Download - Evolution, Culture And Mind
Evolution, Culture
and MindPresented by: Nicola RussellID: 03020584
ForLecturer: Alan
Loc
Evolution: Fact or Fiction?
Look after me.
How did we learn to learn?Our genetic
evolutionary history primes us to learn
Knowledge resides within our minds
Our shared knowledge is the basis of our culture
Plotkin termed these: the primary, secondary and tertiary heuristics
The Adaptationist Extraordinaire
From ‘x’ to ‘txt.’ What makes us different from the rest?
Is it...Language?Our opposable
thumb?Our upright
stance?Or all three?
Do you fancy a bit?No...you don’t smell right to me!
I love you...Will you have my baby?
Whose baby is that?A woman will always
knowA man must believe
what he is told......this makes
family...well until DNA that is!
I’m here...now what? I need to use my
intelligence to outwit the next guy!
What’s the best strategy?
Ah...manipulate him to get what I want!
Thank you Machiavellian
Man hunt! Woman Cook!Our biology influences
our behaviourSo...Men are designed to
huntWomen are designed
to careWell actually...There’s a bit more to
it!
Altruism...is ita) selfless act to help others?
b)Biologically determined to ensure your genes remain
c) Socially determined to help others so they help you
d) All of the above
Aren’t you the same
as me?
Yeah bro...I’m a kiwi too!
How did we get this diverse?
Tamarillo...I meant Tomasello!
Brain Power Our brains comprise of
approximately a trillion neurons
Neurons communicate with one another through electrochemical messages
These form neural networks believed to give rise to out behaviour
Consciousness and MindThe hard problem:
How does consciousness give rise to experience?
Well...David Chalmers says: It just does!
We can explain the componentry but not the experience.
Culture
The Future
“This thing called alive”
References Benzon, W.L., & Hays, D.G. (1990). The evolution of cognition. Journal of Social and
Biological Structures, 13(4):297-320. Chalmers, D. (2002). Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings. Oxford Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1988). Homicide. New York: Aldine. Geary, D. C., Vigil, J., & Byrd-Craven, J. (2004). Evolution of human mate choice. Journal of
Sex Research, 41, 27-42. Herz, R.S., & Inzlicht, M. (2002). Gender differences in response to physical and social
signals involved in human mate selection: The importance of smell for women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 359-364.
Humphrey, N. (1976). The social function of intellect. In P.P.G Bateson & R.A. Hinde (Eds.) Growing points in ethology. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE University Press. Chapter 9, pp. 303-16.
Plotkin, H. (1995). Darwin machines and the nature of knowledge: Concerning adaptations, instinct and the evolution of intelligence. London: Penguin Books. Chapter 5, pp.138-165.
Tomasello, M. (1999). The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. Harvard University Press. Trivers, R. L. (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.) Sexual
selection and the descent of man, 1871-1971 (pp 136-179). Chicago, Aldine. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Webster’s Universal Collegiate Dictionary, 2001