The cultural niche: Why social learning is essential for human adaptation
The cultural niche: Why social learning is essential for human adaptation
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1100290108
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发表时间：
2011-06-28
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Henrich, Joseph
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Boyd, Robert;Richerson, Peter J.;Henrich, Joseph
在过去的6万年里，人类在全球范围内扩张，现在占据的范围比任何其他陆地物种都要大。我们成功适应如此多样化的栖息地的能力通常用我们的认知能力来解释。与其他动物相比，人类拥有相对更大的大脑和更强的计算能力，这使我们能够弄清楚如何在各种环境中生存。在这里，我们认为人类可能比其他生物更聪明，但我们没有一个人聪明到足以获得在任何一个栖息地生存所需的所有信息。即使在最简单的觅食社会中，人们也依赖于大量的工具、详细的当地知识体系和复杂的社会安排，而且往往不明白为什么这些工具、信仰和行为是适应性的。我们把我们的成功归功于我们独特的向他人学习的能力。这种能力使人类能够在几代人之间逐渐积累信息，并开发出适应良好的工具、信仰和实践，这些工具、信仰和实践太过复杂，任何一个人都无法在其一生中发明出来。
In the last 60,000 y humans have expanded across the globe and now occupy a wider range than any other terrestrial species. Our ability to successfully adapt to such a diverse range of habitats is often explained in terms of our cognitive ability. Humans have relatively bigger brains and more computing power than other animals, and this allows us to figure out how to live in a wide range of environments. Here we argue that humans may be smarter than other creatures, but none of us is nearly smart enough to acquire all of the information necessary to survive in any single habitat. In even the simplest foraging societies, people depend on a vast array of tools, detailed bodies of local knowledge, and complex social arrangements and often do not understand why these tools, beliefs, and behaviors are adaptive. We owe our success to our uniquely developed ability to learn from others. This capacity enables humans to gradually accumulate information across generations and develop well-adapted tools, beliefs, and practices that are too complex for any single individual to invent during their lifetime.