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