Dear all,
The next talk in the CEU Cognitive Science seminar series will by given by:
*Claes Andersson (Chalmers University of Technology).*
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 5 PM
Location: Cognitive Development Center, Hattyú u. 14, 3rd floor
*Title:* A Developmental Evolutionary Approach to Cultural Evolution and
the Evolution of Cultural Systems.
Over the past few decades paleoanthropology has undergone an empirical
revolution, with a range of new laboratory methods and improved
archaeological practices. This is yielding better data and not least more
types of data. One of the consequences of this development has been an
increasing friction with theory. Old theory is increasingly undermined -
both in terms of what it predicts and in terms of assumptions that are no
longer viable. In evolutionary biology, a very similar development has
taken place in the same time frame, but with the important difference that
theory has been developed to catch up with the empirical picture. Much of
this theory challenges quite fundamental tenets of the neo-Darwinian
paradigm and focus has moved from an almost exclusive emphasis of
population dynamics to the *mechanisms* of variation and evolution.
Variation from this perspective is *variation in developmental trajectories* -
which is what makes organization centrally important. We are exploring the
possibility of building a similar evolutionary model of cultural evolution,
inspired by developmental evolution and innovation theory in social
science. In this context, natural pedagogy has struck us as highly
interesting, as it describes something more than just a simple new
capability of transmission. Allowing entirely new *types* of knowledge to
be culturally maintained it is likely to have made possible not only new
types of technology, but also new types of societies.
PLEASE NOTE: Our seminar room has a limited capacity. Please arrive early
to ensure you get a seat. The talk will begin promptly at 5.
Cognitive Science Events at CEU:
http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events
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