71 found
Order:
Disambiguations
Robert Boyd [64]Robert N. Boyd [6]Robert Neil Boyd [2]Robert G. Boyd [2]
Robert T. Boyd [1]
  1.  33
    Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2005 - Chicago University Press.
    Acknowledgments 1. Culture Is Essential 2. Culture Exists 3. Culture Evolves 4. Culture Is an Adaptation 5. Culture Is Maladaptive 6. Culture and Genes Coevolve 7. Nothing about Culture Makes Sense except in the Light of Evolution.
    No categories
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   447 citations  
  2.  26
    Foundations of Human Sociality - Economic Experiments and Ethnographic: Evidence From Fifteen Small-Scale Societies.Joseph Henrich, Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr & Herbert Gintis (eds.) - 2004 - Oxford University Press UK.
    What motives underlie the ways humans interact socially? Are these the same for all societies? Are these part of our nature, or influenced by our environments?Over the last decade, research in experimental economics has emphatically falsified the textbook representation of Homo economicus. Literally hundreds of experiments suggest that people care not only about their own material payoffs, but also about such things as fairness, equity and reciprocity. However, this research left fundamental questions unanswered: Are such social preferences stable components of (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   76 citations  
  3. “Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies.Joseph Henrich, Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr, Herbert Gintis, Richard McElreath, Michael Alvard, Abigail Barr, Jean Ensminger, Natalie Smith Henrich, Kim Hill, Francisco Gil-White, Michael Gurven, Frank W. Marlowe & John Q. Patton - 2005 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28 (6):795-815.
    Researchers from across the social sciences have found consistent deviations from the predictions of the canonical model of self-interest in hundreds of experiments from around the world. This research, however, cannot determine whether the uniformity results from universal patterns of human behavior or from the limited cultural variation available among the university students used in virtually all prior experimental work. To address this, we undertook a cross-cultural study of behavior in ultimatum, public goods, and dictator games in a range of (...)
    Direct download (9 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   131 citations  
  4. The Cultural Niche.Robert Boyd - unknown
    In the last 60,000 years humans have expanded across the globe and now occupy a wider range than any other terrestrial species. Our ability to successfully adapt to such a diverse range of habitats is often explained in terms of our cognitive ability. Humans have relatively bigger brains and more computing power than other animals and this allows us to figure out how to live in a wide range of environments. Here we argue that humans may be smarter than other (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   97 citations  
  5. Kinds, complexity, and multiple realization.Robert Boyd - 1999 - Philosophical Studies 95 (1-2):67-98.
  6. (2 other versions)The evolution of altruistic punishment.Robert Boyd, Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Peter Richerson & J. - 2003 - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100 (6):3531-3535.
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   88 citations  
  7.  77
    Culture and the evolution of human cooperation.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article - sign up in the box at the top here right-hand corner of the article or click..
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   60 citations  
  8.  76
    On Modeling Cognition and Culture: Why cultural evolution does not require replication of representations.Robert Boyd - 2002 - Journal of Cognition and Culture 2 (2):87-112.
    Formal models of cultural evolution analyze how cognitive processes combine with social interaction to generate the distributions and dynamics of ‘representations.’ Recently, cognitive anthropologists have criticized such models. They make three points: mental representations are non-discrete, cultural transmission is highly inaccurate, and mental representations are not replicated, but rather are ‘reconstructed’ through an inferential process that is strongly affected by cognitive ‘attractors.’ They argue that it follows from these three claims that: 1) models that assume replication or replicators are inappropriate, (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   68 citations  
  9.  55
    Teaching and the Life History of Cultural Transmission in Fijian Villages.Michelle A. Kline, Robert Boyd & Joseph Henrich - 2013 - Human Nature 24 (4):351-374.
    Much existing literature in anthropology suggests that teaching is rare in non-Western societies, and that cultural transmission is mostly vertical (parent-to-offspring). However, applications of evolutionary theory to humans predict both teaching and non-vertical transmission of culturally learned skills, behaviors, and knowledge should be common cross-culturally. Here, we review this body of theory to derive predictions about when teaching and non-vertical transmission should be adaptive, and thus more likely to be observed empirically. Using three interviews conducted with rural Fijian populations, we (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   28 citations  
  10. (1 other version)Group Beneficial Norms Can Spread Rapidly in a Structured Population.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Group beneficial norms are common in human societies. The persistence of such norms is consistent with evolutionary game theory, but existing models do not provide a plausible explanation for why they are common. We show that when a model of imitation used to derive replicator dynamics in isolated populations is generalized to allow for population structure, group beneficial norms can spread rapidly under plausible conditions. We also show that this mechanism allows recombination of different group beneficial norms arising in..
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   27 citations  
  11.  83
    Why Does Culture Increase Human Adaptability?Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    It is often argued that culture is adaptive because it allows people to acquire useful information without costly learning. In a recent paper Rogers analyzed a simple mathematical model that showed that this argument is wrong. Here we show that Rogers ' result is robust. As long as the only benefit of social learning is that imitators avoid learning costs, social learning does not increase average fitness. However, we also show that social learning can be adaptive if it makes individual (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   23 citations  
  12.  84
    Complex societies.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 1999 - Human Nature 10 (3):253-289.
    The complexity of human societies of the past few thousand years rivals that of social insect societies. We hypothesize that two sets of social “instincts” underpin and constrain the evolution of complex societies. One set is ancient and shared with other social primate species, and one is derived and unique to our lineage. The latter evolved by the late Pleistocene, and led to the evolution of institutions of intermediate complexity in acephalous societies. The institutions of complex societies often conflict with (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   32 citations  
  13.  30
    The search for an alternative to the sociobiological hypothesis.Peter J. Richerson & Robert T. Boyd - 1981 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4 (2):248-249.
  14. Population size predicts technological complexity in Oceania.Michelle A. Kline & Robert Boyd - unknown
    Much human adaptation depends on the gradual accumulation of culturally transmitted knowledge and technology. Recent models of this process predict that large, well-connected populations will have more diverse and complex tool kits than small, isolated populations. While several examples of the loss of technology in small populations are consistent with this prediction, it found no support in two systematic quantitative tests. Both studies were based on data from continental populations in which contact rates were not available, and therefore these studies (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   18 citations  
  15.  33
    Different Selection Pressures Give Rise to Distinct Ethnic Phenomena.Cristina Moya & Robert Boyd - 2015 - Human Nature 26 (1):1-27.
    Many accounts of ethnic phenomena imply that processes such as stereotyping, essentialism, ethnocentrism, and intergroup hostility stem from a unitary adaptation for reasoning about groups. This is partly justified by the phenomena’s co-occurrence in correlational studies. Here we argue that these behaviors are better modeled as functionally independent adaptations that arose in response to different selection pressures throughout human evolution. As such, different mechanisms may be triggered by different group boundaries within a single society. We illustrate this functionalist framework using (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   11 citations  
  16. Punishment Sustains Large-Scale Cooperation in Prestate Warfare.Sarah Mathew & Robert Boyd - 2011 - Pnas 108:11375-11380.
    No categories
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   15 citations  
  17. The Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Human societies are based on cooperation among large numbers of genetically unrelated individuals. This behavior is puzzling from an evolutionary perspective. Because cooperators are..
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   14 citations  
  18.  63
    (1 other version)Shared norms can lead to the evolution of ethnic markers.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Most human populations are subdivided into ethnic groups which have self-ascribed membership and are marked by seemingly arbitrary traits such as distinctive styles of dress or speech. Existing explanations of ethnicity do not adequately explain the origin and maintenance of group marking. Here we develop a mathematical model which shows that groups distinguished by both differences in social norms and in arbitrary markers can emerge and remain stable despite significant mixing between them, if (1) people preferentially interact in mutually beneficial (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   13 citations  
  19.  71
    Reasoning About Cultural and Genetic Transmission: Developmental and Cross‐Cultural Evidence From Peru, Fiji, and the United States on How People Make Inferences About Trait Transmission.Cristina Moya, Robert Boyd & Joseph Henrich - 2015 - Topics in Cognitive Science 7 (4):595-610.
