scholarly journals París, California y la búsqueda por una teoría del cambio cultural

2019 ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Baravalle
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Epidemiology ◽  
Dan Sperber ◽  
Dual Inheritance

The debate on the possibility of an evolutionary theory of cultural change has heated up, over the last years, due to the supposed incompatibilities between the two main theoretical proposals in the field: dual inheritance theory and cultural epidemiology. The former, first formulated in the 1980’s by a group of biologists and anthropologists mostly hosted at Californian universities, supports an analogy between genetic inheritance and cultural transmission. Cultural epidemiology, more recently formulated by Dan Sperber and his collaborator (mostly hosted at Parisian universities), denies the defensibility of such an analogy and put forward a partially alternative model. But how much do these proposals actually differ with each other? In this article, I shall argue that less than what cultural epidemiologists use to think.

scholarly journals Towards a Pricean foundation for cultural evolutionary theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Baravalle ◽  
Victor J. Luque
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Fundamental Equation ◽  
Price Equation ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Heuristic Device ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Fundamental Equations ◽  
Dual Inheritance

The Price equation is currently considered one of the fundamental equations – or even the fundamental equation – of evolution. In this article, we explore the role of this equation within cultural evolutionary theory. More specifically, we use it to account for the explanatory power and the theoretical structure of a certain generalised version of dual-inheritance theory. First, we argue that, in spite of not having a definite empirical content, the Price equation offers a suitable formalisation of the processes of cultural evolution, and provides a powerful heuristic device for discovering the actual causes of cultural change and accumulation. Second, we argue that, as a consequence of this, a certain version of the Price equation is the fundamental law of cultural evolutionary theory. In order to support this claim, we sketch the ideal structure of dual-inheritance theory and we stress the unificatory role that the Price equation plays in it. 

The Cradle of Humankind

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-134
Author(s):  
Geoff Kushnick
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cradle Of Humankind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance

This chapter explores the relationship between parenting and technology from an evolutionary perspective. The exploration is organized around the “three styles” framework for understanding and differentiating between the three major evolutionary approaches to the study of human behavior: evolutionary psychology, human behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory. For each of these evolutionary approaches, the chapter provides two examples of the relationship between parenting and technology, one related to childbearing and the other related to childrearing. Is the evolutionary approach a useful one to understand this relationship? First, although each has as its focus the application of evolutionary theory to the study of human behavior, each of the three styles brings a different set of assumptions and priorities. Second, an evolutionary perspective points to specific, and theoretically justified, behavioral concomitants of technological change.

Evolutionary Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Shaver ◽  
Grant Purzycki ◽  
Richard Sosis
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Force ◽  
Dual Inheritance

People in all cultures entertain beliefs in supernatural agents and engage in ritual behaviors that are related to those beliefs. This suggests that religion is a product of a shared evolutionary history. Currently researchers employ three major evolutionary frameworks to study religion—evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, and dual-inheritance theory—each with different assumptions, methods, and areas of focus. This chapter surveys these approaches and describes the major sources of disagreement between them. Two of the largest sources of disagreement among evolutionary scholars of religion are: (1) whether or not religion is a cognitive byproduct, or a manifestation of adaptive behavioral plasticity, and (2) whether or not individual or group-level selection processes are a more potent evolutionary force in shaping the significant features religion. The authors suggest that integrative frameworks that incorporate aspects of all these perspectives offer the best potential for real progress.

Evolutionary and Complexity Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Kohler
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

Echoes of all the major approaches to applying evolutionary theory and method to the archaeological record can be found in the Southwest. Prior to about 1980, cultural evolutionary approaches were quite common; after that time, until the mid-1990s, selectionism was the dominant approach. More recently, human behavioral ecology and, to a smaller degree, dual inheritance theory have oriented most evolutionary research, while at the same time, research that draws on the theories and methods of complex adaptive systems has become more prominent. All of these approaches are likely to contribute to solving the grand challenges facing archaeology in the Southwest.

