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Epigenetic and cultural evolution are non-Darwinian

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2007

Liane Gabora
Liane Gabora
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada. liane.gabora@ubc.cahttp://www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/liane
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Abstract

The argument that heritable epigenetic change plays a distinct role in evolution would be strengthened through recognition that it is what bootstrapped the origin and early evolution of life, and that, like behavioral and symbolic change, it is non-Darwinian. The mathematics of natural selection, a population-level process, is limited to replication with negligible individual-level change that uses a self-assembly code.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 371
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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