{"product_id":"cultural-selection-9781009539067","title":"Cultural Selection","description":"Humans learn in ways that are influenced by others. As a result, cultural items of many types are elaborated over time in ways that build on the achievements of previous generations. Culture therefore shows a pattern of descent with modification reminiscent of Darwinian evolution. This raises the question of whether cultural selection-a mechanism akin to natural selection, albeit working when learned items are passed from demonstrators to observers-can explain how various practices are refined over time. This Element argues that cultural selection is not necessary for the explanation of cultural adaptation; it shows how to build hybrid explanations that draw on aspects of cultural selection and cultural attraction theory; it shows how cultural reproduction makes problems for highly formalised approaches to cultural selection; and it uses a case-study to demonstrate the importance of human agency for cumulative cultural adaptation.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50869774221586,"sku":"9781009539067","price":73.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f050d070-40c4-4530-83b7-f90c91dff18f.jpg?v=1737769056","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/cultural-selection-9781009539067","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}