The founding members of the Cultural Evolution Society were surveyed to identify the major scientific questions and ‘grand challenges’ currently facing the study of cultural evolution. We present the results and discuss the implications for an emergent synthesis in the study of culture based on Darwinian principles.
Short characterizations of the challenges:
(1) Understanding the role of social adaptation in cultural evolution(2) Understanding the role of cultural evolution in the context of organic evolution(3) Modelling culture as a complex adaptive system(4) Identifying processes of transmission and accumulation of cultural traits(5) Integrating methods, data, and results across disciplines(6) Creating new organizational and funding structures that support interdisciplinary research and teaching(7) Identifying cultural evolutionary processes that address significant social, economic, and political problems(8) Educating policymakers and the public about cultural evolution
No comments:
Post a Comment