Evolutionary perspectives on technology and technological change
Evolutionary perspectives on technology and technological change
复制标题
关于技术和技术变革的进化观点
DOI：
10.1080/0043824042000303737
复制
发表时间：
2004
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
["S. Kuhn
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
["S. Kuhn
在我看来，考古学中的许多所谓理论争论，都源于参与争论的人实际上是在试图回答不同的问题。因此，我开始这篇文章与最占据我的注意力的问题的简要讨论。我的主要研究领域是欧亚大陆西部的更新世史前史，尽管狩猎采集研究，考古学和人种学，通知我的研究中，上旧石器时代。我特别感兴趣的是，在过去的250万年里，技术在人类生活中的作用是如何变化的。在这段时间里，人工制品已经从人类身体器官的简单延伸和人属行为库中相对外围的元素演变为人类与环境以及人类与其他人类之间几乎所有互动的核心组成部分。简而言之，人工制品已经从手、爪和牙齿的简单延伸转变为物质文化。这显然是一个漫长而复杂的故事，但它也是理解人类状况及其产生的核心。进化的概念和模型提供了一些最好的工具来学习我感兴趣的长期过程。许多考古学家还发现，它们有助于研究在更短的时间内展开的过程，甚至在人类一代人的跨度内。在这篇文章中，我探讨了将进化论思想应用于技术研究的基本原理，以及这些思想的一些应用方式。我不会声称自己代表每一个在考古学中高举进化论旗帜的人说话，因为他们是一个多样化和有争议的群体。相反，我专注于似乎是最富有成效的原理和方法。从最广泛的层面上讲，来自进化理论的概念和模型已经证明或可能证明在三个一般情况下是有用的。一个明显的应用是，在进化时间尺度上发生的技术变化和生物变化之间被认为是直接联系的。最突出的例子是将人工制品形式或制造技术的变化与人类认知的进化发展联系起来的论点（Coolidge and Wynn 2001; Mithen 1996，1997; Wynn
It is my view that many so-called theoretical disputes in archaeology stem from the fact that participants in the debates are actually trying to answer different questions. Thus, I begin this essay with a brief discussion of the problems that most occupy my attention. My main research area is the Pleistocene prehistory of western Eurasia, although huntergatherer studies, both archaeological and ethnographic, inform my research on the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. I am especially interested in how the role of technology in human life has changed over the past 2.5 million years. Over that time artifacts have evolved from simple extensions of the human physical apparatus and relatively peripheral elements in the behavioral repertoire of the genus Homo to a central component in practically every interaction between humans and their environments as well as between humans and other humans. In short, artifacts have been transformed from simple extensions of hands, claws and teeth into material culture. This is obviously a long and complex story, but it is also central to understanding the human condition and how it came about. Evolutionary concepts and models provide some of the best tools for learning about the kinds of long-term processes that engage my interest. Many archaeologists also find them useful for examining processes that unfolded over much shorter time frames, even within the span of a single human generation. In this essay I explore the rationale for applying evolutionary ideas to the study of technology, and some of the ways these ideas have been used. I would not claim to speak for everyone who flies the banner of evolution in archaeology, for they are a diverse and contentious lot. Instead I focus on what seem to be the most productive rationales and approaches. Speaking at the broadest level, concepts and models derived from evolutionary theory have proven or could prove useful in three general contexts. One obvious application arises where there is thought to be a direct connection between technological and biological changes occurring on an evolutionary time scale. The most salient examples are arguments linking changes in artifact form or manufacture techniques to evolutionary developments in human cognition (Coolidge and Wynn 2001; Mithen 1996, 1997; Wynn