Darwin's unfinished symphony
Subtitle: how culture made the human mind
By: Kevin N. Laland
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 450
ISBN-13: 9780691151182
Subjects: Evolutionary psychology; Evolution; Cognition and culture; Brain; Human evolution; Social learning; Social evolution
Description: "Kevin Leland shows how the learned and socially transmitted activities of our ancestors shaped our intellects through accelerating cycles of evolutionary feedback. The truly unique characteristics of our species - such as our intelligence, language, teaching, and cooperation - are not adaptive responses to predators or disease, or other external conditions. Rather, humans are creatures of their own making. ... Laland explains how how animals imitate, innovate, and have remarkable traditions of their own. He traces our rise from scavenger apes in prehistory to modern humans able to design iPhones, dance the tango, and send astronauts into space."--Book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-441) and index.
Table of contents: title: Foundations of culture. Darwin's unfinished symphony ; Ubiquitous copying ; Why copy? ; A tale of two fishes ; The roots of creativity; title: The evolution of the mind. The evolution of intelligence ; High fidelity ; Why we alone have language ; Gene-culture coevolution ; The dawn of civilization ; Foundations of cooperation ; The arts; title: Epilogue: Awe without wonder.