Title: Editorial overview: Culture: Advances in the science of culture and psychology
Abstract: Culture is central to human sociality. Culture enables humans to coordinate our social actions and to cooperate in large-scale groups in unprecedented ways. To be sure, many species are capable of learning behaviors from other conspecifics; yet the scale and complexity of human culture is unique in the Earth’s biosphere. From the ethnic restaurants in your city to the global conglomerates and international institutions like the United Nations, the visible signs of culture are ubiquitous in contemporary life. From the smartphone in your palm to the skyscrapers above, socially transmitted knowledge, skills, and technologies have extended human capabilities to a level that once existed only in the worlds of myths, legends, and science fiction. Human culture, which we have created, transmitted, and cumulated since Homo sapiens branched out from other primate species some 100 thousand years ago, has collectively orchestrated the realization of these achievements. And in turn, this humanly constructed world presents itself as the environment to which successive generations of humans will adapt, change, and co-construct. Culture, in short, is essential to the human mind and behavior.
Publication Year: 2016
Publication Date: 2016-04-01
Language: en
Type: editorial
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 20
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