Structural diversity, functional plasticity: the role of de-generacy in Human Evolution.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary anthropology
• Complex adaptive systems
• Cultural evolution

Background:

• Degeneracy, structurally distinct elements with overlapping functions, is recognized in biology but overlooked in cultural evolution.
• Distinguishing degeneracy from redundancy (identical structures, same role) is vital for understanding adaptability.
• Historical misuse of 'degeneracy' has hindered its application in anthropology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore degeneracy as a principle in evolutionary anthropology.
• To clarify the distinction between degeneracy and redundancy.
• To demonstrate the significance of degeneracy in understanding cultural resilience and transformation.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on degeneracy in biological and cultural systems.
• Analysis of empirical examples across linguistic variation, kinship, and ritual.
• Comparative case study of Indonesian Silek and Brazilian Capoeira.

Main Results:

• Degeneracy is a distributed property of complex adaptive systems, often overlooked due to bias.
• Empirical examples show degeneracy in linguistic, kinship, and ritual domains.
• Case studies illustrate the emergence of functionally similar cultural formations from distinct structures.

Conclusions:

• Integrating degeneracy offers a nuanced understanding of cultural transmission and transformation.
• Recognizing structurally diverse, functionally coherent practices refines cultural evolution models.
• Degeneracy is a robust tool for analyzing variation, complexity, and persistence in human evolution.