Patterns and Processes in Cultural Evolution

• Published in: Evolutionary biology Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 516 - 530
• Main Authors: Bradie, Michael, Bouzat, Juan L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-12-2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cultural change; Developmental Biology; Ecology; Evolution; Evolutionary Biology; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Social evolution; Synthesis Paper; Darwin; Reaction norms; Cultural evolution; Epistemic theses
• ISSN: 0071-3260; 1934-2845
• DOI: 10.1007/s11692-015-9342-7

Darwinian models of cultural change have been motivated, in part, by the desire to provide a framework for the unification of the biological and the human sciences. In this paper, drawing upon a distinction between the evolution of enabling mechanisms for the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge (EEM) and the evolution of epistemic theses as cultural products (EET), we propose a model of how culture emerges as a product of biological evolution on the basis of the concept of
reaction norms
. The goal of this model is to provide a means for conceptualizing how the biological and the cultural realms are connected, when they start to disconnect, and what the key transitions are. We then assess the viability of a Darwinian approach to cultural change. We conclude that the prospects of producing a Darwinian model of cultural change that unifies the human sciences in a way that mirrors the unification of the biological sciences in the light of Darwin’s theory are rather dim.