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The cultural evolution of cultural evolution
Jonathan Birch1, Cecilia Heyes2
1Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK.
Summary
Cultural evolution likely evolved culturally through a self-assembly process. This involved stages of social learning, cultural selection (CS1 and CS2), and cognitive adaptations, enabling uniquely human cumulative culture.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Anthropology
- Cognitive Science
- Archaeology
Background:
- Human cumulative cultural evolution is rapid and unique.
- The origins and mechanisms of this process remain debated.
- Previous research often overlooks the evolutionary development of cultural learning itself.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and detail a "self-assembly hypothesis" for the evolution of cultural evolution.
- To explain how cumulative culture, unique to humans, emerged.
- To provide a framework for investigating the evolution of social learning and cognition.
Main Methods:
- An evolutionary account detailing a step-by-step process for cultural evolution's emergence.
- Integration of concepts from social learning, cultural selection, and cognitive evolution.
- Comparison with archaeological evidence regarding early hominin tool use.
Main Results:
- Cultural evolution is hypothesized to have evolved culturally.
- Early hominins possessed social learning capacities (Cultural Selection 1).
- Attentional and explicit learning biases, driven by Cultural Selection 1, led to high-fidelity copying (Cultural Selection 2) and specialized cognitive tools.
Conclusions:
- The self-assembly hypothesis offers a coherent and plausible explanation for cumulative culture.
- This model aligns with archaeological findings on early hominin technology.
- It suggests new research directions for understanding animal culture and the evolution of cognition.
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