Within the empirical sciences, evolutionary biology and cognitive science are two fields that have made headway in the characterization of human culture, but the contexts in which they each intersect with the topic differ. Within evolutionary biology and related subfields, a recent focus on extra-genetic pathways of inheritance, coupled with refined methods for the analysis of population dynamics, is allowing researchers to examine culture as a system of intraspecific transmission that is distinct from genetic inheritance yet able to influence its patterns. Cognitive science, since its inception, has dealt with information-processing architectures that enable intelligent behavior, but some recent projects are expanding the scope of this framework from traditional within-agent circuits to between-agent systems, yielding a perspective on minds as embedded in social and communicative structures.
For this event we bring together a number of distinguished scientists who are situated across cognitive and evolutionary paradigms but share an interest in the mental and material infrastructures that underpin human culture. We wish to use this opportunity to reflect upon points of convergence between cognitive and evolutionary approaches as they engage with this complex topic. Although notable work already occurs at the intersection of these fields, we conjecture that the space of unexplored recombination is still large, and that further crossover will indeed be critical if we are to elucidate simultaneously the organic and epistemic dimensions of human culture, whose cohabitation may be what has made this topic so cryptic for scientific understanding.
The event will be held at G10 Biotechnology Building on the Cornell University Ithaca campus
For this event we bring together a number of distinguished scientists who are situated across cognitive and evolutionary paradigms but share an interest in the mental and material infrastructures that underpin human culture. We wish to use this opportunity to reflect upon points of convergence between cognitive and evolutionary approaches as they engage with this complex topic. Although notable work already occurs at the intersection of these fields, we conjecture that the space of unexplored recombination is still large, and that further crossover will indeed be critical if we are to elucidate simultaneously the organic and epistemic dimensions of human culture, whose cohabitation may be what has made this topic so cryptic for scientific understanding.
The event will be held at G10 Biotechnology Building on the Cornell University Ithaca campus
Organized by
- Cornell Collective Behavior Study Group [website]
Sponsored by