Biological Theory 2 (3):300-306 (2007)
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Abstract |
In this article I challenge the widely held assumption that human culture is inherited by means of social learning. First, I address the distinction between “social” learning and “individual” learning. I argue that most cultural ideas are not acquired by one form of learning or the other, but from a hybrid of both. Second, I discuss how individual learning can interact with niche construction. I argue that these processes collectively provide a non-social route for learned ideas to be inherited and cumulatively modified. I conclude that human culture is not inherited by social learning alone; the capacities to learn from and modify our environments also play a significant role.
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Keywords | cultural evolution cultural inheritance niche construction social learning |
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DOI | 10.1162/biot.2007.2.3.300 |
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References found in this work BETA
Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2005 - Chicago University Press.
Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Human Cognition.Kim Sterelny - 2007 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74 (2):476-497.
The Organism as the Subject and Object of Evolution.Richard C. Lewontin - 1983 - Scientia 77 (18):65.
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