Cultural Evolution – The Theory of Cultural Transmission
Culture is a large umbrella term that cover the collective social behavior and attitudes found in various human societies, and the beliefs, traditions, arts, laws, skills, customs, skills, and aptitudes of the people in these cultures. Cultures differ in many ways. They can be arranged in a cultural matrix by regions or cultures, depending on political conditions or ethically driven. There is no universal culture, as each culture has to adapt to the environments in which it finds itself. Still, some generalizations about cultures may be made.
Cultural diversity refers to the differences in culture and its development across time and space. There are different cultures in different parts of the world. Different cultures may have different values, norms, and practices. There can also be a parallel development within different cultures. The existence of cultural differences has been noted since the beginning of human civilization, when early man migrated from the Old Stone Age to the New Stone Age.
A cultural group is usually a sub-set of societies having a common heritage, language, cultural practices, and social organization. In most human societies, however, there is significant local variation in cultural identities. Even within a single country, or even within the same city or town, the presence of various cultures is shown by the variations in cultural practices, languages, festivals, art forms, lifestyles, social structures, and modes of social organization.
Cultural interpretation or perception refers to the understanding of culture from the perspective of the social meaning of cultural transmission. The concepts of culture and meaning are the results of the interaction of culture in the environment, between the individuals who possess and interact with it, both consciously and unconsciously. It is based on the work of the cultural linguist who determines the nature of the patterns of language usage and the general conventions that affect the production and transmission of culture. The cultural linguist thus specializes in the study of language and cultural variation and is closely associated with the field of cultural studies. The study of culture therefore is intimately connected to the study of human history and social structure, and the work of the anthropologist who investigates the behavior of cultural groups or communities, especially the cultural diffusion of ideas and practices.
Culture is a vast area of diverse experiences and practices, with the history of culture going back thousands of years. The various types of culture are the result of different types of social interactions within human societies. Within a society, a specific culture can be identified when, over a period of time, its members develop similar patterns of interaction, including norms regarding family size, child rearing, rules concerning gambling, religion, sex, and other important matters, such as political power, property, and other issues. Such a culture can only disappear, over time, when the prevailing culture in a society completely disappears, as is the case in most human societies today.
Cultural evolution is the result of the natural selection that went hand in hand with the development of our species on the planet earth. Natural selection by itself is not enough to shape the character of a culture. It is the gene pool that determines the nature, scope and depth of a culture. And it is in this gene pool that we find such diversity and difference, which are the basis for cultural transmission. A wide range of theories to explain the process of cultural transmission, including social learning, genealogical history, cultural inheritance, incremental adaptation, cultural capital, and others.