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EXPLANATION OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN TERM OF THE EVOLUTIONARY THEORY: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS (Vysvetlenie kulturneho vyvoja z hladiska evolucnej teorie: moznosti a obmedzenia)

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Bahna V.
Slovenský národopis (Slovak Ethnology)
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2010
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vol. 58
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issue 1
5-24
EN
The theme of this study is the explanation of cultural development in the term of Darwinian evolutionary theory. The author concerns himself with meme theory (memetics) and the arguments of its critics, and seeks to evaluate some of them. He considers the current state of scientific discourse regarding the application of Darwin's theory of natural selection to cultural evolution. The concept of natural selection, however, is not an essential part either of evolutionary theory or of its application to culture. Hence, the author also gives attention to so-called neutral evolution. On the conclusion of his study he considers the emergence of new cultural variants and their preservation in memory systems depending on concrete socio-cultural conditions. In this respect for cultural evolution is distinguished fundamentally from the classical evolutionary models. The algorithm of natural selection (heredity, variability, selection) is only one of the mechanisms to which cultural evolution is a subject. Cultural development therefore cannot be modelled only by means of natural selection, but at the same time it would be a mistake to exclude it from this model.
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LOST IN THE QUEST FOR NOVELTY (REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF OPENNESS OF THE CULTURE TO REPETITIONS)

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Suwara M., Werszowiec Płazowski J.
World Literature Studies
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2013
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vol. 5 (22)
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issue 3
26 – 38
EN
Repetitions can be analysed from various perspectives: historical, moral, legal, commercial etc. Their evaluation varies depending on the point of view one chooses to adopt. For instance, plain repetition (copying) can be considered a theft from the moral perspective, while in the same time it can be considered beneficial from the perspective of culture propagation. From the perspective of memetics, such repetitions are necessary for the memes to survive and the tendency to repeat those “memes” constitutes their fitness to cultural environment. To be closer to biological analogy one should recognize those repetitions as replications. From such perspective the program of reducing replications through the means of “prohibition” becomes not only absurd and unreachable but also it would significantly slow or even push the process of evolution backwards. One should notice that any restrictions on copying were absent in various historical periods. For instance, one of the most important ideals of culture in middle ages was exact copying and preserving the works of the Antique, obviously without any permission of the authors or their successors. It is not until the time when the artistic value becomes reduced to its commercial value that the problem of an intellectual theft arises. No artist works in an intellectual vacuum, thus no one has the full rights to the composition. There are two main reasons for such introducing the concept of an intellectual value. The first is the liberalization of the society leading to its decay into individuals aiming at their own interests. The other is the rapid growth of the “new media” technology, which allows for mindless copying – disregarding any justification or understanding. The latter is not a big problem due to the error elimination in the process of evolution. The former, however, as leading to the disintegration of society is really dangerous. In the nature it would result in the species extinction. In the culture some similarities can also be seen and will be analysed in the present paper.
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