Endless forms: human behavioural diversity and evolved universals

Abstract

Human populations have extraordinary capabilities for generating behavioural diversity without corresponding genetic diversity or change. These capabilities and their consequences can be grouped into three categories: strategic (or cognitive), ecological and cultural-evolutionary. Strategic aspects include: (i) a propensity to employ complex conditional strategies, some certainly genetically evolved but others owing to directed invention or to cultural evolution; (ii) situations in which fitness payoffs (or utilities) are frequency-dependent, so that there is no one best strategy; and (iii) the prevalence of multiple equilibria, with history or minor variations in starting conditions (path dependence) playing a crucial role. Ecological aspects refer to the fact that social behaviour and cultural institutions evolve in diverse niches, producing various adaptive radiations and local adaptations. Although environmental change can drive behavioural change, in humans, it is common for behavioural change (especially technological innovation) to drive environmental change (i.e. niche construction). Evolutionary aspects refer to the fact that human capacities for innovation and cultural transmission lead to diversification and cumulative cultural evolution; critical here is institutional design, in which relatively small shifts in incentive structure can produce very different aggregate outcomes. In effect, institutional design can reshape strategic games, bringing us full circle.

The evolution of matrilineal kinship organization

“…linear, decreasing or increasing returns to scale in fitness from inherited resources). This extension rests on the widely posited association between inheritance strategies and subsistence systems (reviewed in recent studies [18,19]; see Aberle [29] for an example in the context of matrilineal kinship organization). The extended scenario shows that the classical threshold value applies only under the restrictive assumption that fitness is linear in resources ( §3a).…”

“…This suggests that we move beyond the quest for plausible threshold values and explore the interaction of inheritance strategies with known social and ecological influences (reviewed in recent studies [18,19]). …”

Pastoralist societies in flux: A conceptual framework analysis of herding and land use among the Mukugodo Maasai of Kenya

“…Weaving wealth differences into this analysis allows us to also evaluate existing social welfare systems, such as osutua and paran, and where and when they fail (Aktipis et al 2011;Godoy et al 2007;Smith 2011). Osutua literally means 'umbilical cord' in Maa, making it a term that describes a 'tied' relationship between two individuals (Cronk 2007).…”

A multilevel evolutionary framework for sustainability analysis

“…Some cultural traits are copied more than others, resulting in selection for traits that fit a niche defined by social, economic, psychological, and environmental factors. Cultural transmission helps to explain human behavioral diversity (Gelfand et al 2011, Smith 2011. Over generations, transmission processes accumulate cultural adaptations too complex for a single individual to invent in one lifetime (Kirby et al 2008, Lewis andLaland 2012).…”