Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Laland, Kevin N.
• Odling-Smee, John
• Feldman, Marcus W.

Titel

Niche construction, biological evolution, and cultural change

Ist Teil von

• The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2000-02, Vol.23 (1), p.131-146, Article S0140525X00002417

Ort / Verlag

England: Cambridge University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2000

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We propose a conceptual model that maps the causal pathways relating biological evolution to cultural change. It builds on conventional evolutionary theory by placing emphasis on the capacity of organisms to modify sources of natural selection in their environment (niche construction) and by broadening the evolutionary dynamic to incorporate ontogenetic and cultural processes. In this model, phenotypes have a much more active role in evolution than generally conceived. This sheds light on hominid evolution, on the evolution of culture, and on altruism and cooperation. Culture amplifies the capacity of human beings to modify sources of natural selection in their environments to the point where that capacity raises some new questions about the processes of human adaptation.