Innovations in the study of human culture
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12938839 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lewis Dean (corresponding author), Laurel Fogarty (0000-0002-9378-083X) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 281-284 |
| Publication date | 2010-08-25 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Evolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1789-2082 • E-ISSN: 2060-5587 |
| Publisher | Akadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU) |
| DOI | 10.1556/jep.8.2010.3.6 |
| OpenAlex | W2131936837 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
Innovation, the utilisation of a new or modified product or process, is key to human culture. The extraordinary capacity of humans to innovate has given us a complex cultural system when compared to other species. Technology has built upon previous traits, applying them to new situations and inventing new components to make a process more efficient or complex (BASALLA 1988). Indeed our ability to innovate is likely to have fed back, shaping our genetic evolution and our brain size (WILSON 1985). Even though evolutionary approaches to the study of human behaviour vary between disciplines, overall the approach has had a significant impact on the whole disciplines (LALAND and BROWN 2002; MESOUDI et al. 2006). In this volume Michael O’Brien and Stephen Shennan have brought together contributors from diverse disciplines and with a variety of positions on the evolutionary approach. The book is divided into three sections, the first is titled The Biological Substrate. Kevin Laland and Simon Reader (Chapter 3) and Daniel Larson (Chapter 5) discuss the biology behind innovation, whilst others in the section comment on the study of innovation in other fields, most notably evolutionary biology. Laland and Reader provide an interesting account of the comparative work that has been carried out in their laboratories and meta-analyses that have been conducted. Meta-analyses have identified patterns of innovation between species, whilst the experiments allow a more controlled examination of certain hypotheses, such as the spread innovations to closest associates. Although the chapter does not
Cognitive science · Epistemology · Process (computing · Product (mathematics · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Language and cultural evolution · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
| Highly cited | No |
|---|