    Using samples from three diverse populations, we test evolutionary hypotheses regarding how people reason about the inheritance of various traits. First, we provide a framework for differentiat-ing the outputs of mechanisms that evolved for reasoning about variation within and between biological taxa and culturally evolved ethnic categories from a broader set of beliefs and categories that are the outputs of structured learning mechanisms. Second, we describe the results of a modified “switched-at-birth” vignette study that we administered among children and adults (...)
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   8 citations  
  20. Rapid cultural adaptation can facilitate the evolution of large-scale cooperation.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Over the past several decades, we have argued that cultural evolution can facilitate the evolution of largescale cooperation because it often leads to more rapid adaptation than genetic evolution, and, when multiple stable equilibria exist, rapid adaptation leads to variation among groups. Recently, Lehmann, Feldman, and colleagues have published several papers questioning this argument. They analyze models showing that cultural evolution can actually reduce the range of conditions under which cooperation can evolve and interpret these models as indicating that we (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   12 citations  
  21.  89
    Climate, culture and the evolution of cognition.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2000 - In Celia Heyes & Ludwig Huber (eds.), The Evolution of Cognition. MIT Press. pp. 329--45.
    What are the causes of the evolution of complex cognition? Discussions of the evolution of cognition sometimes seem to assume that more complex cognition is a fundamental advance over less complex cognition, as evidenced by a broad trend toward larger brains in evolutionary history. Evolutionary biologists are suspicious of such explanations since they picture natural selection as a process leading to adaptation to local environments, not to progressive trends. Cognitive adaptations will have costs, and more complex cognition will evolve only (...)
    No categories
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   17 citations  
  22. Punishment sustains large-scale cooperation in prestate warfare.Robert Boyd & Simon A. Levin - unknown
    Understanding cooperation and punishment in small-scale societies is crucial for explaining the origins of human cooperation. We studied warfare among the Turkana, a politically uncentralized, egalitarian, nomadic pastoral society in East Africa. Based on a representative sample of 88 recent raids, we show that the Turkana sustain costly cooperation in combat at a remarkably large scale, at least in part, through punishment of free-riders. Raiding parties comprised several hundred warriors and participants are not kin or day-to-day interactants. Warriors incur substantial (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   11 citations  
  23. Materialism without reductionism: What physicalism does not entail.Robert Boyd - 1980 - In Ned Joel Block (ed.), Readings in Philosophy of Psychology: 1. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   15 citations  
  24. Norms and Bounded Rationality.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Anthropologists believe that human behavior is governed by culturally transmitted norms, and that such norms contain accumulated wisdom that allows people to behave sensibly even though they do not understand why they do what they do. Economists and other rational choice theorists have been skeptical about functionalist claims because anthropologists have not provided any plausible mechanism which could explain why norms have this property. Here, we outline two such mechanisms. We show that occasional learning when coupled with cultural transmission and (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  25. How Hilbert’s attempt to unify gravitation and electromagnetism failed completely, and a plausible resolution.Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache & Robert N. Boyd - manuscript
    In the present paper, these authors argue on actual reasons why Hilbert’s axiomatic program to unify gravitation theory and electromagnetism failed completely. An outline of plausible resolution of this problem is given here, based on: a) Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, b) Newton’s aether stream model. And in another paper we will present our calculation of receding Moon from Earth based on such a matter creation hypothesis. More experiments and observations are called to verify this new hypothesis, albeit it is inspired from (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  26. Towards Helmholtz’s electron vortex from Kolmogorov’s theory of turbulence and a new model of origination of charge and matter.Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache & Robert N. Boyd - manuscript
