We’ve all heard of the theory of evolution. This certainly refers our thinking to Charles Darwin. This is due to the fact that it was Darwin who proposed revolutionary theory in his book “The Origin of Species”. His proposal was that there was a biological evolution by natural selection; the most adapted to survive have reached the breeding age and have transmitted their genes, causing the evolution of the species as a whole; however, this is not the only kind of evolution that exists. change due to other evolution, cultural evolution.
Humans are the only species with a complex culture. It makes us very special. We create and transmit culture. But what is culture?Culture can be defined as the development of uses, customs, religions, values, social organization, technology, laws, language, artifacts, tools, transport, etc. , which have been developed from the accumulation of knowledge and the transmission of this knowledge. All this happened to suit the environment. Cultural evolution, in turn, is the transformation over time of the cultural elements of a society, which also affect and change people.
- Culture has become a survival strategy.
- With it has developed the ability to transmit knowledge and skills.
- This is even what has led to the emergence of a more refined technology.
- Thanks to cultural evolution.
- The evolutionary process has accelerated.
- But cultural evolution needs two human skills to develop.
- These are: social learning and mind theory.
Although some animals seem to have cultural traditions, do not improve or evolve over time, this is not because these animals do not have the skills of mind theory and social learning, on the contrary, human societies, through cumulative cultural adaptation, have evolved. As people imitate each other, they choose and modify existing technologies while stocking up on their knowledge and skills. The result of all these processes is a varied and complex culture.
The theory of the mind is the ability to attribute thoughts and intentions to another person, this capacity that is usually acquired at 6 years is a common and exclusive characteristic of the human being, the theory of the mind allows us to know that others also think therefore, to have intentions. This allows men to have common beliefs and allows the development of culture.
In addition, humans convey culture. When we talk to someone about our religion and show them their sacred rituals, we pass on the culture to them. Through social learning, we imitate and learn what we see. For example, Carl Sagan claimed that in Japan, a species of crab was in the form of a samurai mask. This was due to the fact that for generations, crabs that had this shape were not caught. A samurai-worshipping culture helped people, through social learning, abandon these crabs and fish for other species.
Theories that attempt to predict cultural evolution introduce a classification derived from Karl Marx’s thinking. This classification divides the different aspects of culture into three parts: infrastructure, structure and superstructure. All aspects of culture can be categorized into one of these three levels.
Infrastructure encompasses the most material or technological aspects, the means of production and the natural or human resources that society uses in its economic and social activities. Infrastructure changes are difficult to predict. It depends on technological advances, economic development and changes in the economy. Changes at other levels also affect infrastructure.
The structure includes the organization of tasks and social functions, at this level we also have the hierarchical system and power, in addition to the rules governing relationships between individuals, changes at this level have a great influence on infrastructure and vice versa. For example, there was a massive integration of Western women into the labour market when a large number of jobs appeared in the services sector. This change in infrastructure has led to a change in social relations.
Superstructure encompasses intangible and ideal aspects, some of them are religious beliefs, moral values and art, such as painting, architecture, music, literature and film, changes at this level tend to occur more localized in values and beliefs. They are generally intended to justify a prevailing social order. For example, the integration of women into the labour market has been associated with an increase in the prestige of employees who work outside the home and bring economic benefits to the home.
According to this theory, cultures are adaptable. Cultures try to adapt to the context in which, according to cultural materialism, a theoretical concept created by Marvin Harris, changes in infrastructure, more specifically in the mode of production or technology, are at the origin of the emergence of new cultural factors. that modify the structure and superstructure. Despite this, all three levels are interdependent and changes at one level can affect another level, albeit in a more subtle way.
One of the cultural changes interpreted through cultural evolution is related to the abandonment of cannibalism, cannibalism, a cultural practice, has emerged in some societies as a byproduct of the practice of war, but with the development of states and empires, the purpose of war was no longer to destroy the enemy. Prisoners of war were able to contribute to the expansion of the state, and then cannibalism disappeared. The changes in infrastructure, the change of tribe status, changed the structure and abandoned cannibalism.