biological definition of culture
culture is socially transmitted behaviour the leads to diversity between populations of the same species
darwinian influence on culture-nature dichootomy
while we SHARE evolutionary history; humanists still claim that humans are unique/special
definition of cultures (in primatology)
intraspectif varition of beheaviour that is socially learned
mechanism of culture
transmision of behaviour through social learning or locally spread/stimulated
function of culture
- solve practical/evironmental porblems
2. establish group identity
uniqueness claims of humanism
that humans only have:
- opposable thums
- brain assymetry
- smiling
- rhtyhimic druming
- killing
- war
- tool use
- death awareness
- language
- empathy
- culture
- religion
- art
- arent sustainable
example of ‘unsustainable’ primate
chimps in west africa; eat palm hearts and jump on trees in process, destroying them
anthropomorisis vs zoomorphisis
finding the ‘human’ in an animal vs finding the ‘animal’ in a human
self medication example
chimps in gashaka jungle in nigeria; each folded/clumped leaves to inducde bowel movement to get rid of parasitic worm
ratchet effect
an instance of the restrained ability of human processes to be reversed once a specific thing has happene
(i.e. CUMULATIVE culture or learning)
how does culture address social issues
as it ‘others’ by entitativy juxtaposing altertity (ingroups vs out groups)
culture and arbitrary behaviour
arbitrary/impractical behaviour rising from previously environmental reasons= functions to create group idetnity
i. e. muslim avoidance of pork- culture taboo
i. e. global variance in greeting (chinese bowing, german handshake, etc)
entitativy
‘we-ness’
alterity
‘otherness’
some ways environment influences culture solves practical problem
climate= wear hats preadtors= use guns pathogens= eat leaves food= use chopsticks or forks
why is culture environmentally affected
as it is framed for need-based/practical issues
culture examples: capuchins and japanese monkeys
capuchins in CR: suck toes/poke eye stockets to fortify social bonds
japanese macaques; carry stone and randomly hit them
function of religion in culture
an irrational custom where u get a group of people to believe int he same nonsense to esablish traits= a sign of costly signally
stone anvil
brazil bearded capuchin
chimps
minimalistic definition of culture
instraspecific cariability of bhehaviour
how many sepeare cultural traits did whiten find in his 1999 study
39
whittens second inheritance system
the transfer of culture horizontally (beween siblings and conspecifics)
how is culture transmited?
- like genes (parent to offspring)
2. hortizontall in second inheritance system
how is behaviour transferred
teaching social facilitation obsrvation local enhnacment theory of mind
what does the second inheritance system lallow
for innovations of one animal to tansmit and benefit others
example of cultural transmission in captive chimps
- troop exposed to a nut craking exerpet= everyone else develops behaviour
control group with same resources= without expert no one did
gene + culture interplay example
lactose intolerance and milk consumption
what is cultural evolution
change in culture of achange in culture over time
what principles of evolution can be applid to culture
- variation
- inheritance
- adaptation (differential surivival)
why does culture vary from group to group
drift
geography
adaptive cultural trait in long thailed macaques
thai macaques; use stones to open and consume sea creatures
bali macaques; play with stones only
is adpative; as coastal macaques need the stones to enhance their diet in their local environment
LANGUAGE in primate
- koko gorilla dn sign language
- kanzi the bonobo; points to written symbols
- verveys and seyfarth cheney study
Visalbergi Experiment in Rome
capuchin + peanut in a tube with stick experiment
demonstrates monkeys dont ape
Whiten Artificial Fruit Experiment
chimps imitate the ways to use boxes get fruits
demonstrates imitation= monkeys do ape!
Richard Dawkins view on cultural transmission
MEMES=culturuall transfmitted values/belifes that demonstrate signs of natural selection as they:
- compete for ‘memory’
- dont always ruvive
- are heritable
why is cultural transmission more complicated than gene transmission
- can change WITHIN lifetime
- can be horitzontally transmiffted (not just parent to offspring)
- can spread without enhance reproductive fitness
social vs biological anthropology interpretation of culture
humanist vs universailites
what does cultural diversity reflect in primates (Parish-Sommer)
- intergroup competition and startegies fore resource acquisition
when did jane goodall discover tool use
1960
edward b. tylors definition of culture
culture as a sign of civilization that only men in society have
1999 definition of culture
all humans have culture as its diverse
post 1999 definition of culture
includes non human animals; paradign of ‘animal cultures’
rahter focus is on LEARNED behaviour as culture is ‘socially transmitted behaviour’
frans de wall and culture
culture lavels any sepcies as biologically speaking humans have never been along;
what makes culture a mix of genes and social learning
- not all bheaviour is by learning (genes: lactose intolerance)
- people are still constrained by their environment (forks vs chopsticks)
- but some traits are just arbitrary (greeting variances)
new way of studying culture and a nimals
cultural zoology
hanuman langurs sign of cultural variance
in north west jaipur= huddle together for warmth
few km away= dont huddle and keep distance
whiten: systems of inheritance
primary; genes
secondary; social learning (cultural inheritance and cultural memoru)
neo-evolutionary synthesis
milk bottles of blue tits
demosntrates cultural transmission existed among animals
social learning definition
learning from others
tradition definition
a distinctive behaviour pattern that can be shared by 2 or more individuals in a social unit that persists over time
jablonka + lamb definitio of cutlural evolution
change in time of nature/frequency of socially transmitted preferences in a population
that can also REDUCE in complexity
culture in ceteceans
- vocalizations in humbpack whales
cultural vrariance in birds
migration routes
public information use
song learning
boesch and chimp culture trait variance
leaf clipping;
for some chimps is PLAY for others is COURTSHIP
richard prum 2017
theory of aesthethic evolution; not all traits are adaptive but some aesthethic (birds ornaments)
baldwin effect
new behavioural traits= cause animals to create new niche spaces;
so cultural processes share adaptation/change dynamics of evolution which can even lead to speciation