The Human Adaptation for Culture and its Behavioral Implications

Christian Cordes

Papers on Economics and Evolution from Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group

Abstract: During phylogeny, man adapted for culture in ways other primates did not. This key adaptation is the one that enabled humans to understand other individuals as intentional agents like the self. This genetic event opened the way for new and powerful cultural processes but did not specify the detailed outcomes of behavior we see today. It just provided the basis for cultural evolution that, with no further genetic events, enabled the distinctive characteristics of human cognition. These capabilities can explain the motivational underpinnings of a variety of human inclinations and behaviors, such as a tendency toward cooperation, altruism, or fairness.

Date: 2004-01
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