Chapter 3 Cultural Evolution Flashcards
What makes white with more material good and new guinea less? In other words, what makes rich and poor?
Wild sage, lack of food in papua new guinea
but in middle east, more plentiful
美国人比新几内亚人有优势，因为几个世纪以来他们种植的农作物更有营养、生产力更高。像小麦这样的农作物，提供了大约五分之一的热量
Ultimately it came down to geographic luck.
新几内亚唯一的大型家畜是猪，它甚至不是本地的——它是几千年前从亚洲传入的——而欧洲和亚洲不仅有猪，还有牛、绵羊、山羊，马、水牛、骆驼等。现在，猪确实给你提供肉，但猪不会给你提供从欧洲和亚洲动物那里得到的其他产品
- 没有可驯服的动物
- 没有工具
新月沃地”
地理位置优越，能够获得古代世界最好的农作物和牲畜。这给了他们一个巨大的领先优势。从小麦的播种和山羊的圈养开始的一切正在走向第一个人类文明。约旦南部的瓜尔考古遗址已有 9000 年的历史。但它具有城镇的所有特征。这里住着几百人，住在一排排堪称科技奇迹的房子里
贾里德·戴蒙德（Jared Diamond）：在新几内亚的岁月让我相信，世界各地的人们本质上都是相似的。无论您走到哪里，您都可以找到聪明、足智多谋、充满活力的人。没有哪个社会能够垄断这些特征。当然，存在巨大的文化差异，但它们主要是不平等的结果，而不是其根源。归根结底，更重要的是人们所得到的手，以及他们所拥有的原材料
你们的人民并不是因为缺乏聪明才智而没有采用现代技术。他们有聪明才智来应对新几内亚这些困难的环境。相反，你问题的全部答案是地理。如果你们的人民和我的人民享有同样的地理优势，你们的人民就会发明直升机
新几内亚的生活方式是完全可行的。它完好无损地保存了数千年。但根据戴蒙德的说法，人们并没有在技术上取得进步，因为他们花费了太多的时间和精力来养活自己。然后西方人到来，并利用他们的技术殖民这个国家
Could agricultural practices shape people’s ways of thinking? (China’s example of rice vs. wheat growing)
Rice cultivation requires much more coordination between families than wheat cultivation. 水稻种植比小麦种植更需要家庭之间的协调。
Paddy farming requires some central control, and coordination with other families to manage water supplies 水稻种植需要一些中央控制，并与其他家庭协调管理供水. 不是你觉得要不要供水，大家的态度也很重要
Wheat farming requires very little interaction with neighbours. 小麦种植很少需要与邻居互动
小麦的话自顾自的，水稻互相帮助
-In a wheat growing region, people are more likely to sit alone
The more rice that was cultivated, the higher the people’s holism ratings.
水稻种植越多，人们的整体性评分越高。
- Result
More interdependent thinking
Viewed themselves more as part of a network
Were more tolerant of nepotism (裙带关系）
Engaged in more holistic reasoning
Also, divorce rates were much higher (= less interdependence) where wheat was grown. 此外，种植小麦的地方离婚率更高（=相互依赖程度更低）
How do ideas get spreaded?
- Ideas that convey useful information are widely discussed and spread.
传递有用信息的想法会被广泛讨论和传播
Whenever we do something good, we feel they will do it back
We feel compelled to tell others if the information is useful and good - Ideas that elicit a strong emotional reaction are more likely to be communicated. People can connect with others better when they are experiencing similar feelings.
能引起强烈情感反应的想法更容易被传播。当人们经历类似的感受时，他们能更好地与他人沟通
whenever we hear emotionally arousing, we want to share our experience, others feel the same, motivated to share with others, to be connected
- Contemporary legends (urban legends): fictional stories that are told in modern societies as though they are true.
- Rumors and legends are more likely to spread when they can evoke a shared emotional reaction among people.
