Summary: A new study challenges long-held beliefs about what makes human culture unique. While many animals show evidence of cultural learning and evolution, researchers from Arizona State University propose that humans’ distinct advantage lies in our “open-ended” ability to imagine and execute infinite possibilities – a trait not found in other species.
Journal: Nature Human Behaviour, November 7, 2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-02035-y | Reading time: 6 minutes
Rethinking Human Uniqueness
For centuries, scientists believed that humans were the only species with culture – the ability to pass knowledge down through generations. Then they thought we were unique in our ability to build upon and improve that cultural knowledge over time. Now, both these assumptions have been proven wrong.
“Ten years ago it was basically accepted that it was the ability of human culture to accumulate and evolve that made us special, but new discoveries about animal behavior are challenging these ideas and forcing us to rethink what makes our cultures, and us as a species, unique,” explains evolutionary anthropologist Thomas Morgan in a groundbreaking paper published in Nature Human Behaviour.
The Surprising World of Animal Culture
The evidence for animal culture is compelling and diverse. Humpback whales develop songs that evolve and spread between groups, becoming more complex over time. Chimpanzees pass down tool-use knowledge through generations, a practice that has persisted for thousands of years.
Even insects display remarkable cultural behaviors. Leafcutter ant queens collect fungus from their mother’s colony to start their own, creating a millennia-old agricultural tradition. Locusts develop complex adaptive systems, switching between different forms based on environmental conditions.
The Power of Open-Endedness
If animals can accumulate cultural knowledge, what makes human culture special? The research team proposes a new answer: open-endedness, our unique ability to imagine and understand an infinite number of possibilities.
Morgan illustrates this concept with a simple example of making breakfast: “First, I need to get the bowls and pots and other equipment. Then I need to put the ingredients in the pot and start cooking, all in the right amounts and order. Then I need to cook it, stirring and monitoring temperature until it reaches the right consistency, and then I need to serve it up.”
This ability to manage nested, multistep processes – each with its own subgoals and sequences – sets human cognition apart. While animal minds eventually hit limitations, human brains can continue building increasingly complex sequences of instructions.
Beyond Traditional Boundaries
The research breaks new ground by comparing human culture not just with animal cultures, but also with other forms of inherited traits and behaviors. While these systems can accumulate complexity in non-human species, they eventually reach constraints that halt their evolution. Human culture, by contrast, can continue developing indefinitely.
Glossary
- Culture: The shared body of knowledge passed down across generations
- Open-endedness: The ability to imagine and execute an infinite number of possibilities
- Epigenetic inheritance: Changes in gene activity based on environmental factors without altering DNA sequence
- Parental effects: Direct transmission of behavioral or biological traits from parent to offspring
Reader Comprehension Quiz
- What was previously thought to make human culture unique?
Answer: The ability of culture to accumulate and evolve - What do researchers now propose makes human culture special?
Answer: Open-endedness – the ability to imagine and understand infinite possibilities - What example of animal culture was observed in humpback whales?
Answer: Their songs evolve, spread between groups, and become more complex over time - Why is making breakfast significant in the research?
Answer: It demonstrates humans’ ability to manage nested, multistep processes with subgoals
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