Cultural Variation and Epistemic Access

Ben Jeffares
Philosophy, RSSS, Australian National University

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     Last modified: February 12, 2005
     Presentation date: 07/14/2005 9:15 AM in ROZH 105
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Abstract
This paper contributes to the session "The Evolution of Cultural Novelty" by looking at a particular model of cultural change.
Natural selection requires variations in fitness within a population to be operative. For processes analogous to natural selection to occur on lineages of cultural products and behaviours, there also has to be variation. This paper explores mechanisms for the generation of variation and cultural novelty. In particular, it shows how variation and specialisation can come about due to agents assessing risk. Under certain conditions while times are good, variation can be high, as the costs of errors are low. There is no need for individual cultural practices to be optimal. Selection operates to standardise and specialise cultural variants only when times are bad, as the costs of suboptimal variants increases. However, this sensitivity to risk takes different forms depending upon the epistemic access the cultural agents have to the costs and benefits of their activity. I show how different methods of risk assessment on the part of individuals underlie cultural change and cultural novelty.

Multiple Paper Session:
Other papers in this session:
When Does Cultural Selection Explain Cultural Novelty?
Constraints on Cultural Adaptation
Reproducers and the evolutionary development of culture
Core Configurations that Can Think, Learn and Create
Generative Entrenchment and the scaffolding of individual development and social institutions