Describe the Heath et al’s study in 2001, the one that investigated how much the emotional intensity of a story predicted whether people would relay that story to other
man find dead rat in a soda can
make 3 version
mild level of emotion
“ before he drank, he saw a dead rat
moderate level
“about halfway through, he saw a dead rat inside”
strong level
“he swallowed something lumpy and saw there was a dead rat inside”
The researchers created 12 stories and made three different versions of each story, that varied in emotional intensity. 研究人员创作了 12 个故事，并为每个故事制作了三个不同版本，这些版本的情感强度各不相同
Participants read only one version of each of the 12 stories. 参与者只阅读这 12 个故事中每个故事的一个版本
They were asked to indicate how likely they would be to pass this story along to a friend.他们被要求指出他们会把这个故事转告给朋友的可能性有多大
What was the result of the Heath et al. (2001) study?
Participants were more likely to pass along stories that elicited strong emotions.
even negative, make you connect with others
How do ideas catch on?
People are more likely to prefer, remember, and discuss ideas/narratives that contain a minimal number of counterintuitive statements. 人们更有可能喜欢、记住和讨论包含最少反直觉陈述的观点/叙述。
Moses pass the red sea in the Bible, it is more large and minimal number, and counter intuitive
How does the study done by Norenzayan et al. in 2016 demonstrate the importance of minimal number of counterintuitive statements?
Participants received a list of 18 items to read. Some of these items were intuitive and some were counter-intuitive.
intuitive example: close door, thirsty cat, four legged table, confused student, drying coat, mischievous comment
counterintuitive example: thirsy door, closing cat, confused table, four-legged student, mischievous coat
Participants were divided into four conditions that varied in the percent of counter-intuitive items. 参与者被分为四种情况，反直觉项目的百分比各不相同
Entirely Intuitive (100% intuitive)
Minimally Counterintuitive (72% intuitive, 28% counterintuitive)
Equal Frequencies (50/50 Split)
Maximally Counterintuitive (28% intuitive, 72% counterintuitive)
Three minutes after reading the items, participants were asked to recall them. People remember intuitive items better, right after 3 minutes
One week later, participants were again asked to recall the items.
Over time, narratives that include a few, but not too many, counterintuitive items are recalled better.随着时间的推移，那些包含少量（但不是太多）反直觉内容的叙述会被人们更好地记住。
This is true of most religions, myths, and successful folk tales.
Describe another study done by Norenzayan et al. on the contents of Grimm tales.
Norenzayan et al. compared whether the contents of the successful Grimm tales differed from the unsuccessful ones.比较了成功的格林童话与不成功的格林童话在内容上是否存在差异。
Success folk tales: cinderella, hanse and Gretel, little red riding hood, snow white
unsuccessful: Farmer Little, hans my hedgehog
They counted how many counterintuitive elements were present in each tale.
他们统计了每个故事中出现的反直觉元素的数量
Most successful ones include around 2 and 3 counterintuitive elements in the folk tales
Can you recall the study done by Cullum and Harton in 2007 on students living in the same residence halls?
Explored how students’ attitudes changed while living in residence halls. Importantly, the students were randomly assigned to the different residences.探讨了学生在宿舍生活期间的态度变化。重要的是，学生被随机分配到不同的宿舍。
The students completed surveys that assessed their attitudes after spending 2 vs. 13 weeks in the residences. 学生们在宿舍居住 2 周和 13 周后分别填写了态度调查表 toward politics and etc.
Did their attitudes become more similar to their dormmates over this time?
在这段时间里，他们的态度是否与宿舍同学更加相似？
All attitudes showed an increase in clustering over the term. 在这一学期中，所有态度的聚类都有所增加。
This was especially true for the attitudes that were rated as more important - these attitudes were discussed more. 尤其是那些被评为更重要的态度–这些态度得到了更多的讨论。
New subcultures were formed on the basis of the ideas that people regularly communicated 在人们经常交流的思想基础上形成了新的亚文化
Results find that students in the same dorm show a similar attitude compared to other dorms, specifically in those important attitudes, because these are what they discuss and communicate about。 他们谈论认为重要的事情，所以更加沟通，所以传播culture
Despite dorm culture is transit, it starts to form when we communicate with each other.
