How the Dual Inheritance of Genes and Culture Shapes Behaviour: A Critical Review with a Focus on Human Culture and Behavioural Diversity

Abstract

Our ability to adapt to new environments and create diverse ways of life is the result of the fact that we learn much of our behaviour from other people or, in other words, we have something we generally refer to as culture. This chapter discusses how thinking of culture as a distinct inheritance system, that itself can undergo descent with modification, adds to our understanding of behaviour and adaptation. It illustrates the utility of this approach by discussing how the dynamics of social learning make maladaptive behaviours more likely, how understanding cultural history helps us to understand present‐day behavioural diversity, and how culture has aided the evolution of co‐operation on a scale not seen in other species. The chapter discusses the potential for coevolution of genes and culture, including the relationship between patterns of genetic diversity and cultural diversity, and how cultural evolution can shape genetic evolution.