Biocultural evolution
Encyclopedia
Biocultural evolution refers to historical evolutionary
processes that occur as a result of culture
's interaction with biology
.
is perhaps one of the most critical aspects of human evolution and, as such, has had significant effects both on human and nonhuman biology
. Given the complexity
with which humans express their culture and the cultural interrelation of e.g. ecology
and technology
, changes in human environmental control is a hallmark of cultural impact on biological systems. These, in turn, affect cultural possibilities and choices.
allele
in some tropical populations due to the spread of sub-Saharan agriculture and the concomitant spread of Malaria, and cold adaptation.
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
processes that occur as a result of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
's interaction with biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
.
Cultural factors
The human predispositon for cultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
is perhaps one of the most critical aspects of human evolution and, as such, has had significant effects both on human and nonhuman biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. Given the complexity
Complexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
with which humans express their culture and the cultural interrelation of e.g. ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, changes in human environmental control is a hallmark of cultural impact on biological systems. These, in turn, affect cultural possibilities and choices.
Examples
Some examples of biocultural adaptations are lactose tolerance, the result of animal husbandry; the maintenance of the sickle-cellSickle cell trait
Sickle cell trait describes a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene , but does not display the severe symptoms of sickle cell disease that occur in a person who has two copies of that allele...
allele
Allele
An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...
in some tropical populations due to the spread of sub-Saharan agriculture and the concomitant spread of Malaria, and cold adaptation.
See also
- Behavioural geneticsBehavioural geneticsQuantitative human behavioural genetics is a specialisation in the biological field of behaviour genetics that studies the role of genetics in human behaviour employing quantitative-genetic methods. The field is an overlap of quantitative genetics and psychology...
- Biocultural anthropologyBiocultural anthropologyBiocultural anthropology is the scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture. Physical anthropologists throughout the first half of the 20th century viewed this relationship from a racial perspective; that is, from the assumption that typological human biological...
- Cultural selection theoryCultural selection theoryCultural selection theory is a scientific discipline that explores sociological and cultural evolution the same way that Darwinian selection theory is used to explain biological evolution....
- EvolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
- Evolutionary anthropologyEvolutionary anthropologyEvolutionary anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates. Evolutionary anthropology is based in natural science and social science...
- Evolutionary neuroscienceEvolutionary neuroscienceEvolutionary neuroscience is an interdisciplinary scientific research field that studies the evolution of nervous systems. Evolutionary neuroscientists attempt to understand the evolution and natural history of nervous system structure and function. The field draws on concepts and findings from...
- Evolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
- Human evolutionHuman evolutionHuman evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
- MemeMemeA meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
- NeurocultureNeurocultureNeuroCulture is the relation between the sciences that study the functioning of the brain and culture. We understanding the latter as the knowledge, history, habits, ideas and values of the human race, and their manifestations in any form of expression: social, scientific, artistic,...
- Organizational ecologyOrganizational ecologyi\--184.38.106.199 22:59, 29 November 2011 her Haveman]], Alessandro Lomi, Anand Swaminathan, Giacomo Negro, and Stanislav Dobrev.- Inertia and change :...
- SociobiologySociobiologySociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...
- Sociocultural evolutionSociocultural evolutionSociocultural evolution is an umbrella term for theories of cultural evolution and social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have changed over time...