What are some examples from the USA to show our culture is changing? 1. Civic Affairs
People are Participating Less in Civic Affairs
over 20% of people in 1970 attend a public meetings, but in the 1990s down to 12%, cut to about half
What are some examples from the USA to show our culture is changing? 2. Entertaining at home
People are Entertaining less at home (invite others to their house)
back in 17s was 14 times a year, in 19s was 9 times a year
What are some examples from the USA to show our culture is changing? 3. Families eating together
Families eating together less often
used to be in 50% in 1980s, by 1990s, dropped to only 1/3
What are some examples from the USA to show our culture is changing? 4. Socializing
People are socializing less
minutes per day, in ’60s was over 80 minutes a day, 90s was 60 min a day
percent of people doing socializing dropped from 60% to 40%
What are some examples from the USA to show our culture is changing? 5. Trusting
People are becoming less trusting
in 1960s, over 50% said people can be trusted, 1990s, ⅓ said can be trusted
high school students are more cynical
What are more recent data suggesting about people’s extrinsic goals and intrinsic ones?
philosophy of life, dropped to only half in the 2000s
for extrinsic goal ( financial), leader and money go up
What are more recent data suggesting about people’s concern for others and volunteering?
down to 45% of job helping
Volunteer rate raised (because university application weights your volunteer experiences)
What are more recent data suggesting about people’s civic orientation?
Think about social problems, write to governments, help environment, and trust are all declining
What are some causes to our culture becoming more self-focused over time?
Increased time pressures from families with dual incomes (~ 10% of change).
- less time to go around as mothers are also working
Suburban lifestyles (~ 10% change).郊区生活方式（约 10% 的变化）
- people have longer commuting time and less time at home to do other things
Electronic Entertainment (~25%)
- use of television and beginning of video games
Generational Difference (living through WW2 ~50%)
changes more seen in young people suggest that older
- people lived through WW2, as there were a lot of sacrifices for the country, had a sense of connection to the country
Are we getting smarter? What are the reasons behind it?
Average IQ has gone up 17 points in past 50 years.
The gains appear to be most concentrated in analytic and problem-solving skills.
Culture environment is training these skills
Part of the story is that people are receiving more education than before.
Is the percentage of Americans with at least a Bachelor’s degree increasing?
Yes. Specifically, male and female gender differences increased dramatically.
A rising professional class added incentives for people to receive more education.
People are exposed to more information as they deal with an increasingly complex world.
In some ways, popular culture is becoming more complex too, which should further lead people to develop their intellectual skills.
Complicated plots of films
Do cultures persist or change?
Cultural norms can persist over time because each new member of the culture adjusts to the existing norms, and thereby perpetuates them.
文化规范之所以能够长期存在，是因为文化中的每一个新成员都会适应现有的规范，从而使这些规范得以延续
We still sees some habits persists across time
new members get socialized by the current culture norms
Likewise, any new cultural ideas need to be incorporated into the existing structure.
同样，任何新的文化观念都需要融入现有的结构中
What is one example of cultural persistence in Africa?
One example can be seen in the persistence of “distrust” norms in Africa toward neighbours. 非洲持续存在的 “不信任 “规范就是一个例子
Millions of slaves were taken from Africa before 1900.
1900 年前，数百万奴隶从非洲被掳走, However, the amount taken varied across regions, where the red places were a lot of slave trades
this slave trade was extremely traumatic
What is the impact of high historic slave exports on GDP today?
Those countries with high historic slave exports have worse GDP growth today.
