A critical examination of the idea that human culture changes via a mechanism similar to Darwin's natural selection.
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.
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Summary
A critical examination of the idea that human culture changes via a mechanism similar to Darwin's natural selection.
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.
Description
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.
Critic Reviews
'The value of this element resides not only in the argumentation it offers but also in the clarity and the overview it brings to this complex and quickly evolving area of scientific inquiry.' Michael Vlerick, Metascience
'The analysis is smart, and it is fun and easy to read. … it is an excellent conceptual analysis of cultural evolution theory, and its brevity makes it a good introduction to the philosophical issues raised by this theory.' Robert T. Boyd, The Quarterly Review of Biology
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