Publications

Publication details [#1334]

Richerson, Peter J. and Morten H. Christiansen. 2013. Cultural Evolution: Society, Technology, Language, and Religion. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press . 450 pp.
Publication type
Book – edited volume
Publication language
English
ISBN
9780262019750

Abstract

The role of cultural evolution in understanding human behavior has been very important lately. Therefore, attention towards concepts and interdisciplinarity has increased attempting to overcome traditional disciplinary boundaries. In this book, different approaches and disciplines, such as theoretical biology, developmental and cognitive psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history, and economics have been exploited to investigate the core role of cultural evolution in different aspects of human endeavor. The leading idea for authors has been that cultural evolution can ease the integration of the several disciplines of the human sciences, as organic evolution does for biology. Some papers focus on social systems, technology, language, and religion, with a particular perspective on the enforcement of norms in human groups, on the neuroscience of technology, language diversity, prosociality and religion.