date Issued |
2011
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Description |
This paper reviews and clarifies five misunderstandings about cultural evolution
identified by Henrich, Boyd, and Richerson (2008). First, cultural representations are
neither discrete nor continuous; they are distributed across neurons that respond to
microfeatures. This enables associations to be made, and cultural change to be generated.
Second, ‘replicator dynamics’ do not ensure natural selection. The replicator notion does
not capture the distinction between actively interpreted self-assembly code and passively
copied self-description, which leads to a fundamental principle of natural selection:
inherited information is transmitted, whereas acquired information is not. Third, this
principle is violated in culture by the ubiquity of acquired change. Moreover, biased
transmission is less important to culture than the creative processes by which novelty is
generated. Fourth, there is no objective basis for determining cultural fitness. Fifth, the
necessity of randomness is discussed. It is concluded that natural selection is
inappropriate as an explanatory framework for culture.
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Subject | |
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2018-03-05
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0364148
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Citation |
Gabora, L. (2011). Five clarifications about cultural evolution. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 11, 61-83.
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Publisher DOI |
10.1163/156853711X568699
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Peer Review Status |
Reviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Faculty
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International