Joseph Henrich|Robert Boyd|Peter J. Richerson
Five Misunderstandings About Cultural Evolution
University of British Columbia|University of California, Los Angeles|University of California, Davis
recent debates memetics revealed widespread misunderstandings darwinian approaches cultural evolution drawing debates paper disputes five common claims 1 mental representations rarely discrete therefore models assume discrete genelike particles ie replicators useless 2 replicators necessary cumulative adaptive evolution 3 contentdependent psychological biases important processes affect spread cultural representations 4 cultural fitness mental representation inferred successful transmission 5 selective forces matter sources variation random close sketching outlines unified evolutionary science culture