By Mark Pagel
A interesting, far-reaching examine of ways our species' innate potential for tradition altered the process our social and evolutionary history.
A particular trait of the human species is that our personalities, life, and worldviews are formed by means of an coincidence of birth—namely, the tradition into which we're born. it's our cultures and never our genes that ascertain which meals we consume, which languages we converse, which individuals we like and marry, and which individuals we kill in conflict. yet how did our species strengthen a brain that's hardwired for culture—and why?
Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tracks this fascinating query in the course of the final 80,000 years of human evolution, revealing how an innate propensity to give a contribution and agree to the tradition of our delivery not just enabled human survival and growth long ago but in addition keeps to persuade our habit this present day. laying off gentle on our species’ defining attributes—from artwork, morality, and altruism to self-interest, deception, and prejudice—Wired for Culture bargains striking new insights into what it skill to be human.
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Extra info for Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind
Sample text
Most animals are adapted to a physical environment such as one of these, and are confined to areas of the Earth where that environment is found. But for the last 160,000 to 200,000 years, humans have roamed the Earth conquering its many environments, chauffeured wherever we travelled by the inventive and cooperative tribal societies that are their cultures. And so, we are entitled to expect that, instead of adapting to the demands of any one physical environment, our genes have evolved to use the new social environment of human society to further their survival and reproduction.
Putting these two ideas together, we can see that replicators (think of genes) exert their effects on the external world, and thereby influence the likelihood that they will survive, through the vehicles (think of your body) they build. The distinction between replicators and vehicles is important because it reminds us that an animal’s body is merely a temporary structure built by its genes to promote their survival and reproduction. It can be difficult to shake the habit of thinking we are the main players in evolution rather than our genes, but your body is not replicated in your offspring; rather, your genes are, and then again in theirs.
Among the most common memes will be those that do us the most good. The success of ideas like how to build a better hand ax or spear, or how to navigate by the stars, skin a newly killed animal, fish, or tie a knot in a rope, comes from these being ideas we want to tell others. Still, the sheer volume of possible memes tells us that competition among them for space in our minds has been intense. This raises the question of whether, just as we cannot defend ourselves against some biological viruses, we might often be at the beck and call of selfish memes that get us not just to sing a tune, but to behave in whatever ways they decree, and then like a biological brain parasite dispense with us.