[ad_1]
Credit: Cambridge University كامب
The period prior to the emergence of behaviorally modern humans was marked by dramatic climatic and environmental changes – these pressures over hundreds of thousands of years that shaped human evolution.
New research published today in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal proposes a new theory of human cognitive evolution called ‘complementary cognition’ which suggests that in adapting to dramatic environmental and climatic changes, our ancestors evolved to specialize in different but complementary ways of thinking.
Lead author Dr Helen Taylor, Research Associate at the University of Strathclyde and Associate Researcher at the Macdonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, explained: “This complementary cognition system operates in a way that resembles evolution at the genetic level. But rather than underlying physical adaptation, it may underlie our species’ tremendous ability to create Behavioral, cultural, and technological adaptations. It provides insight into the evolution of unique human adaptations such as language that suggests this evolved in concert with specialization in human cognition.”
Complementary cognition theory proposes that our species adapt cooperatively and develop culturally through a system of collective cognitive search combined with genetic research that enables phenotypic adaptation (Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection can be interpreted as a process of “research”) and cognitive research that enables adaptation behavioral.
Dr Taylor continued: “Each of these research systems is essentially a method of adaptation using a combination of building on, exploiting, and exploring to modernize previous solutions; as a result, we see an evolution in those solutions over time. This is the first study to explore the idea that individuals of our species are specialists from The neurocognitive aspect of complementary cognitive research strategies.
Complementary realization can lie at the core of explaining the extraordinary level of cultural adaptation in our species and provide an explanatory framework for the emergence of language. Language can be seen as evolving as a means of facilitating collaborative research and as an inheritance mechanism for sharing more complex outcomes of complementary cognitive research. Language is an integral part of the complementary cognition system.
Complementary cognition theory brings together observations from different disciplines, showing that they can be viewed as different faces of the same fundamental phenomenon.
Dr. Taylor continued: “For example, a form of cognition currently viewed as a disorder, dyslexia, appears to be a neurocognitive discipline whose nature in turn predicts that our species has evolved in a highly heterogeneous environment. This is consistent with the conclusions of many other disciplines. Including archaeological evidence confirming that the crucible of evolution for our species was highly variable.”
Nick Bosford, chief executive of the British Dyslexia Society, said: “As the leading dyslexia charity, we welcome Dr Helen Taylor’s groundbreaking research on the development of complementary cognition. While our current education and work environments are often not designed to make the most of dyslexic thinking, We hope that this research will provide a starting point for further exploration of the economic, cultural, and social benefits that society as a whole can gain from the unique abilities of people with dyslexia.”
At the same time, this may also provide insight into understanding the kind of cumulative cultural evolution we see in our species. Specialization in complementary research strategies and collaborative adaptation would greatly increase the ability of human groups to produce adaptive knowledge, enabling us to adapt constantly to highly changing conditions. But in periods of greater stability and abundance when adaptive knowledge does not become obsolete at such a rate, it may instead accumulate, and as such complementary cognition may also be a major factor in explaining cumulative cultural evolution.
Complementary cognition has enabled us to adapt to different environments, and may be at the core of our species’ success, enabling us to adapt faster and more effectively than any other highly complex organism. However, this may also be the greatest weakness of our species.
Dr. Taylor concluded: “The impact of human activity on the environment is the most compelling and stark example of this. The challenge of collaboration and collaborative adaptation on a large scale creates many difficulties and we may have inadvertently instituted a number of cultural systems and practices, particularly in education, which undermine our ability to adapt. These self-imposed limitations disrupt our capacity for complementary cognitive research and may constrain our ability to find and act on innovative and creative solutions.”
“Complementary cognition should be seen as a starting point in exploring a rich area of human evolution and as a valuable tool in helping to create an adaptive and sustainable society. Our species may owe our amazing technological and cultural achievements to neurocognitive specialization and collaborative cognitive research, but our adaptive success thus far may contradict the importance of Balance the approach. If this system becomes unmodifiable, it can quickly lead to stunning failures of adaptation—and survival, it is critical that this system is further explored and understood.”
Researchers: Culture drives human evolution more than genetics More information: Evolution of complementary cognition: Humans adapt and evolve cooperatively through the Collective Cognitive Research System, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, DOI: 10.1017/S0959774321000329 Submitted by the University of Cambridge
Quote: Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: The Evolution of Collective Intelligence (2021, June 15) Retrieved on June 15, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-06-gictures-sum-evolution-intelligence.html
This document is subject to copyright. Notwithstanding any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for informational purposes only.
[ad_2]
Picture Credit!