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Cited by 1,197Language and cultural evolutionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorEvolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation

The Origin and Evolution of Cultures

Boyd, Robert, Richerson, Peter J·2005
DOI 10.1093/oso/9780195165241.001.0001
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Abstract

Over the past 25 years, Boyd and Richerson have become well-known across a wide range of disciplines for their path-breaking work on evolution and culture. This work collects twenty of the influential but relatively inaccessible published articels that form the backbone of this research. It could not be more timely given the growing influence of evolutionary psychology. The papers – which were published in a diverse set of journals and which are not easily available – a conceptually linked and form a cohesive, unified evolutionary account of human culture. Their interdisciplinary research is based on two notions. First, that culture is crucial for understanding human behavior: unlike other organism, socially transmitted beliefs, attitudes and values heavily influence our behavior. Secondly, culture is part of biology: the capacity to acquire and transmit culture is a derived component of human psychology, and the contents of culture are deeply intertwined with our biology. Taking off from these two assumptions, Boyd and Richerson’s novel idea is that culture is a pool of information, stored in the brains of a population, that gets transmitted from one brain to another by social learning processes. Among their conclusions: culture can account for both our astounding ecological success as well as the maladaptations that characterize much of human behavior. Interest in Boyd and Richerson’s work spans anthropology, psychology, economics, philosophy, and political science, and has…

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Crossref · 10.1093/oso/9780195165241.001.0001

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  • There are two broad adaptive strategies: social learning, or copying existing solutions; and individual learning, or innovating new ones.

    “There are two broad adaptive strategies: social learning, or copying existing solutions; and individual learning, or innovating new ones (Boyd &Richerson 2005).”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Boyd & Richerson 2005

  • When the local environment is relatively stable, social learning prevails; whereas adaptive strategies tend to favor individual learning when a rapidly changing environment offsets the cost of trial and error.

    “When the local environment is relatively stable, social learning prevails; whereas adaptive strategies tend to favor individual learning when a rapidly changing environment offsets the cost of trial and error.”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Boyd & Richerson 2005

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Boyd, R., & Richerson, P. J.
ORCID
Richerson, Peter J
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York, NY
Published
2005-01-20
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780195165241.001.0001
OpenAlex
W4388260183
Cited by
1,197
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 49 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 130 · 2019: 82 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 50 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 70
FWCI
89.63
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Keywords
cultural evolution, human culture, social learning, cultural transmission, evolutionary psychology, memes, maladaptive behavior

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