The foundations of the human cultural niche

Derex, Maxime; Boyd, Robert

doi:10.1038/ncomms9398

Cited by 79 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Large interaction networks allow individuals to learn from many others, and theory predicts that increased opportunities to learn socially reduces the rate of cultural loss and increases the rate at which people improve existing cultural traits. This prediction is supported by evidence from both field and laboratory studies (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). However, some authors have been reluctant to embrace this idea, pointing out discrepancies between measures of population size and observed cultural complexity (11)(12)(13)(14).…”

supporting

confidence: 51%

Partial connectivity increases cultural accumulation within groups

Derex

Boyd

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Complex technologies used in most human societies are beyond the inventive capacities of individuals. Instead, they result from a cumulative process in which innovations are gradually added to existing cultural traits across many generations. Recent work suggests that a population's ability to develop complex technologies is positively affected by its size and connectedness. Here, we present a simple computer-based experiment that compares the accumulation of innovations by fully and partially connected groups of the same size in a complex fitness landscape. We find that the propensity to learn from successful individuals drastically reduces cultural diversity within fully connected groups. In comparison, partially connected groups produce more diverse solutions, and this diversity allows them to develop complex solutions that are never produced in fully connected groups. These results suggest that explanations of ancestral patterns of cultural complexity may need to consider levels of population fragmentation and interaction patterns between partially isolated groups. cultural evolution | innovation | population size | social network | technological trajectory P eople everywhere rely on technology for their survival (1). In even the simplest foraging societies, essential tools are beyond the inventive capacities of individuals; they result from a cumulative process by which innovations are gradually added to existing cultural traits across many generations (2). Recent work suggests that a population's ability to develop complex technologies is positively affected by its size and connectedness (3-5). Large interaction networks allow individuals to learn from many others, and theory predicts that increased opportunities to learn socially reduces the rate of cultural loss and increases the rate at which people improve existing cultural traits. This prediction is supported by evidence from both field and laboratory studies (5-10). However, some authors have been reluctant to embrace this idea, pointing out discrepancies between measures of population size and observed cultural complexity (11)(12)(13)(14). It seems likely that factors other than social network size affect the evolution of cultural complexity, and these factors may obscure the effect of the population size under some conditions.One possibility is that social network structure matters as well. Economists have recently investigated how levels of connectedness in networks affect a group's ability to solve problems of varying complexity (15,16). In agreement with previous work in cultural evolution, they found that high levels of connectivity help groups to solve simple tasks. However, they also suggest that wellconnected networks perform poorly at solving complex tasks (15,16). The complexity of a problem can be represented by mapping all possible solutions onto a measure of performance, which results in what has been called a fitness landscape (17). Simple problems are associated with smooth landscapes, each with a unique optimum that will be reached b...

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supporting

confidence: 51%

Partial connectivity increases cultural accumulation within groups

Derex

Boyd

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

239

273

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“…For example, sociality may have little effect if a task is too simple and therefore, transmission fidelity is very high [36] or individual learning dominates solutions. Similarly, theoretical and experimental research with social network structures [108][109][110][111] suggests that too much interconnectivity can decrease variance. The trade-off is between interconnectivity increasing the probability of useful recombinations in the incredibly high dimensional space of cultural combinations and the reductions in variance caused by our selective biases applying to large portions of the population.…”

Section: (A) Increasing Innovation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation in the collective brain

Muthukrishna

Henrich

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

245

265

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One contribution of 15 to a theme issue 'Innovation in animals and humans: understanding the origins and development of novel and creative behaviour'. Innovation is often assumed to be the work of a talented few, whose products are passed on to the masses. Here, we argue that innovations are instead an emergent property of our species' cultural learning abilities, applied within our societies and social networks. Our societies and social networks act as collective brains. We outline how many human brains, which evolved primarily for the acquisition of culture, together beget a collective brain. Within these collective brains, the three main sources of innovation are serendipity, recombination and incremental improvement. We argue that rates of innovation are heavily influenced by (i) sociality, (ii) transmission fidelity, and (iii) cultural variance. We discuss some of the forces that affect these factors. These factors can also shape each other. For example, we provide preliminary evidence that transmission efficiency is affected by sociality-languages with more speakers are more efficient. We argue that collective brains can make each of their constituent cultural brains more innovative. This perspective sheds light on traits, such as IQ, that have been implicated in innovation. A collective brain perspective can help us understand otherwise puzzling findings in the IQ literature, including group differences, heritability differences and the dramatic increase in IQ test scores over time.

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“…The exploitation of these resources was undertaken using a specialized tool-kit that included composite shell, bone, and cactus spine fishhooks, harpoons with lanceolate and rhomboidal lithic points, fishing nets, and prying tools among others. This marine resource extraction tool-kit improved notably over time since the late Pleistocene and throughout the Archaic ( Figure 1A; Schiappacasse and Niemeyer, 1984;Standen, 2003;Standen et al, 2004;Arriaza et al, 2008;Flores et al, 2015;Reitz et al, 2015) as a consequence of the interaction between resource abundance, human population size, and technological innovations (Marquet et al, 2012;Derex and Boyd, 2015;Henrich et al, 2016;Acerbi et al, 2017). Although shellfish alone have insufficient nutritional value for sustaining a population (Bailey, 1975;Schiappacasse and Niemeyer, 1984;Brown et al, 2011;Salazar et al, 2015), Concholepas concholepas (loco) the most preferred shellfish is a good source of nourishment (120 calories per 100 g) and as such is expected to be a fundamental part of the diet (Stephens and Krebs, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%