    In the present paper we discuss: a) how Hilbert’s unification program failed completely, and b) we outline a new electron model based on Helmholtz’s electron vortex and Kolmogorov theory of turbulence. Novelty aspect: we discuss among other things, electron capture event, and von Karman vortex street. We also discuss a new model of origination of charge and matter. This paper is a sequel to a preceding paper on similar theme.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  27. Transmission coupling mechanisms: cultural group selection.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    The application of phylogenetic methods to cultural variation raises questions about how cultural adaption works and how it is coupled to cultural transmission. Cultural group selection is of particular interest in this context because it depends on the same kinds of mechanisms that lead to tree-like patterns of cultural variation. Here, we review ideas about cultural group selection relevant to cultural phylogenetics. We discuss why group selection among multiple equilibria is not subject to the usual criticisms directed at group selection, (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   9 citations  
  28. On Three possible applications of Neutrosophic Logic in Applied Sciences, including matter creation.Victor Christianto, Robert N. Boyd & Florentin Smarandache - manuscript
    In the same spirit with the theme of last issue of this SGJ journal (“Ongoing creation”), this paper shortly reviews a plausible mechanism from Aether to become ordinary matter from the perspective of Neutrosophic Logic. We also discuss two other possible applications of Neutrosophic Logic, including a resolution of conflicting paradigms in medicine. We hope that some ideas as outlined herein will be proved useful in the near future.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  29. Division of labor, economic specialization, and the evolution of social stratification.Joseph Henrich & Robert Boyd - 2008 - Current Anthropology 49 (4):715-724.
    This paper presents a simple mathematical model that shows how economic inequality between social groups can arise and be maintained even when the only adaptive learning process driving cultural evolution increases individuals’ economic gains. The key assumptions are that human populations are structured into groups and that cultural learning is more likely to occur within than between groups. Then, if groups are sufficiently isolated and there are potential gains from specialization and exchange, stable stratification can sometimes result. This model predicts (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  30. A Remark on how a Consciousness Model and Entanglement can lead us to Quantum Communication.Victor Christianto, Robert N. Boyd & Florentin Smarandache - manuscript
    In a recent paper, we describe how a model of quantum communication based on combining consciousness experiment and entanglement can serve as impetus to stop 5G-caused diseases. Therefore, in this paper we will discuss how entanglement can be explained in terms of quantum theory. This short review may be considered as an effort to bring QM into real problem solving, i.e. telecommunication.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  31. Remark on Regenerative Medicine and Potential Utilization of Low-Intensity Laser Photobiomodulation to Activate Human Stem Cells.Victor Christianto, Florentin Smarandache & Robert N. Boyd - 2023 - Bio-Science Research Bulletin 39 (2):52-55.
    Recently, a friend of one of these writers told her story of using one of a healthcare product to activate her stem cells as part of regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is a field of medicine that seeks to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues and organs. This can be done through a variety of methods, including stem cell therapy, tissue engineering, and gene therapy. This is a short review article on this rapid field called regenerative medicine, in particular via (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  32. A tale of two defectors: The importance of standing for evolution of indirect reciprocity.Robert Boyd - unknown
    Indirect reciprocity occurs when the cooperative behavior between two individuals is contingent on their previous behavior toward others. Previous theoretical analysis indicates that indirect reciprocity can evolve if individuals use an image-scoring strategy. In this paper, we show that, when errors are added, indirect reciprocity cannot be based on an image-scoring strategy. However, if individuals use a standing strategy, then cooperation through indirect reciprocity is evolutionarily stable. These two strategies differ with respect to the information to which they attend. While (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   11 citations  
  33. Simple models of complex phenomena: The case of cultural evolution.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 1987 - In John Dupré (ed.), The Latest on the Best: Essays on Evolution and Optimality : Conference on Evolution and Information : Papers. MIT Press. pp. 27--52.
