scholarly journals Selection, adaptation, inheritance and design in human culture: the view from the Price equation

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20190358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Darwinian Evolution ◽  
Price Equation ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Minimal Description ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Mind

For decades, parts of the literature on human culture have been gripped by an analogy: culture changes in a way that is substantially isomorphic to genetic evolution. This leads to a number of sub-claims: that design-like properties in cultural traditions should be explained in a parallel way to the design-like features of organisms, namely with reference to selection; that culture is a system of inheritance; and that cultural evolutionary processes can produce adaptation in the genetic sense. The Price equation provides a minimal description of any evolutionary system, and a method for identifying the action of selection. As such, it helps clarify some of these claims about culture conceptually. Looking closely through the lens of the Price equation, the differences between genes and culture come into sharp relief. Culture is only a system of inheritance metaphorically, or as an idealization, and the idealization may lead us to overlook causally important features of how cultural influence works. Design-like properties in cultural systems may owe more to transmission biases than to cultural selection. Where culture enhances genetic fitness, it is ambiguous whether what is doing the work is cultural transmission, or just the genetically evolved properties of the mind. I conclude that there are costs to trying to press culture into a template based on Darwinian evolution, even if one broadens the definition of ‘Darwinian’. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of the Price equation’.

Prestige does not affect the cultural transmission of novel controversial arguments in an online transmission chain experiment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel V. Jiménez ◽  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Transmission Chain ◽  
Reliable Effect ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Relevant Domain ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
High Prestige ◽  
The Prestige

Cultural evolutionary theories define prestige as social rank that is freely conferred on individuals possessing superior knowledge or skill, in order to gain opportunities to learn from such individuals. Consequently, information provided by prestigious individuals should be more memorable, and hence more likely to be culturally transmitted, than information from non-prestigious sources, particularly for novel, controversial arguments about which pre-existing opinions are absent or weak. It has also been argued that this effect extends beyond the prestigious individual’s relevant domain of expertise. We tested whether the prestige and relevance of the sources of novel, controversial arguments affected the transmission of those arguments, independently of their content. In a four-generation linear transmission chain experiment, British participants (N=192) recruited online read two conflicting arguments in favour of or against the replacement of textbooks by computer tablets in schools. Each of the two conflicting arguments was associated with one of three sources with different levels of prestige and relevance (high prestige, high relevance; high prestige, low relevance; low prestige, low relevance). Participants recalled the pro-tablets and anti-tablets arguments associated with each source and their recall was then passed to the next participant within their chain. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find a reliable effect of either the prestige or relevance of the sources of information on transmission fidelity. We discuss whether the lack of a reliable effect of prestige on recall might be a consequence of differences between how prestige operates in this experiment and in everyday life.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Cheyne
Keyword(s):  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
External Powers ◽  
The Mind

This introductory chapter commences with a definition of contemplation as the sustained attention to the ideas of reason, which are not merely concepts in the mind, but real, external powers that constitute and order being and value, and therefore excite reverence or admiration. A contemplative, Coleridgean position is outlined as a defence in the crisis of the humanities, arguing that if Coleridge is right in asserting that ideas ‘in fact constitute … humanity’, then they must be the proper or ultimate studies of the disciplines that comprise the humanities. This focus on contemplation as the access to essential ideas explains why Coleridge progressed from, without ever abandoning, imagination to reason as his thought evolved during his lifetime. A section on ‘Contemplation: How to Get There from Here’, is followed by a descriptive bibliography of Coleridge as discussed by philosophers, intellectual historians, theologians, and philosophically minded literary scholars.

The function of myths about great leaders in human culture: A cultural evolutionary perspective

Leadership ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 757-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micha Popper ◽  
Omri Castelnovo
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Cultural Functions

The discussion takes an evolutionary–cultural perspective in which (a) humans are inherently attracted to large figures (i.e., leaders, heroes), perceived as competent and benevolent entities; (b) the large figure’s influence rests largely on evolutionary phylogenetic biases; (c) the large figure’s effects are expressed through a mechanism designed to transmit cultural knowledge vertically. The suggested view sheds a different light on the psychological and cultural functions of myths about great leaders, and allows us to examine issues such as charisma and culture, the place of the leader in creating collective identity and transmission of cultural norms and practices. Research directions derived from the suggested approach are discussed.

Contemporary psychosurgery and a look to the future

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 944-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Feldman ◽  
Ronald L. Alterman ◽  
James T. Goodrich
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Psychiatric Disease ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current State ◽  
Mind And Brain ◽  
Patient Selection Criteria ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Fine Print

Object. Despite a long and controversial history, psychosurgery has persisted as a modern treatment option for some severe, medically intractable psychiatric disorders. The goal of this study was to review the current state of psychosurgery. Methods. In this review, the definition of psychosurgery, patient selection criteria, and anatomical and physiological rationales for cingulotomy, subcaudate tractotomy, anterior capsulotomy, and limbic leukotomy are discussed. The historical developments, modern procedures, and results of these four contemporary psychosurgical procedures are also reviewed. Examples of recent advances in neuroscience indicating a future role for neurosurgical intervention for psychiatric disease are also mentioned. Conclusions. A thorough understanding of contemporary psychosurgery will help neurosurgeons and other physicians face the ethical, social, and technical challenges that are sure to lie ahead as modern science continues to unlock the secrets of the mind and brain.

scholarly journals ‘A transverse scar on the neck’ – psychosomatic approach in the differential diagnosis and surgical treatment of hyperthyroidism in post-war Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-156
Author(s):  
Eve-Riina Hyrkäs
Keyword(s):  
Surgical Treatment ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Differential Diagnostics ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Surgical Interventions ◽  
Somatic Illness ◽  
Post War ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Mind