The effect is mediated by trust. Trust is related to GDP, if you trust others you will not be exploited.
Eg. Africa’s uneven economic development
lingering after-effects of the slave trade.奴隶制度的后遗症，许多人买武器自卫 gun slave cycle，这种不信任导致发展缓慢
In many parts of Africa, people developed a deep mistrust of those around them.
continues to this day and is responsible for the
lower economic development of many parts of Africa.
How does climatic variability predict cultural persistence?
- When the climate fluctuates, the old ways of doing things may be less effective compared with new ways. e.g., raising food, building houses
- Around the world the climate fluctuates differently by region.
- There should be more cultural persistence in places with more stable climates.
Language example
Indigenous people who live in stable climate areas are more likely to speak their native language
More climate fluctuations = less cultural persistence
What are some features in places with more climatic stability?
Value tradition more
Are more likely to maintain polygamy (multiple female partners) as a marriage practice
Are more likely to maintain cousin marriage as a marriage practice
Are more likely to speak indigenous languages among First Nations in Canada.
What is another force of cultural persistence? (Pluralistic ignorance)
Pluralistic ignorance: the tendency for people to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that underlie the behavior of others.人们会根据他人的行为来错误地判断他们的想法。
Because people often act in ways that are different than what they privately think, others incorrectly judge their thoughts. 由于人们的行为往往与他们私下的想法不同，因此他人会错误地判断他们的想法
we infer other’s thinking by their actions (which might not accurately represent their thoughts)
People strive to act in ways to fit in with their incorrect beliefs about what they think others value and can thus perpetuate the culture. 人们会努力使自己的行为符合他们错误的想法，即他们认为别人重视什么，从而使文化得以延续
Even people’s private attitudes are changing, people are not aware, so this cultural norm continues to persist
we get this whenever people are motivated to hide their true thoughts
因为羞于表达所以从众从而导致助长错误观念最终形成culture presistence， 随波逐流
What are some examples of pluralistic ignorance?
- Binge drinking on university campus
people say that they themselves think there are a lot of binge drinking on campus and it’s not good
whereas they think their peers support binge drinking
People think and act differently and lead cultures to persist - 禁酒令被接受了因为很少人愿意公开主张，但是名义调查后发现很多人反对，然后pluralistic ignorance就消除了
- In totalitarian governments 极权主义政府
publicly expressing certain opinions is risky
e.g. Nazi Germany, people felt safer to go with the fascist crowd than to risk speaking publicly against the growing horrors
西班牙征服印加帝国 Incas， Incas 本是美洲最大最先进的国家，但是西班牙打败了他们，西班牙明明不先进，是为什么？
- Proximate cause: those that have a direct and immediate relationship with their effects.
- Thousands of years of writing history and oceangoing ships, horses, and swords in Spain
- Also in the Incas, there was a smallpox epidemic spread by Spanish soldier, which made the population sick - Distal causes: those initial differences that lead to effects over long time periods, often through indirect relationships.
- This is why Spaniards have written histories and technologies, and 天花不会杀死西班牙军人
- Because the fertile crescent in the middle eat was suitable for domestication, animals, and agriculture.
Provided the basis for the development of Western agriculture
- The domesticated species quickly spread both east and west because many populated areas had a similar latitude and climate to the Fertile Crescent
- Agricultural developments by the Mayas in Mexico were unlikely to reach the Incas in Peru because the regions are far apart in terms of latitude and climate
Influence
Adopt a sedentary lifestyle （农业过剩导致人们去花时间建造工具）
better agriculture → surplus of food → focus on specialized workforce → improved tool making
The domestication of various animal species
Result
disease from animal to human → Dense populations led to the development of many
diseases over the centuries in Eurasia → survivors ultimately developed resistances → but American cannot resist these diseases
因为动物很多，导致疾病传染和繁殖，后代产生了抗体，但是incus人没有
What is evoked culture referring to?