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   11 citations  
  34. Recent Experimental Findings supporting Smarandache’s Hypothesis and Quantum Sorites Paradoxes and SubQuantum Kinetic Model of Electron.Victor Christianto, Robert N. Boyd & Florentin Smarandache - manuscript
    Smarandache Hypothesis states that there is no speed limit of anything, including light and particles. While the idea is quite simple and based on known hypothesis of quantum mechanics, called Einstein-Podolski-Rosen paradox, in reality such a superluminal physics seems still hard to accept by majority of physicists. Here we review some experiments to support superluminal physics and also findings to explain Smarandache Quantum Paradoxes and Quantum Sorites Paradox. We also touch briefly on new experiment on magneton, supporting SubQuantum Kinetic Model (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  35. Models of decision-making and the coevolution of social preferences.Joseph Henrich, Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr, Herbert Gintis, Richard McElreath, Michael Alvard, Abigail Barr, Jean Ensminger, Natalie Smith Henrich, Kim Hill, Francisco Gil-White, Michael Gurven, Frank W. Marlowe, John Q. Patton & David Tracer - 2005 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28 (6):838-855.
    We would like to thank the commentators for their generous comments, valuable insights and helpful suggestions. We begin this response by discussing the selfishness axiom and the importance of the preferences, beliefs, and constraints framework as a way of modeling some of the proximate influences on human behavior. Next, we broaden the discussion to ultimate-level (that is evolutionary) explanations, where we review and clarify gene-culture coevolutionary theory, and then tackle the possibility that evolutionary approaches that exclude culture might be sufficient (...)
    Direct download (6 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   10 citations  
  36.  70
    (2 other versions)Built for speed, not for comfort.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2001 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 23:423-463.
  37. Gene–culture coevolution and the evolution of social institutions.Robert Boyd & Peter J. Richerson - unknown
    Social institutions are the laws, informal rules, and conventions that give durable structure to social interactions within a population. Such institutions are typically not designed consciously, are heritable at the population level, are frequently but not always group benefi cial, and are often symbolically marked. Conceptualizing social institutions as one of multiple possible stable cultural equilibrium allows a straightforward explanation of their properties. The evolution of institutions is partly driven by both the deliberate and intuitive decisions of individuals and collectivities. (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   6 citations  
  38. Darwinian evolutionary ethics: between patriotism and sympathy.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2004 - In Philip Clayton & Jeffrey Schloss (eds.), Evolution and Ethics: Human Morality in Biological and Religious Perspective. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. pp. 50--77.
  39. Are Cultural Phylogenies Possible?Robert Boyd, Monique Bogerhoff-Mulder & Peter J. Richerson - 1997 - In Peter Weingart, Sandra D. Mitchell, Peter J. Richerson & Sabine Maasen (eds.), Human by Nature. London: pp. 355-386.
    Biology and the social sciences share an interest in phylogeny. Biologists know that living species are descended from past species, and use the pattern of similarities among living species to reconstruct the history of phylogenetic branching. Social scientists know that the beliefs, values, practices, and artifacts that characterize contemporary societies are descended from past societies, and some social science disciplines, linguistics and cross cultural anthropology for example, have made use of observed similarities to reconstruct cultural histories. Darwin appreciated that his (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   7 citations  
  40. Culture, adaptation, and innateness.Robert Boyd & Peter Richerson - 2005 - In Peter Carruthers, Stephen Laurence & Stephen P. Stich (eds.), The Innate Mind: Structure and Contents. New York, US: Oxford University Press on Demand.
    It is almost 30 years since the sociobiology controversy burst into full bloom. The modern theory of the evolution of animal behavior was born in the mid 1960’s with Bill Hamilton’s seminal papers on inclusive fitness and George William’s book Adaptation and Natural Selection. The following decade saw an avalanche of important ideas on the evolution of sex ratio, animal conflicts, parental investment, and reciprocity, setting off a revolution our understanding of animal societies, a revolution that is still going on (...)
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   6 citations  
  41.  65
    Response to our critics.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2008 - Biology and Philosophy 23 (2):301-315.
