Charles Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" had two principal
goals: to show that species had not been separately created and to
show that natural selection had been the main force behind their
proliferation and descent from common ancestors. In "Coevolution,"
the author proposes a powerful new theory of cultural
evolution--that is, of the descent with modification of the shared
conceptual systems we call "cultures"--that is parallel in many
ways to Darwin's theory of organic evolution.
The author suggests that a process of cultural selection, or
preservation by preference, driven chiefly by choice or imposition
depending on the circumstances, has been the main but not exclusive
force of cultural change. He shows that this process gives rise to
five major patterns or "modes" in which cultural change is at odds
with genetic change. Each of the five modes is discussed in some
detail and its existence confirmed through one or more case studies
chosen for their heuristic value, the robustness of their data, and
their broader implications. But "Coevolution" predicts not simply
the existence of the five modes of gene-culture relations; it also
predicts their relative importance in the ongoing dynamics of
cultural change in particular cases. The case studies themselves
are lucid and innovative reexaminations of an array of oft-pondered
anthropological topics--plural marriage, sickle-cell anemia, basic
color terms, adult lactose absorption, incest taboos, headhunting,
and cannibalism.
In a general case, the author's goal is to demonstrate that an
evolutionary analysis of both genes and culture has much to
contribute to our understanding of human diversity, particularly
behavioral diversity, and thus to the resolution of age-old
questions about nature and nurture, genes and culture.
General
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