Niche Construction and the Study of Culture Change in Anthropology: Challenges and Prospects

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Niche Construction Theory ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Abstract </strong></span>| Many North American anthropologists remain deeply suspicious of attempts to theorize the evolution of culture, given the legacy in our discipline of nineteenth-century stagist theories of cultural evolution that were shaped by scientific racism<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>In the late twentieth-century, some theorists tried to escape this legacy by using formal models drawn from neo-Darwinian population biology to reconceptualize cultural evolutionary processes, but these more recent approaches have been found unsatisfactory for reasons of their own. For example, gene-culture coevolution and the dual inheritance theory have limited appeal to many contemporary cultural anthropologists because these theories rely on definitions of culture, and assumptions about human individuals and social groups, that many cultural anthropologists no longer find persuasive<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>Niche construction, by contrast, appears more promising as a framework for connecting cultural change with biological and ecological change. Nevertheless, the innovative features of niche construction coexist uneasily alongside the same problematic features that limit the usefulness of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance theory in cultural anthropology<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>This article discusses anthropological concerns about niche construction theory, but also suggests ways in which some of them might be reduced if niche construction theory were to incorporate insights from developmental systems theory and actor network theory.</p>

scholarly journals The Cradle of Humankind: Evolutionary Approaches to Technology and Parenting

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Kushnick
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Soap Operas ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cradle Of Humankind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance

This chapter explores the relevance of evolutionary theory for understanding the relationship between technology and parenting. It does this by elaborating two examples -- one related to childbearing and one to childrearing -- for each of the three major paradigms in the application of evolutionary theory to human behaviour: human behavioural ecology, evolutionary psychology, and dual-inheritance theory. The examples range from a cross-cultural test of the idea that heavier female contribution to subsistence will lead to the development of more elaborate baby-carrying technology, to the demonstrated role tv-broadcasted soap operas have played in lowering fertility rates in some developing countries.

scholarly journals The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062199400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will M. Gervais ◽  
Maxine B. Najle ◽  
Nava Caluori
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Cultural Exposure ◽  
Theories Of Religion ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Cultural Cues ◽  
Dual Inheritance

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches—secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance—in a nationally representative (United States, N = 1,417) data set with preregistered analyses and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of religious disbelief, witnessing fewer credible cultural cues of religious commitment was the most potent, β = .28, followed distantly by reflective cognitive style, β = .13, and less advanced mentalizing, β = .05. Low cultural exposure predicted about 90% higher odds of atheism than did peak cognitive reflection, and cognitive reflection only predicted disbelief among those relatively low in cultural exposure to religion. This highlights the utility of considering both evolved intuitions and transmitted culture and emphasizes the dual roles of content- and context-biased social learning in the cultural transmission of disbelief (preprint https://psyarxiv.com/e29rt/ ).

Extended evolutionary theory makes human culture more amenable to evolutionary analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms

AbstractJablonka & Lamb's (J&L's) extended evolutionary theory is more amenable to being applied to human cultural change than standard neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. However, the authors are too quick to dismiss past evolutionary approaches to human culture. They also overlook a potential parallel between evolved genetic mechanisms that enhance evolvability and learned cognitive mechanisms that enhance learnability.

scholarly journals Sense or non-sense? a critical discussion of a recent evolutionary–cognitive approach to “folk-economic beliefs”

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theiss Bendixen
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Massive Modularity ◽  
Economic Beliefs ◽  
Environment Of Evolutionary Adaptedness ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Dual Inheritance

Laypeople hold beliefs about economics and policy issues—so-called folk-economic beliefs (FEBs)—that are often wrong or misleading according to professional economists. Here, I critically discuss a recent evolutionary–cognitive approach to understanding folk-economic beliefs. According to this approach (Boyer & Petersen 2018a), some economic beliefs are more prevalent than others, because such beliefs (i.e., folk-economic beliefs) resonate with evolved features of the human mind. I refer to this as the “FEB hypothesis”. A central challenge to the FEB hypothesis, with its heavy reliance on universal cognitive features, is to explain individual and cultural differences in economic beliefs and behavior. This challenge is the starting point for the discussion. Overall, the conclusion of this paper is that the FEB hypothesis relies on unnecessarily strong and controversial theoretical assumptions (e.g., “massive modularity” and the “Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness”), and that it overlooks important findings from adjacent fields, but that the FEB hypothesis, following some modifications inspired by Dual Inheritance Theory, can be integrated with robust findings from the rest of the evolutionary, cognitive, and anthropological sciences, as well as standard political psychology. Based on this discussion, the paper ends with brief reflections on how to correct inaccurate folk-economic beliefs.

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