> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 4 topics, 7 evergreens, 1 source</em></s> #### <s class="topic-title">[[Cultural Evolution]]</s> > [!wikipedia] [Cultural Evolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural%20evolution) > > Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of [[Culture]] as "[[information]] capable of affecting individuals' [[behavior]] that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, [[imitation]] and other forms of social transmission". > > Today, cultural evolution has become the basis for a growing field of scientific research in the social sciences, including [[anthropology]], [[economy|economics]], [[psychology]] and organizational studies. Previously, it was believed that social change resulted from biological adaptations, but anthropologists now commonly accept that social changes arise in consequence of a combination of social, evolutionary and biological influences. In [[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral|Darwin's Cathedral]] [[David Sloan Wilson]] describes four insights into [[Cultural Evolution]] from [[group selection]]. 1. Cultural evolution requires specialized genetic mechanisms to take place ^[[[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral#292936699q]]] 2. Many of these mechanisms are [[unconscious]] ^[[[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral#292936700q]]] 3. These mechanisms can be distributed among many individuals ^[[[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral#293875894q]]] 4. Cultural evolution takes place at the group level ^[[[10_Sources/books - Darwin's Cathedral#293875895q]]] ^68bb63 He concludes that [[Cultural evolution is not confined to the slow process of genetic evolution]] ##### ^dataviews > [!dataview]+ Related unlinked notes > > - [[Belief can motivate adaptation]] > - [[How can something be adaptive and net bad]] > - [[Human behavior is selective]] > [!dataview]- Other unlinked mentions > > - [[Darwin's Cathedral by David Sloan Wilson]] > - [[topics]] > - [[Genetic evolution]] > - [[functionalism]] > - [[Greater cooperation and communication has lead to the success of humans as a species]] > - [[Highly integrated social control allows groups to act as adaptive units]] > - [[Religion as a group level adaptation]] #### Discussion > ![[10_Sources/books - Sapiens#294931431q]]