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SUMMARY:Culture and Evolvability: A Brief Archaeological Perspective - Pro
 fessor Michael O'Brien\, Texas A&amp\;M University - San Antonio
DTSTART:20231102T160000Z
DTEND:20231102T173000Z
UID:TALK205018@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Simon Carrignon
DESCRIPTION:Evolvability refers to the capacity\, ability\, or potential o
 f an organism to generate heritable variation. Under this view\, all extra
 genetic inheritance is regarded not as noise\, fine-tuning\, or a luxury a
 dd-on to genetic inheritance but as an essential tool for short-term adapt
 ation. With respect to humans\, the cultural contribution to evolvability 
 is key to understanding evolution. In many instances\, cultural inheritanc
 e directs genetic inheritance\, not the other way around. Culture\, being 
 relatively free from the genetic leash\, can produce change that genetic i
 nheritance cannot. Soft inheritance—the view that heredity can be change
 d by an organism’s experiences—has been disdained for over a century\,
  but in light of the recent outpouring of data demonstrating extragenetic 
 inheritance\, defining evolution only in terms of genetic change ignores h
 alf the adaptive process\, discarding much of what is interesting and rele
 vant. Archaeologists can play a key role in evolvability research\, given 
 their contributions to topics such as niche construction\, modularity\, mo
 saic evolution\, and developmental bias.
LOCATION:McDonald Institute Seminar Room
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