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The key to cultural innovation lies in the group dynamic rather than in the individual mind

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2012

Sonia Ragir  and
Patricia J. Brooks
Sonia Ragir
Affiliation:
College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY 10314. soniaragir@gmail.compatricia.brooks@csi.cuny.eduhttp://www.csi.cuny.edu/faculty/BROOKS_PATRICIA.html
Patricia J. Brooks
Affiliation:
College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY 10314. soniaragir@gmail.compatricia.brooks@csi.cuny.eduhttp://www.csi.cuny.edu/faculty/BROOKS_PATRICIA.html
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Abstract

Vaesen infers unique properties of mind from the appearance of specific cultural innovation – a correlation without causal direction. Shifts in habitat, population density, and group dynamics are the only independently verifiable incentives for changes in cultural practices. The transition from Acheulean to Late Stone Age technologies requires that we consider how population and social dynamics affect cultural innovation and mental function.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , August 2012 , pp. 237 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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