Abstract
What does Evo-devo offer for a better understanding of cultural evolution? Cultural evolutionists with a biological bend typically focus on the relation between genetic evolution and cultural change, a research program referred to as gene-culture coevolution. Development of the human organism is usually left unattended by cultural evolutionists, and so are the processes involved in the production of cultural phenotypes. Moreover, Evo-devo research has yet to have any marked impact on the social sciences. Examining how Evo-devo can contribute to the study of cultural evolution means understanding how cultural evolution and development shape one another. However, it is necessary to first clarify just what sorts of developmental processes we are interested in. There are two albeit not mutually exclusive candidate answers to this question. First, we can be interested in the interactions between cultural evolution and biological development – how does the development of human individuals and the cultural evolutionary process shape one another? Alternatively, we can be interested in the interactions between cultural evolution and the generative mechanisms involved in the production of cultural phenotypes. The objective of the present discussion is to address both understandings of the relations between Evo-devo and cultural evolution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Abraham WC, Bear MF (1996) Metaplasticity: the plasticity of synaptic plasticity. Trends Neurosci 19:126–130
Alberch P (1991) From genes to phenotype: dynamical systems and evolvability. Genetica 84:5–11
Boyd R, Richerson PJ (1985) Culture and the evolutionary process. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Charbonneau M (2015a) All innovations are equal, but some more than others: (Re)integrating modification processes to the origins of cumulative culture. Biol Theory 10(4):322–335
Charbonneau M (2015b) Mapping complex social transmission: technical constraints on the evolution cultures. Biol Philos 30:527–546
Charbonneau M (forthcoming) Modularity and Recombination in Technological Evolution in. Philosophy & Technology
Durham WH (1991) Coevolution: genes, culture, and human diversity. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Enquist M, Ghirlanda S, Eriksson K (2011) Modelling the evolution and diversity of cumulative culture. Philos Trans R Soc B 366:412–423
Heyes CM (2012) Grist and mills: on the cultural origins of cultural learning. Philos Trans R Soc B 367:2181–2191
Jablonka E, Lamb MJ (2005) Evolution in four dimensions: genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic variation in the history of life. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Lumsden CJ, Wilson EO (1981) Genes, mind, and culture. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Malafouris L (2009) “Neuroarchaeology”: exploring the links between neural and cutlural plasticity. In: Chiao JY (ed) Cultural neuroscience: cultural influences on brain function. Elsevier, New York, pp 253–261
Malafouris L (2010) Metaplasticity and the human becoming: principles of neuroarchaeology. J Anthropol Sci 88:49–72
Malafouris L (2013) How things shape the mind: a theory of material engagement. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Mesoudi A, O’Brien MJ (2008) The learning and transmission of hierarchical cultural recipes. Biol Theory 3:63–72
Mesoudi A, Whiten A, Laland KN (2006) Towards a unified science of cultural evolution. Behav Brain Sci 29:329–383
Mithen S, Parsons L (2008) The brain as a cultural artefact. Camb Archaeol J 18(3):415–422
Müller GB (2007) Six Memos for Evo-devo. In: Laubichler MD, Maienschein J (eds) From embriology to Evo-devo. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 499–524
Rogoff B (2003) The cultural nature of human development. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Roux V, Bril B (eds) (2005) Stone knapping: the necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge
Ruddle K, Chesterfield R (1977) Education for traditional food procurement in the Orinoco Delta. University of California Press, Berkeley
Sperber D (1996) Explaining culture: a naturalistic approach. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford
Stout D (2011) Stone toolmaking and the evolution of human culture and cognition. Philos Trans R Soc B 366:1050–1059
Wimsatt WC (1999) Genes, memes, and cultural heredity. Biol Philos 14:279–310
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Charbonneau, M. (2016). Evo-Devo and Culture. In: Nuno de la Rosa, L., Müller, G. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_47-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33038-9_47-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33038-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences