21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-04 04:42:20

Uncategorized
A DEFINITION. “At its heart, cultural change is a process of inherited variation that changes due to selection, drift, migration, and other processes, which, in their details, may operate similar to or different from the genetic case.” http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7853.full View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-04 04:38:54

Uncategorized
EVOLUTION OF CULTURE. “A common question is whether culture really evolves. This question comes from both social scientists skeptical of any kind of parallel with evolution, and biologists insistent that Darwin’s theory applies only to genetic evolution. Importantly, no one argues that genetic evolution and cultural evolution operate identically.” http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7853.full View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-04 04:36:43

Uncategorized
THE SECOND PATH. “Cultural change constitutes a Darwinian evolutionary process that shares key characteristics with the genetic evolution of species. The emergence of this second evolutionary process saw an unprecedented extension of genetic evolution by allowing organisms to adapt more rapidly to, and more powerfully create and shape, their environments.” http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7853.full View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-04 04:34:45

Uncategorized
FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend and concludes this weekend on the theme of the evolution of culture from a biological viewpoint. Cultural evolution is much faster than biological evolution, a fact our common experience reinforces. Culture is not strictly human, and has been found in many species. And perhaps more surprising, culture can create traits that are thought to contribute to speciation. View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments
linkedin post 2020-04-03 04:04:50

linkedin post 2020-04-03 04:04:50

Uncategorized
AUGMENTED ELITE. "The augmented among us—those who are willing to avail themselves of the benefits of brain prosthetics and to live with the attendant risks—will outperform others in the everyday contest for jobs and mates, in science, on the athletic field and in armed conflict. These differences will challenge society in new ways—and open up possibilities that we can scarcely imagine." http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579435592981780528 View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-05 01:31:27

Uncategorized
SPEED OF ACCUMULATION. “Ideas regarding the origin of cumulative culture can inform thinking about factors that might affect recent and ongoing cumulative cultural evolution. The invention of writing, followed by digital media, surely greatly increased the fidelity of social learning and, potentially, the speed of cumulative culture.” http://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/7853.full View in LinkedIn
Read More
21Sep 2022 by Nigel Fleming No Comments

linkedin post 2020-04-05 01:29:17

Uncategorized
CULTURAL EVOLUTION of complexity that comes anywhere close to the extraordinary biological complexity we see in nature might include advanced mathematics, scientific enquiry, some music, writing and language, and the internet. But in truth, none of these compares to layered sophistication of the merest bristle on the nose of a flea. These types of complexity are not comparable, they are simply very different. Complexity should not even be in the formula. View in LinkedIn
Read More