A função adaptativa da transmissão cultural
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-31662012000200004Keywords:
Adaptacionism, Sociobiology, Meme, Cultural variable, Maladaptation, Second order adaptationAbstract
The main objective of this study is to suggest how we can explain cultural transmission within a general evolutionary, naturalistically acceptable, framework. To do so, I will begin by reconsidering the two major theories that have been proposed for the same purpose, namely, sociobiology and memetics. Regarding sociobiology, I will preserve the idea that the origin of cultural traits lies in a biological adaptation. Regarding the second theory, I will accept that there is a sense in which cultural traits are adapted that differs from simple "increase of biological fitness". The second objective, closely related to the first, is to explain why certain cultural phenomena that are not biologically adaptive, called maladaptations, remain, and thus to provide an adaptationist, but not genocentric, interpretive framework for understanding cultural dynamics. In order to articulate my thesis in an original proposal, I will use the ideas of Boyd and Richerson and introduce the distinction between first order and second order adaptations.Downloads
Published
2012-01-01
Issue
Section
Artigos
License
A revista detém os direitos autorais de todos os textos nela publicados. Os autores estão autorizados a republicar seus textos mediante menção da publicação anterior na revista.How to Cite
A função adaptativa da transmissão cultural. (2012). Scientiae Studia, 10(2), 269-295. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-31662012000200004