AbstractIn the Finnish medical discussion during the middle decades of the twentieth century, the challenging differential diagnostics between hyperthyroidism and various neuroses was perceived to yield a risk of unnecessary surgical interventions of psychiatric patients. In 1963, the Finnish surgeon Erkki Saarenmaa claimed that ‘the most significant mark of a neurotic was a transverse scar on the neck’, a result of an unnecessary thyroid surgery. The utterance was connected to the complex nature of thyroid diseases, which seemed to be to ‘a great extent psychosomatic’. Setting forth from this statement, the article aims to decipher the connection between hyperthyroidism, unnecessary surgical treatment and the psychosomatic approach in Finnish medicine. Utilising a wide variety of published medical research and discussion in specialist journals, the article examines the theoretical debate around troublesome diagnostics of functional complaints. It focuses on the introduction of new medical ideas, namely the concepts of ‘psychosomatics’ and ‘stress’. In the process, the article aims to unveil a definition of psychosomatic illness that places it on a continuum between psychological and somatic illness. That psychosomatic approach creates a space with interpretative potential can be applied to the historiography of psychosomatic phenomena more generally. Further inquiry into the intersections of surgery and psychosomatics would enrich both historiographies. It is also argued that the historical study of psychosomatic syndromes may become skewed, if the term ‘psychosomatic’ is from the outset taken to signify something that is all in the mind.

scholarly journals The term “Civilization” in the Muslim intellectual Traditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-49
Author(s):  
Badrane Benlahcene
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Intellectual Traditions ◽  
Sedentary Life ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Or Organization ◽  
The City

The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation on the use of the term “civilization” in Muslim intellectual traditions; that is to look for the terms used in various languages used by Muslim peoples to mean civilization. It tries to find out some definition of what we mean by “civilization” as well as whatwe mean by “being civilized” in Islamic intellectual traditions. Therefore, the methodology adopted to achieve the paper's objective is to analyze the various literal and terminological words and terms used to denote civilization in various Muslim languages.The paper finds that in the Muslim scientific and cultural traditions, hadarah, tamaddun or tamadun are the various terms used. However, Ibn Khalduun’s term hadarah is the most appropriate one to express the concept of civilization in its modern sense.It is also clear that the mentioned usages of term “civilization” agree on certain rudimentary elements of civilization, that is, the presence of the city, the order or organization and the sedentary life of its inhabitants.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Westwood ◽  
Beth Laura O’Leary ◽  
Milford Wayne Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Historic Preservation ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Level ◽  
Over Time

Chapter 1 introduces the concepts of “importance” and historic preservation at a high-level and explains the biographies of each of the authors. The included chapter outline also provides an overview of the scope and content of the book. This chapter begins with an overview and definition of human culture, and how it has changed over time. The concepts of archaeology and space archaeology are introduced within the context of place-based historic preservation and Apollo culture.

Consumer Buying Behavior of Budding Musicians Between 15 and 25 Purchasing Guitars in Pune

2019 ◽  
pp. 200-216
Author(s):  
Suddhaloke Roy Choudhury ◽  
Kaushal B. K.
Keyword(s):  
Primary Objective ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Rock And Roll ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Potential Consumer ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Consumer Buying Behavior

The earth-shattering effect of Rock and Roll on popular music put guitars on the map. Buying behavior of a guitar (instrument) is relatively a nascent topic in academic literature, although listening to and playing music itself has been an important part of human culture for centuries. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to investigate consumer buying behavior of budding musicians between the ages of 15 and 25, purchasing guitars in the city of Pune. The study ended up providing a significant insight into the mind of a budding musician while purchasing a guitar. All of this has helped shape the buying behavior of a potential consumer. Surprisingly, family influence has been low for most people since they have been quite sure while making a purchase.

Social Evolution versus Sudden Change

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ehrenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Darwinian Evolution ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

In an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, meeting at the Vatican on October 22, 1996, Pope John Paul II accepted the theory of evolution, thus bringing to an official end, for the Catholic Church, the most bitter and most persistent of all debates between science and religion. “New knowledge,” John Paul said, “has lead to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis.” He qualified his statement somewhat by pointing out that there are many readings of evolution, “materialist, reductionist, and [his preference] spiritualist interpretations.” Still, we must not quibble; the Pope has endorsed slow evolutionary change, Darwinian evolution, as the likely way that nature modifies all living creatures, including all human beings. Fashioning us in the image of God, the Pope appears to believe, took a very, very long time. The dust has not yet settled on the great evolution war, nor will it settle soon. A few intelligent scientists are still not convinced that evolutionary theory explains the species richness of our planet and the amazing adaptations, such as eyes, wings, and social behavior, of its in-habitants. There also remain powerful religious orthodoxies that show no sign of giving up the fight for creationist theology. A second war about evolution is now being waged, an invisible, un-publicized struggle between a different set of protagonists; it is a war whose outcome will affect our lives and civilization more directly than the original controversy ever did. The new protagonists are not science and traditional religion; instead, they are the corporate apostles of the religion of progress versus those surviving groups and individuals committed to slow social evolution as a way of life. To understand this other struggle, it is necessary to look at evolution in a broad context that transcends biology. Not just a way of explaining how the camel got her hump or how the elephant got his trunk, the idea of evolution can also be applied to the writing of a play that “evolves” in the mind of the playwright or the “evolution” of treaties, banking systems, and anything else that changes over time in a non random direction.

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