Definition：All people, regardless of where they are from, have a biologically based repertoire of behaviours that are accessible to them, and these behaviours are engaged for appropriate situations所有人，无论来自哪里，都有一套基于生物学的行为方式，在适当的情况下，他们可以使用这些行为方式
E.g. cross-cultural variation in habits of conformity
Some people are more motivated to conform to social norm, why?
- environments where people face greater risks of being infected by pathogens → more conformity and cultural traditions
- people think it can minimize being affected
- When one moves to a new environment, new behavioural responses should be evoked
What is transimitted culture?
People come to certain cultural practices through social learning, or by modelling the behaviour of others who live near them.
Begins in a partial area, but does not necessarily stay bound to a particular location.
And can travel with people when they move to new environments.
The same geographic location can also result in quite different cultural practices
Is there a difference between evoked culture and transmitted culture?
No clear-cut between evoked and transmitted culture.
If a behavioural pattern becomes the norm, it will be learned by others and then transmitted to future generations, even if context no longer exists
What is one example that suggests: despite environment being a key component of cultural variation, culture is more transmitted independent of geographic location?
South Sudan which has 2 types of culture, Dinka and the Nuer.
despite their same environment, technology, similar crops and ancestors, they have different cultures
Nuer 杀牛， Dinka喝牛奶
Nuer比Dinka更强，嫁妆给的更多
What is another example suggesting that only evoked culture is not sufficient for survival, transmitted culture is also important?
Transmitted culture tends to be of more importance than evoked culture
e.g. 一群探险队在英国的一个寒冷的岛上搁浅，但因为缺乏在这种环境生存的文化知识cultural knowledge，即使他们有再多的装备也不足以支撑他们活下去
如果evoked的话，那理论上她们应该学会的
威廉王岛上生存的关键在于如何在恶劣的环境中生存和生存的累积文化观念。这些基本思想只能通过传播文化才能获得
How is cultural evolution similar to biological natural selection?
Some ideas are more likely to attract followers than others → becoming more common in subsequent generations → Cultural evolution of norms
比如table manner become 更加普遍 （就像快的羚羊），有些陋习被淘汰，不被保留和共享
“selection” for cultural evolution is not tied to genes.
How is cultural evolution different to biological natural selection?
- Copying errors
Biological evolution → rare and emerge randomly 生物进化会基因不出错给下一代，(faithful)
Culture evolution → more common + intentional innovations that are planned (not randomly mutated) - Spreading speed
the evolution of genes is an enormously slow and gradual process that occurs across many generations 基因只能父母一代一代穿下来，但是文化可以瞬间给很多人
Cultural evolution can be transmitted to many people in an instant (horizontal)
people can elaborate on, change, and extend the cultural ideas quickly as they learn them - Adaption
cultural ideas do not have to be adaptive in order to become common（Fore engage in ritualized cannibalism, this idea catches despite it is not adaptive)
cultural evolution occurs in terms that are independent of the processes of biological evolution
What are two reasons that information can change over time?
- We are more likely to use words that are easier to remember → These ideas /words will be more common
e.g. sensory metaphor, cold personality. gives us memory advantage, is more common, and remembers better - Some ideas are more likely to be communicated than others
some concepts are hard to summarize, and some are undesirable to express
What does the dynamic social impact theory suggest?
Individuals influence each other through interacting, ultimately leading to clusters of like-minded people who are separated by geography—cultures
Norms develop among those who communicate with each other regularly.
How does looking at the stereotypes people have of certain cultural groups help investigate culturally shared ideas?
Stereotypes reflect shared ideas in particular cultural contexts about some specific cultural groups
美国人认为爱尔兰人是肥胖酗酒的猴子 in the 19th century, but this doesn’t exist anymore
The content of stereotypes are greatly influenced by the type of information people were inclined to communicate.
