PSYC14H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Outlandish, Putamen, Millennials
Chapter 3- Cultural Evolution
One reason manners have changed over time is that people’s views of what is healthy have also
changed
oExp: in the 16th century it was seen as unhealthy to refrain either spitting or from
passing wind.
These transformations in manners over time are instances of an obvious fact: Cultures change,
cultures continue to evolve, they are not monolithic and frozen entities but are rather fluid and
constantly evolving as new ideas merges
WHERE DOES CULTURAL VARIATION COME FROM
Ecological and geographical variation
The ecologies in which ppl live in must be considered when looking at how cultural variation
comes to be.
oDifferent environments affect the ways that ppl go about living their lives
Exp: there are no large animals in Hawaii, and native Hawaiians do not have any
hunting traditions constrasting o the Kung of the Kalahari
The types of foods that are available within a given ecology affect the kinds of
foraging behaviors that people engage in.
oEcological differences can have some indirect effects on culture as well.
oDifferent physical ecologies do not just affect the diet of people, the different foraging
behaviors can also come to affect how the societies are restructured and the values that
people come to adopt.
oCultural variation in gender roles can arise from the different ecologies within which
people live
What might seem to be small variations in ecologies can lead to dramatically different cultures
especially as they unfold over time. Exp: overthrowing of the Incan empire by 168 Spaniard
soldiers
Proximal Causes: causes that direct and immediate relations with their effects
oAt a proximal level, the Spaniards had the political organization that drew on the
experience of the thousand years of written history, along with oceangoing ships that
allowed them to reach the Americas.
Distal Causes: are those initial differences that lead to effects over long periods, often through
indirect relations
Chineese from rice: interdependent, tolerant of nepotism and enaged in holistic thinking
Transmitted versus evoked culture
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Cultural norms can arise as direct responses to features of the ecology, or they can arise
because of learning from other individuals
The first way that different geographies can affect cultural norms is through evoked cultures
oEvoked culture is the notion that all people, regardless of where they are form, have
certain biologically encoded behavioral repertoires that are potentially accessible to
present
Exp: all individuals are capable of acting in an intimidating manner when they or
their offspring are being threatened by others.
A second way in which geography leads to cultural variation is transmitted culture
oTransmitted culture is when people come to learn about particular cultural practices
through social learning or modeling others who live near them
Exp: if you observe your neighbor planting wheat seeds and notice the benefits
that she earned for doing so, you might adopt this cultural practice for yourself.
oVast majority of cultural differences can be best understood in terms of the results of
transmitted culture
oAlthough transmitted culture typically begins in a particular geographic area, it does not
necessarily stay bound to a particular geography. Unlike evoked culture, transmitted
culture can travel with people when they move to new environments
Often, the distinction between evoked and transmitted culture isn’t as clear-cut
There is more to cultural variation that just variation in ecologies
oExp: consider 2 cultures: Dinka and Nuer from south Sudan. Both have co-existed in the
same region for more than a century. Despite the fact that people from these two
cultures live in the same ecology, use the same technology, raise similar crop and
livestock and are descendants of the same ancestors, their cultures are different
o4 east African tribes with farming or herding but attitudes depended on tribal affliation
and not subsistence
HOW DO IDEAS CATCH ON?
Study of rumors is informative because it can indicate what kinds of ideas come to be spread an
become common within culture
Cultural evolution requires that certain ideas be passed on to others and that those ideas be
selectively retained
Parallels between biological and cultural evolution
Many aspects of cultural evolution can be informed by looking at the processes of biological
evolution.
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Biological evolution operates through natural selection
Natural selection is the evolutionary process that occurs when the following three conditions
are present:
oIndividual variability exists among members of a species on certain traits
oThose traits are associated with different reproductive rates
oThose traits have hereditary basis.
Natural selection has parallels in cultural evolution as some ideas are more likely to attract
adherents than others and thus become more common in subsequent generations
As ideas become more and more common in a population we have the beginning of the cultural
evolution of norms.
Biological evolution and cultural evolution are not identical
oGenes are copied very faithfully from one gen to another, with copying errors emerging
randomly. In contrast, copying errors are much more common for cultural ideas and
these errors are often intentional innovations that are planned
oGenes can only be passed vertically from parents to offspring and the evolution of genes
is enormously slow. In contrast, cultural ideas can pass horizontally from one person to
anyone else, it can be transmitted to many people instantly
Fads are examples of rapid cultural evolutions
oCultural ideas do not have to be adaptive to become common, unlike evolutionary
processes with genes. Cultural ideas can spread even if they’re maladaptive.
FACTORS THAT CAUSE IDEAS TO SPREAD
Cultural evolution involves the spreading of new ideas
Communicable Ideas Spread
Language is the most direct way of having ideas spread from one person’s head to another.
Ideas that are difficult to summarize succinctly, ideas that seem less useful or pertinent and
ideas that might deem too socially undesirable for people to express them to others.
One way to investigate cultural shared ideas has been to look at the stereotypes that people
have of certain cultural groups
oTheses stereotypes vary from place to place and across historical time
Negative stereotypes about cultures tend to be motivated by beliefs that stem from particular
circumstances such as conflict
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Document Summary
One reason manners have changed over time is that people"s views of what is healthy have also changed: exp: in the 16th century it was seen as unhealthy to refrain either spitting or from passing wind. These transformations in manners over time are instances of an obvious fact: cultures change, cultures continue to evolve, they are not monolithic and frozen entities but are rather fluid and constantly evolving as new ideas merges. The ecologies in which ppl live in must be considered when looking at how cultural variation comes to be: different environments affect the ways that ppl go about living their lives. Exp: there are no large animals in hawaii, and native hawaiians do not have any hunting traditions constrasting o the kung of the kalahari. What might seem to be small variations in ecologies can lead to dramatically different cultures especially as they unfold over time. Exp: overthrowing of the incan empire by 168 spaniard soldiers.