  42. Cooperation, Reciprocity and Punishment in Fifteen Small- scale Societies.Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis - unknown
    Recent investigations have uncovered large, consistent deviations from the predictions of the textbook representation of Homo economicus (Roth et al, 1992, Fehr and Gächter, 2000, Camerer 2001). One problem appears to lie in economists’ canonical assumption that individuals are entirely self-interested: in addition to their own material payoffs, many experimental subjects appear to care about fairness and reciprocity, are willing to change the distribution of material outcomes at personal cost, and reward those who act in a cooperative manner while punishing (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  43.  61
    Evolution on a Restless Planet: Were Environmental Variability and Environmental Change Major Drivers of Human Evolution?Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - unknown
    Two kinds of factors set the tempo and direction of organic and cultural evolution, those external to biotic evolutionary process, such as changes in the earth’s physical and chemical environments, and those internal to it, such as the time required for chance factors to lead lineages across adaptive valleys to a new niche space (Valentine 1985). The relative importance of these two sorts of processes is widely debated. Valentine (1973) argued that marine invertebrate diversity patterns responded to seafloor spreading as (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  44.  49
    The punishment that sustains cooperation is often coordinated and costly.Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd, Sarah Mathew & Peter J. Richerson - 2012 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 35 (1):20 - 21.
    Experiments are not models of cooperation; instead, they demonstrate the presence of the ethical and other-regarding predispositions that often motivate cooperation and the punishment of free-riders. Experimental behavior predicts subjects' cooperation in the field. Ethnographic studies in small-scale societies without formal coercive institutions demonstrate that disciplining defectors is both essential to cooperation and often costly to the punisher.
    Direct download (5 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  45.  40
    Style, Function, and Cultural Evolutionary Processes.Robert Boyd & Peter Richerson - unknown
    Version 4.4 October, 1994 Introduction When explaining human behavior, anthropologists frequently distinguish the things that people do of their own free will from the things they do because they have to. In much of anthropology, and most American archaeology, this is the difference between style and function. Functional behaviors are the things people are constrained to do; stylistic behaviors are the things people do when unconstrained. Where necessity stops and free choice begins is, of course, a classic problem of social (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  46. Cultural evolution and the shaping of cultural diversity.Lesley Newson, Peter Richerson & Robert Boyd - 2007 - Handbook of Cultural Psychology.
    This chapter focuses on the way that cultures change and how cultural diversity is created, maintained and lost. Human culture is the inevitable result of the way our species acquires its behavior. We are extremely social animals and an overwhelming proportion of our behavior is socially learned. The behavior of other animals is largely a product of innate evolved determinants of behavior combined with individual learning. They make quite modest use of social learning while we acquire a massive cultural repertoire (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  47.  49
    Culture is Part of Human Biology.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - unknown
    Rates of violence in the American South have long been much greater than in the North. Accounts of duels, feuds, bushwhackings, and lynchings occur prominently in visitors’ accounts, newspaper articles, and autobiography from the 18th Century onward. According to crime statistics these differences persist today. In their book, Culture of Honor, Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen argue that the South is more violent than the North because Southerners have different, culturally acquired beliefs about personal honor than Northerners. The South was (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  48. Why possibly language evolved.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - unknown
    Human syntactic language has no close parallels in other systems of animal communication. Yet it seems to be an important part of the cultural adaptation that serves to make humans the earth’s dominant organism. Why is language restricted to humans given that communication seems to be so useful? We argue that language is part of human cooperation. We talk because others can normally trust what we say to be useful to them, not just to us. Models of gene-culture coevolution give (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  49. When does optional participation allow the evolution of cooperation?Robert Boyd - unknown
    Altruistic punishment has been shown to invade when rare if individuals are allowed to opt out of cooperative ventures. Individuals that opt out do not contribute to the common enterprise or derive benefits from it. This result is potentially significant because it offers an explanation for the origin of large-scale cooperation in oneshot interactions among unrelated individuals. Here, we show that this result is not a general consequence of optional participation in cooperative activities, but depends on special assumptions about cooperative (...)
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  50.  15
    Built for Speed, not for Comfort. Darwinian Theory and Human Culture.Peter J. Richerson & Robert Boyd - 1997 - Philosophica 60 (2).
    No categories
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
1 — 50 / 71