Studies show:
- Among common ethnic groups in Vancouver, people said the trait words that are commonly used to communicate information with others
- Among less common ethnic groups, no correlation between the communicability of traits and the likelihood that they were characteristic of stereotypes
Culturally shared stereotypes tend to be based on the kinds of traits, and groups, people are probably talking about
What are the reasons behind the tendency to more Americans becoming individualists?
- Increasing financial and time pressures (teo-career family)
less time to social - Increasing suburbanization of America
people spending more time in their cars and at
home and therefore less likely to run into friends and neighbours during the day - Electronic entertainment (biggest cause)
especially TV
leads people to isolate themselves and behave passively
Children → more likely to turn the TV on even if
there’s nothing they have in mind to watch
Adults → watch TV only when there’s a particular show they want to see. - Increased SES of the country
more rich, educated, professional careers
More secular
less likely to affiliate with organized religion - Less rates of infectious diseases
infection disease require social collectivist norms
Why did the scores for Raven’s Matrice increased over time? Two explanations
- IQ is a proxy for health (not a strong argument)
as nutrition has improved around the world, so has intelligence 营养改善发展出好的头脑和智力 - The world is becoming a far more complex place than it used to be, and navigating it successfully requires much learning and practice with demanding problem-solving tasks, which ultimately influences one’s intelligence世界变得更复杂了
- Education
succeeding in it higher education degree
more people get educated (esp women)
- pop culture
become progressively more complex and challenging.
e.g., movies and video games
电视剧情烧脑，游戏操作也更加复杂
娱乐的复杂性让我们变得更聪明
Does culture start from scratch or does it build on existing structures?
Early cultural structures has strong influence on culture occur later
Each build on each other, not emerge in a vacuum
e.g. the northern Italian towns that had more of these egalitarian institutions 800 years ago have more social capital, and average income, today
Particular prejudices can persist in certain regions across centuries, too
e.g. think Jewish cause the bubonic plague（流行性淋巴腺鼠疫也叫黑死病） in Europe sand lead to massacre in 14th century, 6 century later, this prejudice persist
How does the example of Boston and Philadelphia show the influence of early conditions, as they were colonized by Europeans before?
- Example of Boston：
Early conditions
Puritanism emphasized respect for authority and the importance of applying one’s wealth and social position to community goals.
Later culture
Harvard was originally built on a liberal arts curriculum, emphasized public service, and received tremendous community and financial support. - But in Philadelphia （宾夕法尼亚州费城）:
Early Conditions
More educated intellectual puritans, more emphasis on pragmatic concerns, individual equality, and tolerance
Later culture
University of Pennsylvania emphasized a more utilitarian curriculum, with medical, business, and engineering schools dominating. Less public service and political leader graduates
The first settler of a region can have profound impact on that region’s culture centuries later.
How does the light moving experiment show the effects of early conditions on the development of cultural norms?
about social norm
test autokinetic effect
第一个报告者是confederate, he will先报告一个远高于实际移动距离的数字 (16 inch, 实际上是3.8 inch），然后其他参与者会遵循实验者报告的16 inch的标准，之后每轮参与者报告完之后都会离开一个人并加一个新的参与者 （representing new generation）
The confederate influenced 5 generations but在11轮之后，人们仍然会认为光线比实际的移动的更远
证明initial culture随着时间褪弱
Your friends are debating whether or not culture has been changing over the last few decades. Which of the following responses is not supported by research?
a. Culture has been changing—people are scoring higher on the Raven’s Matrices IQ test.
b. Culture has not been changing—the slave trade that occurred centuries ago in Africa continues to affect the trust Africans have in others.
c. Culture has been changing—greater intercultural contact has changed all cultures that interact.
d. Culture has not been changing—collectivistic cultures have, overall, remained just as collectivistic as they were decades ago.
e. Culture has been changing—there has been greater tribalism over the last several decades.
d. Culture has not been changing—collectivistic cultures have, overall, remained just as collectivistic as they were decades ago
