Tim Lewens

Cultural Selection

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

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.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 75
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. Juni 2024
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781009539098
• ISBN-10: 1009539094
• Artikelnr.: 70388400

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction: culture from the side of natural history
1. The arguments for cultural selection
2. The attractions of cultural selection
3. The cultural price equation
4. Waiting for casabe
References.